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Willamette University

Center for Design

Our in-house, student-staffed, professional design studio.

Student writing with a sharpie on a print out of book pages.

Student-Led and Student-Driven

Center for Design projects are student-led and student-driven, and mentored by experienced faculty who cultivate meaningful projects with the Portland design community and beyond. Clients who engage with our students for their design projects fund production costs and tap into a forward-thinking, cross-functional creative team; student designers build a portfolio of client-based work, a professional network, and a working client list. And we manage to have fun in the process!

Our student designers work in teams to gain hands-on experience in design, art direction, and project management while adding professionally-produced work to their portfolios. Our studio provides real-world design experience and fun collaboration, with the classroom setting as a safety net. 

Through projects for client partners such as adidas, Pendleton, PICA, and Mercy Corps, student teams engage in all aspects of professional creative practice from initial client meetings, strategy development, and creative briefs to scheduling, concept creation, presentations, and final designs.

Work With Us

Clients such as PICA (Portland Institute of Contemporary Art), Mercy Corps, Blanchet House, Design Portland, adidas, Willamette Week, and Pendleton have partnered with Center for Design to bring fresh design thinking to their products, brands, and initiatives. Our portfolio includes large-scale murals, packaging, apparel graphics, environment and exhibit design, brand identities, board games, publications, and more. We aim to make a difference by focusing on values-driven initiatives. Though we often partner with nonprofits, we are open to work that makes a difference in culture and communities.

While our client partners commit to engage in a learning-focused environment, our creative process gets results. Many of our clients build lasting relationships with individuals and teams, and our Center for Design alumni leave us with confidence and excitement about what design can do.

Work from the Center for Design Portfolio
Our Team

Each semester we build a team of designers and illustrators from diverse skill sets and backgrounds, who are paired with clients based on skills, interests, experience, and team chemistry.

Two students work with Kristin Rogers Brown in the Center for Design
Creative Director, Center for Design

For over 15 years, creative director and PNCA Graphic Design department chair Kristin Rogers Brown has used her background as an award-winning art director to design meaningful experiences, publications, and brand strategies across media. She spent 2010-2018 as art director for Bitch Media, an independent publishing and media organization whose mission is to provide and encourage an engaged, thoughtful feminist response to mainstream media and pop culture. Her work with nonprofits and values-driven organizations proves that thoughtful design drives engagement, builds community, and makes a difference in people's lives.

Portrait of Kristin Rogers Brown

Want to

Work with Us?

Complete Our Intake Form (NEED LINK)

Willamette University

Graphic Design