The purpose of this class is to introduce the students to the fundamental principles and technical skills used in the field of Visual Communications. Student use sophisticated graphics software to create visual models as they learn about the science of light and the biological mechanisms that make vision possible. Students develop their verbal and visual communication skills as they create presentations on the history of Visual Communications, how human art and expression has progressed from antiquity to modernity. They engage in research and writing as they analyze current issues related to technology and media. They deconstruct modern advertisements and explore how these ads function as rhetorical devices. And finally, students apply the principles of design and expand their technical skills as they create their own projects of visual communication and consider a potential career in the Visual Communications and design field by creating a design portfolio.