Taking a Class in Dynamic Design

“This past semester, we assigned a project where the students had to design a billboard advertising the San Diego Zoo, using a 3D approach, breaking the rectangle of the billboard and extending the imagery beyond it,” says adjunct faculty member Jon Weiman. Senior graphic design major Jayden Diamond designed this piece.

By Kenna Caprio

March 24, 2025 — In Dynamic Design, students are designing sample logos, billboards, album covers and more.

Part of what makes the class stand out is its structure — two instructors lead the course, assigning students experimental projects and giving them collaborative feedback.

“We both like to push students beyond their previous limits. We push them to go outside of their collective comfort zones, and keep them there,” says graphic designer Jon Weiman, one of the adjunct faculty members who teaches the course. “We also love to see what solutions the students come up with — they often surprise and delight us. It’s a collaborative class and we get as much as we give.”

Ron Levine, an artist and creative director, co-teaches the course with Weiman.

“To see students grow, to watch them evolve as designers and people, is so gratifying,” says Levine.

“I love abstract assignments that have no ‘correct’ answer, where you just have to explain the answer you give and this was that kind of assignment. We had to create an image or illustration that ‘looked like a sound.’ It wasn’t a literal interpretation of a sound. I did a marine mammal sound, that echoed and vibrated. I interpreted that to show the high and rapid parts of the sound with red straight lines and the vibrating hum with great, flowing waves,” says graphic design student Joanna Cecere.

The instructors function almost as clients, giving students a specific set of parameters for each assignment, while also encouraging creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

In this project, students designed a magazine cover featuring Taylor Swift, inspired by what the students knew of her as a musical artist, her career or her personal life. Senior graphic design major Jayden Diamond created this art.

“Coming into the class, I knew my technical abilities were relatively polished, but I needed more practical experience handling deadlines and communicating with clients. Practicing those skills was one of the most valuable takeaways,” says senior graphic design major Jayden Diamond. “Both instructors gave us individualized critiques, encouraged us to jump headfirst into design and never doubted our abilities as artists.”

Weiman says that conceptual ability is the most important skill for future graphic designers to develop.

“When the class started, I was a lot more conservative with typesetting and layout, and now I know that design doesn’t have to be safe. I learned to play and try new things, and to explore new ways to communicate through images,” says graphic design student Joanna Cecere.