Entrepreneurship and Graphic Design

What is Entrepreneurship and Graphic Design?

Entrepreneurs and graphic designers are people who use their creativity and technical skills to build businesses. They do this with professional knowledge of branding, marketing, advertising and financial funding mechanisms. Overall, they are people who think outside the box.

What You’ll Learn

As an entrepreneurship and graphic design major, you’ll be part of the combination of two dynamic programs here at Merrimack College. You will take courses in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, as well as the Girard School of Business. You will have the opportunity to apply your business knowledge in a creative environment. Expect to develop a significant portfolio of design and business projects while learning the best practices for the industry you wish to enter.

Learn how to creatively serve your clients while managing your own business and create portfolios that showcase your skills while learning how to market yourself to potential clients. As an entrepreneurship and graphic design major, you will:

• Understand and perform various types of industry-related research
• Craft your idea into a viable business plan and learn how to determine your market, then market your idea and manage your new venture
• Develop the capacity to collaborate successfully, both online and in-person
• Motivate yourself and manage creative projects
• Develop ideas that stand the test of critical analysis
• Deliver effective oral presentations to students, professors and outside clients
• Brand and market yourself by creating a professional identity and portfolio
• Become proficient in relevant industry software, hardware and social media
• Be accountable, responsible and ethical in your work
• Develop your core competencies in financial stewardship, such as finding funding and investors, skills you need as a new business owner to keep track of your business’s financial health
• Learn to manage your business and corporate strategy, allowing you to feel confident about entering a competitive business landscape after graduation
• Learn how to sell your idea to investors through your understanding of the market and supply chain and show its profitability through pro forma financial statements and a business plan
• Develop a wide range of skills in time management, strategic thinking, money management, financing, budgeting, leadership, networking and more

Technology Requirements

Students majoring in entrepreneurship and graphic design are required to have an Adobe Creative Cloud Subscription and a professional level laptop at the start of their sophomore year. Inquiries about technical requirements are always welcome; contact the Director of the Graphic Design program, by email: [email protected]

Career Options

What can you do with entrepreneurship and graphic design? Earning this degree at Merrimack will prepare you to create and promote your own business—become your own boss, or freelance for clients who need your services.

About 22,800 openings for graphic designers are projected each year, on average, over the decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Potential career paths for entrepreneurship and graphic design majors upon graduation include: