Fall 2026

Basic Graphic Design

Basic Graphic Design introduces fundamental principles, emphasizing formal, conceptual, and technical aspects of the field.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Brad Knutson3.7/5Mira Kim

Summary

1 / 6

Historical reviews of Dennis Miller, Henrique Nardi: Reviewers report heavy workloads, strict attendance policies, and extremely difficult quizzes that heavily impact final grades, with some noting unclear rubrics and rapid assignment turnarounds.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
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F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

(ART 102 or 107) and declared in Art , Art Education, Certificate in Art Studio, or Certificate in Graphic Design; or declared in Art MFA or Design + Innovation MS

      • take one
        • Art
        • Art Education
        • Certificate in Art Studio
        • Certificate in Graphic Design
        take one
      take all
    • declared in Art MFA or Design + Innovation MS
    take one
ART 346 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Any of
    • All of
      • Any of
      • Any of
        • Art
        • Art Education
        • Certificate in Art Studio
        • Certificate in Graphic Design
    • declared in Art MFA or Design + Innovation MS

Professors

Fall 2026
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.00/5 from 2 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.61 GPA, 85.7% A/AB (n=14 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.81 GPA, 87.5% A/AB (n=8 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.57 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=15 letter grades).

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews for Dennis Miller, Jane Venes, and Henrique Nardi show mixed experiences. Miller was rigorous but supportive, though some found his attitude inappropriate. Venes was knowledgeable but criticized for stifling creativity and poor organization. Nardi received praise for fairness and feedback, but also complaints about difficulty and communication.

BRAD KNUTSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

DENNIS MILLER is recorded teaching in Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

HENRIQUE NARDI is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JANE VENES is recorded teaching in Fall 2015, Spring 2016. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LAB 002Classroom Instruction15 / 155
LAB 001Classroom Instruction15 / 150
LAB 003Classroom Instruction11 / 150
LAB 004Classroom Instruction10 / 150

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Historical reviews describe ART 346 as a demanding course with significant workload and difficult assessments, though some instructors provided supportive feedback and flexibility.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.90 GPA, 96.4% A/AB (n=55 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.88 GPA, 96.1% A/AB (n=51 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.83 GPA, 92.7% A/AB (n=55 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Dennis Miller, Henrique Nardi: Reviewers report heavy workloads, strict attendance policies, and extremely difficult quizzes that heavily impact final grades, with some noting unclear rubrics and rapid assignment turnarounds.

Some students found historical instructors like Dennis Miller and Henrique Nardi to be passionate, fair, and accessible, offering helpful reminders and opportunities for project resubmission.

Topics

  • Basic principles of graphic design.
  • Formal, conceptual, and technical aspects of design.

Skills

  • Formal, conceptual, and technical design understanding.
  • Working process, presentation, and craftsmanship.

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

5 earlier forecasts · 0.27 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
ART 346 · Fall 2026

Basic Graphic Design

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:168:001129",
    "course_id": "ART 346",
    "course_uid": "course_189c643c1b4e19ca8af70853",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "001129",
    "source_subject_id": "168",
    "title": "Basic Graphic Design",
    "credits_min": 4,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "564a73af143038cdad806e81f79ebca21826c0944531830fe920b4de08df41fb",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}