The Visual Research Laboratory is a new graduate program focusing on the common ground shared by photography and graphic design. These fields share theoretical as well as practical methodologies; over the past twenty years, what used to be called fine art photography has become increasingly engaged with postmodern critical theory, including communication theory and semiotics. At the same time, graphic design has become increasingly attentive to the theoretical basis for communication, having evolved from applications of visual organization skills to a discipline that considers and facilitates the creation of meaning. With the advent of digital imaging technology at the desktop computing level, the techniques used in photography and graphic design have also begun to merge.

This convergence of theory and practice suggests that a rich symbiosis is possible between these two disciplines. The Visual Research Laboratory is a forum for exploration and discovery in this area of converging interests.