Visual Storytelling Takes Shape at Roski
As soon as next month, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will open its doors in Los Angeles, giving the city a new cultural landmark dedicated to something both timeless and increasingly relevant: the power of stories told through visuals. Celebrating narrative art in all its forms, the museum underscores the enduring role of visual storytelling in shaping how we understand culture, identity, and the world around us.
That same spirit of interdisciplinary storytelling thrives at the USC Gayle Garner Roski School of Art and Design and is located right down the street.
Across Roski’s undergraduate minors, students from every corner of the university are discovering new ways to think creatively across disciplines. Among the school’s interdisciplinary offerings, the Visual Narrative Arts, Fashion, and Communication Design minors reflect the many ways storytelling can take shape, whether through a comic panel, a garment, or carefully crafted visual identity.
The Visual Narrative Arts minor invites students to explore storytelling through illustration, comics, fine art, and other forms of image making. Open to students from disciplines ranging from animation and journalism to cinematic arts and game design, the program encourages them to build worlds and communicate ideas through the combined language of images and words. Beyond the classroom, the Visual Narrative Society (VNS) fosters a creative community where students gather around a shared passion for comics and graphic storytelling through drawing sessions, collaborative projects, and campus events.
Roski’s Fashion minor expands the idea of narrative by approaching clothing as a medium for expression and cultural dialogue. By connecting fashion studies with wearable production, smart fabrics, costume, movement, entrepreneurship, and media, students explore how what we wear can communicate through what we wear.
The Communication Design minor highlights how visual language shapes the way we experience information and ideas. Grounded in design, visual literacy, and digital imaging, plus complemented by coursework in communication, the program equips students to translate creative ideas into compelling messages across a wide range of professional contexts.
Together, these minors, alongside Roski’s many other interdisciplinary offerings, reflect a broader shift in creative practice. The boundaries between art, design, media, and communication continue to blur, creating new opportunities for collaboration and innovation. As Los Angeles welcomes the Lucas Museum and its celebration of narrative art, Roski students are already exploring what comes next by developing the visual literacy and creative confidence to tell stories across disciplines, audiences, and media. It is a reminder that the future of narrative art won’t be defined by a single medium, but by the creative thinkers who bring stories to life across many.
