Her students’ portfolios are encased in plastic like baby portraits tucked inside a wallet and Mary Scott presents them with similar pride. These are actual books—bound, embossed narratives in which students develop a voice that unifies their work. In essence, they learn to present themselves as brands, a project at the core of the new curriculum Scott implemented when she arrived at the Academy of Art seven years ago.

It’s working. The San Francisco school has garnered a reputation for its graduates, who have recently found their way into places like VSA Partners, Martha Stewart Omnimedia, Cahan & Associates, and Stone Yamashita Partners. Scott says the buzz is important: “The impact that makes people pay attention—that’s what education is about.”

Scott looked to other educators to help her formulate aspects of her graphic design program. Although she compares notes with several male educators, she says many of her resources originated from a group of women dedicated to improving design education. “It’s mostly women, but very strong women,” says Scott. “And it’s very much a culture of sharing.”

ABOVE: In Nancy Skolos’ practice, Skoloswedell (Her partner is husband Tom), she looks outside of graphic design for inspiration and is heavily influenced by modern painting. She encouraged her students at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to interview a contemporary artist and challenged them to design a poster using only type to promote an exhibition of the artists’s work. “This poster by Christina Yung was particularly wonderful to me in the way it captured the energy of Peter Halley's paintings without really looking like one of his paintings,” says Skolos.