A photo of Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, Beth Little. Beth is pictured outside, in front of the Alexander Fine Arts Building.

Little, Beth

Title: Assistant Professor of Graphic Design

College: College of Professional and Liberal Studies

Department: Department of Fine Arts and Communication

Phone: 304-384-5350

Discipline: Art and Graphic Design

Room: Fine Arts A203

Box: F50

Little, Beth

Biography

Beth Little grew up in Cedar Bluff, Virginia. In 1995, she graduated as valedictorian from Richlands High School. She then relocated to the Phoenix Metro area in Arizona, where she lived for just over 20 years. During her time there, she obtained her AA in Visual Communications from Collins College (1996) and her BFA in Painting from Arizona State University (2007). In 2017, she relocated back to Virginia, settling in Roanoke for five years. During that time, she completed her MFA in Illustration online from SCAD (2022). Beth has been with Concord University since 2023, and she is happy to have returned to the mountains where she grew up to help encourage the area’s future creatives.

Beth has worked professionally as a graphic designer and illustrator since 1997. She enjoys projects that allow her to combine her favorite elements from both disciplines. As a designer, she has specialized in print/publication design, creating advertisements, postcards, logos, and newspaper/magazine layouts. She has also created editorial illustrations, portraits, book covers, and interior book illustrations. In addition, she is also a fine artist who loves working with oils, watercolor, digital, graphite, and charcoal.

Education

  • MFA (2022) Savannah College of Art and Design
  • BFA (2007) Arizona State University
  • AA (1996) Collins College

Research

Beth has always been drawn to contemporary artwork that employs an element of subtle humor. Her personal work has been described as both childish and sophisticated, whimsical, and oftentimes provocative. Music is her second love, and she adores creating conceptual portraits of musicians, so much so that she based her MFA thesis on it.

Her research explores how conceptual portraiture can convey more information about a figure than traditional portraiture through symbolism and storytelling. There is a particular concentration on how the image of a musician can be elevated to a more iconic status through this method of interpretation. A portrait can become the primary way a famous figure is remembered in the minds of many. It helps to evoke, not only the person’s general likeness, but also that person’s essence or story. A good conceptual portrait lets us know about a person’s lifestyle while also stirring the emotions and imagination of the viewer. Evoking such feelings helps to perpetuate a specific perception of someone.