Sessions of 2026 Connection Conference: Bernie Fritts
Fritts, Bernie
Instructor / Graphic Designer
Bernie Fritts is an award-winning graphic designer and educator with over 39 years of industry experience and more than 15 years of experience teaching graphic design at both the high school and college level. He currently teaches graphic design at Desert Mountain High School and Scottsdale Community College, where he also co-developed and led one of Arizona’s first college-level print production programs. Bernie has built recognized graphic design programs from the ground up and has guided students to multiple state and national competition wins. Outside the classroom, he is the owner of Fritts Design, LLC, creating design work internationally for a global semiconductor company and producing extensive work in the comic book industry. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from Southern New Hampshire University, graduating summa cum laude. Bernie is passionate about teaching professional workflows, purposeful design decision-making, and helping students understand when and why to use both traditional tools and emerging AI technologies in creative work.
Sessions:
[5675] Shapes to Systems: Teaching Illustrator the Way Designers Use It
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Westin La Paloma
- Business and Marketing Education
- Communications Media Technologies
In this workshop, attendees will learn how to teach Adobe Illustrator as a structured vector design system, emphasizing shape construction, hierarchy, typography, branding, and professional workflows—including the responsible use of Illustrator’s AI-assisted features. Participants will analyze lesson structures, project sequences, and classroom strategies that build strong Illustrator skills from beginner through advanced levels. The session focuses on teaching Illustrator the way designers actually use it, helping students create clean, scalable, production-ready vector work.
[5673] Photoshop With Purpose: Teaching Image Editing and AI Tools
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Westin La Paloma
- Business and Marketing Education
- Communications Media Technologies
In this workshop, attendees will learn how to teach Photoshop using professional image-editing workflows, including non-destructive editing, compositing techniques, resolution fundamentals, and the intentional integration of Photoshop’s AI-powered tools. Participants will review project examples, instructional strategies, and classroom approaches that help students understand when and why various Photoshop tools—including AI features—are used. The session emphasizes teaching Photoshop with purpose, helping students build strong editing habits while using AI tools to support, rather than replace, thoughtful design intent.
