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Thank You!

To all who came out and especially those who presented at Friday’s portfolio review.

 

A special thanks need to go out to our guest reviewers:

Justin Schultz — from his company the Flying Chair  — please check out his awesome website and exciting design work.

and

Kyle Tillman the Art Director at Bomgar

 

 

 

Here is one of our Seniors discussing how she successfully found several internships during her studies here at Belhaven.

 

Heading off the Beaten Path…

Just some advice on finding internships as a graphic design student through personal experience.

 

First off, anything is possible with the Lord. God provided ways for me to gain experience in what I love to do as a designer without lucky charms or a car (not even the means to borrow one). The bare bones of finding an internship is really sniffing out opportunities and pouncing on those opportunities.

I’ve found an internship with The Imaginary Company (a small studio in the Belhaven neighborhood) simply by chatting with some gents and gals hanging out at Sneaky Beans when I asked if any of them knew the location of the studio and was given the contact information from a buddy of one of the workers. Sure enough a phone call later, a quick interview later, and I’m set to work as an intern. The experience I had was invaluable, unique, and I discovered a range of tasks designers do, with pay. No job was ever boring, the only downside was working with two cats pawing over my keyboard and batting their tails in my face. I’m not an outgoing personality, but being assertive, articulate, and focused are necessary for any designer. If the desire is there, if the hunger is there, and if you want to work, there is always a way (that’s ethical and sans spec) that’s, really, just a phone call or a hand shake away.

Another opportunity I had was over the summer, in my junior year. I simply checked out downtown Denver galleries and found Plus Gallery. All I had to do was write a neat, simple, to the point one page essay on what I could offer, my skills, and so forth as an intern. A call and an interview later and I was able to create the seasonal art gallery events booklet for the Denver Arts Dealers Association. Plus Gallery designed the booklet and hosted the project twice annually. No pay but I was able to keep as many copies of my work, keep the original files, and made one contact through the gallery owner that led to the Denver art world. If there is no pay, outline in an agreement or contract of some sort about the terms of what you need as experience, even if it’s just contacts and a letter of recommendation for a start to a career down the road.

Generally, interviews were short & somewhat informal. You’re working on someone else’s precious time so a PDF portfolio, snippets, samples, etc. with something intelligent to say will do fine, but looking spiffy, normal, and sane makes a difference too. Know where you’re applying and whom you’ll most likely be speaking to. Both these cases required business casual which means pants that are not jeans and a collared shirt for guys and maybe a skirt and blouse for the ladies.

Plus, as a given, and out of consideration and courtesy, ALWAYS WRITE A hand written or well designed if your penmanship tanks, THANK YOU  note or card before and after your internship. This is professional and important, not to ensure anything for you (though that’s possible), but to show that you house the Holy Spirit and a person touched by the grace of God had better, and at the very least, show some appreciation and gratitude. Trust me, nothing you do is without God’s hand leading out to yours. Your health, talents, gifts, all of those things encompassing your life are by his provision. Kiss that ego goodbye. Far away…

 

One point that is important to know is the Lord honors honest work and working towards a goal that expands his kingdom. Each person is unique with a set of talents, gifts, and skills, even if it’s just one, God will use you for his purpose. Every opportunity is never too mundane, stupid, or lowly enough.  Nothing is ever lame enough to pass up, because no matter the task given, a Christian knows God watches and speaks behind the scenes. Those you meet, create for, and work with are people God loves and needs you as an ambassador to spread that love.

 

Lastly, a designer’s arsenal does not live on mad Photoshop skills or killer app layouts alone but intuition, assertiveness, and proactive behavior are just as important of weaponry choice like comfort with the Pathfinder tool(s). A Christian designer applies those three because it’s not about the job or you but about building relationships and glorifying Jesus Christ.

 

–LD

I wanted to share a few links that show some examples of some great portfolios.

Enjoy.

1.   15 RIDICULOUSLY GOOD GRAPHIC DESIGN PORTFOLIOS (PLUS 1 BONUS)

 

2.  Graphic Design Portfolios

 

 

3.                     38 Impressive Graphic Designer Portfolios – Wanna have an Ideal Portfolio??                  

 

 

 

The end of the semester is quickly approaching and we are preparing to have our Portfolio Presentation on Saturday, Dec. 3.  In preparation for  this I wanted to share a link with some helpful information regarding developing a print portfolio.

 

7 Tips For Creating a Print-Based Design Portfolio

 

Here are a few resources when searching for the a portfolio book to show off your work. :-)

1.  Jerry’s Artarama

 

 

2.  Portfolios and Art Cases

 

 

3.  Paolo Cardelli

 

Not an exhaustive list by any means but a starting place to go investigate and hopefully begin your journey.

 

 

  • Kris is back from an exciting AIGA Pivot Conference! Watch the blog for interesting people and places he encountered.
  • Font Monsters are already up and will continue to be posted the next few days. Keep checking in this week and leave comments for you favorite!
  • Watch the blog for student responses to some questions about our program.

Our Third Annual Font Family Contest is about to begin.  This is where we post our Student’s Font (Monster) Families and we ask you to like them on Facebook, or leave a comment to show your support for your favorites.  Yes you can ‘vote’ for more than one and there is a prize to the ‘winning’ student.  This is one of our favorite assignments and always produces some really fun results.  I hope you enjoy them.

 

  • Studio classes will be participating in a brainstorming workshop with McNair Wilson this week.
  • Kris is heading to the AIGA conference next week.
  • Check out the blog later this week to see the student designed header and poster for the upcoming Theatre Alumni Show – Galileo. See more info about the Theatre department here.
  • Studio class is also finishing branding work for a client and starting work for a new client. Work to be posted soon!
  • The department of Graphic Design is still seeking a full time professor. Please check out the job listing here:  http://www.belhaven.edu/belhaven/employment/graphic-design.pdf
  • In this week’s departmental guest speaker, McNair Wilson, will be with us. You can find out more about McNair at his website or his blog. He will also be walking the Senior studio classes through his brainstorming workshop.
  • The class schedule for the spring should be up in blazenet soon!
  • Font Monster Family will start appearing on the blog on October 6th.
  • We are in the final stages of some logo & identity work for a client. The final product will be posted soon!
  • NO Departmental meeting this week, BUT there will be one next week – 9/28/11 at 4pm in Bitsy Irby 116.
  • Stay tuned to the blog for our Annual Font Monster Contest. They will be posted soon so stay tuned because we’ll need your votes for favorite.
The 411 for the one one six this week:
The 411 for the one one six this week:
  • Junior and Senior level students have started  work for a brand new client.
  • Our Portfolio and Resume class is looking for well designed portfolios and resumes. If you have links or ideas, please leave your comments.
  • Mandatory attendance of ALL Graphic Design majors is expected for the first departmental meeting on Wednesday, August 31 at 4:00pm, Bitsy Irby 116.
  • Anyone still needing contact information for software licensing, please email Kris (kdietrich@belhaven.edu).
  • The department of Graphic Design is still seeking a full time professor. Please check out the job listing here:  http://www.belhaven.edu/belhaven/employment/graphic-design.pdf

Best class this year and Favorite Assignment?
I took computer graphics 1, computer graphics 2, typography, web design and graphic design lab 2 this year. I liked all of my classes a lot. I think my favorite project was the magazine layout we had to do in computer graphics 2. I would love to work in magazines and I would like to have a class that focues on that more. But I definitely liked (or eventually) liked every class that I took.

Why did you choose BU?
I chose BU because my siblings graduated from here, so I have known about it for a while, and I really liked the atmosphere and what Belhaven stands for. I went to a different school for 2 years prior to transferring, but I believe I made the right choice in coming here.

What excites you about design?
All of the different aspects of design. It’s not limited to one thing and the opportunities are endless.

Recently we had the privilege of having Steve Tadlock from the Broderick Agency speak to our Graphic Design majors.  He walked them through some of his experiences and showed them some of his work as he has worked on a number of different projects over the years incorporating many forms and kinds of media.

I asked Steve to give us a list of some of the designers, resources, and books that he felt Graphic Design majors should be familiar with and this the result:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My pleasure, Kris. (This is by no means an exhaustive list).

Each student should make their own list of inspirational websites. My short-list includes:

aiga.com
graphic-exchange.com
grainedit.com
ilovetypography.com
commarts.com
printmag.com

Books to read; these are on advertising, not design so much. It’s important to understand the difference.

GUTS: Advertising From the Inside Out, by John Lyons. (haven’t read this in a while but I remember it was good)

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. by Luke Sullivan. (if you’re serious about advertising, this is a must-read).

Memorize CA.
Google the credits in work you like.

Some designers you should know:

Saul Bass
Lucian Bernhard
Michael Bierut
Ivan Chermayeff and Thomas Geismar
Seymour Chwast
Steven Heller
Kit Hinrichs
Woody Pirtle
Herb Lubalin
Clement Mok
Walter Landor
Steve Frykholm
Margo Chase

More good stuff for your blog (or just reading)

So You Want To Be A Rock Star …

I like this paragraph in particular:

“After all these years, and after learning a little bit about what it takes to do great work, I’ve come to realize that talent isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Instead, it’s desire that often separates the best from the rest.”

ST

What’s the best class and assignment this year?

GDS 211 is my best class and the Transdigm Annual Report is my best assignment this year.

What areas you have grown the most?

In general, I have grown to know how to use more software, such as Indesign and Illustrator, and my creativity has considerably developed. I also have experienced a lot of real market experience from activity such as the Capital Gain conference.

Why Belhaven?

Belhaven offers unique biblical principled curriculum, which is the top priority when I was making my college decision. Moreover, it offers small class sizes, which allows more teacher-student interaction.

What has it done to you spiritually, academically?

It has continuously building up my faith and confidence in Christ, and also helped me to see my future path clearer.

Career plan

I have not decided it yet, however, I would like to become a medical illustrator.

DL

What areas have you grown the most?

Being my second semester here at Belhaven,I would have to say time management would be where I have grown the most. With the classes and work study, it has made me realize what time management really is.  Its making me learn that every minute is useful, so make it worth it.

CG

I recently asked our Graphic Design students to answer a few questions here on the blog so keep connected and enjoy some honest & informative posts from our current students.  :-)

Enjoy some projects from the previous semester as we get ready for the Spring Semester.

Dark

Dark

Windy

Windy

Falling

Falling

Vast

Vast

Flash

Flash

Colorful

Colorful

Fluffy

Fluffy

fontasta assignment

Stinky

Drip

Drip

Triangular

Triangular

The landscape of the photography industry has changed drastically in the last decade. No longer does pure technical know-how qualify you to succeed or have a place in the industry. In the midst of all the change Dane Sanders has had a significant impact on the wedding and portrait industry with his book FastTrack Photographer as well as the conversations he regularly engages in on his weekly podcast ‘Ask Dane’ and his FastTrack Roadshow Workshops.

We are really excited to have Dane here in Jackson for one of his workshops and just as excited to have him offering a free talk Thursday evening on Belhaven campus. This is an event that you don’t want to miss. You will leave challenged and inspired!

Click here for the details.

Blessings,

Erin Fults

acornstudio_logo_web.jpg

601.291.3761

a c o r n s t u d i o p h o t o . c o m

I wanted to say  Thank you to a Heidi Flynn Barnett of Flynn Design.  Heidi was kind enough to come over and talk to our students about being a free lance Graphic Design and some of the joys & pit falls of working for oneself.


Flynn Design

Flynn Design


So go check out her stuff online!  http://www.groovinby.com

Thanks again Heidi, we all enjoyed seeing and hearing about your journey.

So we were discussing one of the agitations with using our trackpads for our design work and one of the reoccurring themes was this trouble with rotating, & zooming unexpectantly….well here is the official page from Adobe with the fix for that in CS5 and CS4.

THRIVE
Navigate Turbulent Waters of a Challenging Economy
Presented by the American Society of Training and Development
and Belhaven University’s Aspire Program


When:                     Thursday, October 14, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Where:                    Belhaven University Student Center – Second Floor Theatre
Registration:         Free of Charge; RSVP Required at 601-968-8880 or                                                                  degreedevelopment@belhaven.edu

Bullet-proof your career
and learn how to make the most of challenging economic times by starting your own business or through exercising  some “best practices” to maintain your current position.

Speakers include:


· Rob BensonPresident of First Steps Training and Development with offices in Georgia and Kentucky. Rob has achieved prominence in the field of Training and Development with classifications as a Certified Professional Facilitator <http://www.iaf-world.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3672> , Charter member of the Society for Advancement of Consulting <http://www.consultingsociety.com/> , Certified Master Trainer of the Best-in-Class Trouble Shooting Logic <http://www.firststepstraining.com/services/corporate/ps_workshop.htm> methodologies, Inscape Certified DISC Trainer, and a University of Southern Mississippi Certified Training Professional. He received a Bachelor’s degree from Oral Roberts University and a Master’s degree in Secondary Education from the University of Tulsa.

· John Brandon, Manager for the Entrepreneur Center with the Mississippi Development Authority.
With over 30 years experience in a variety of retail-oriented business environments, John has expertise in corporate and store management, buying, consulting, and university-level teaching.  He received the 1992 President’s Award from the Cleveland-Bolivar Chamber of Commerce and the 1996 Award from the National Association of Small Business Development.  He serves as an adjunct faculty member for Mississippi College.

· Dr. Margie Culbertson, Consultant Coordinator of the MS Center for Nonprofits in Jackson.
She is the author of three books and the editor of six.  Margie has been a management consultant, corporate trainer and keynote speaker, as well as a college instructor, photographer, artist, and writer.   Her work has taken her across the U.S. and Europe with offices based out of California, Texas, and Washington State. She received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Organizational Psychology from San Diego State University and a Ph.D. in Speech Communication from the University of Texas at Austin.

· Karlos Taylor, Specialty Instructor of Graphic Design at Belhaven University.
With background as a freelance Graphic Designer, he has served as Art Director for M3A Architecture in Jackson.  He received a scholarship from Mississippi College where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and has completed a Master of Fine Arts in Computer from Memphis College of Art. He has taught over 7 years at the university level as both a full-time and adjunct professor.

The following seminar THRIVE, hosted by Aspire and the local Association for Training and Development, will focus on “Bullet-Proofing Your Career” in tough, economic times.  The workshop is free of charge, open to the public, and students/faculty are encouraged to attend.  RSVP is needed as seating is limited (601-968-8880/degreedevelopment@belhaven.edu).

coroflot

Coroflot is one of my favorite sites to visit regularly because it offers a ton of insight and inspiration to emerging designers. I would call it the “Facebook of the Design World.” The site allows you to create a profile page, post a resume, share your latest work and receive monthly reports allowing you to know what designs are receiving the most views per month. It’s a great networking tool. Coroflot allows you to create and join existing groups to connect to other designers from around the world that share your same interests. If you’re looking for work, Coroflot even has a job posting section where you can view and send you Coroflot page directly to the companies in your field that are looking to hire. I found this site extremely helpful when I was a student because I didn’t have the time to build a personal website and keep it updated with my latest work all the time. Updating work on Coroflot is as easy as uploading photos to facebook. Anyone can do it, and in my opinion, it’s the quickest way to get discovered as a designer. Check it out:  www.coroflot.com

Trey Vann
Art Director
The Cirlot Agency

So  after asking a freshmen about why she chose Belhaven, and reading her response I was naturally curious to know more, like how she decided upon Graphic Design as a major, here was her response……..

Why I Chose Graphic Design

I have been surrounded with art my whole life. My sister is a photography major and my oldest brother started out in graphic design but now does more of the business side than creative. I grew up in a home that had a love for art. When I was little I used to sit for hours and hours and watch my big sister work on her college art projects. I just loved watching how she created the beautiful picture and wanted to learn how I could do it too. I took art classes in elementary and junior high school and loved being able to create pictures with pencil, oil pastels, paint, or create a vase with broken pieces of glass. Once I got to high school I took digital photography, drawing, web design, and interior design and loved it all. I knew graphic design was what I wanted to do when I looked at all the classes required for the major and couldn’t wait to take all of them and learn all that I could. The beauty of art has always attracted me and I have always loved being able to create it myself. Sometimes I kind of struggle with the whole inspiration or “what do I draw” thoughts, but with graphic design there is more of a need where a client needs a logo, or a web page, or play bill to be designed. There is already the need and I am here to fulfill that need with my creative ideas and it has more of a purpose than to just make somebody feel something. It is to catch the viewers’ eye and intrigue them to come to your event or buy your product. I love being able to help people. Knowing that I can both create art and help someone with graphic design is just the perfect fit for me.

So why did you choose to be a Graphic Designer?  (Or be a Graphic Design Major?)


In June, I was locked in a conference room for two days with our Administrative Team, the Directors of Admission and Integrated Marketing, and some incredibly gifted marketing consultants.

Our time together was for one simple task – to articulate exactly what Belhaven University does that distinguishes us from all other colleges and universities.

You’d think that assignment would be easy – but it wasn’t. And fortunately, we had Liza Looser and the Cirlot Agency, one of the country’s top marketing firms, leading us through this analysis – a gift of their time given to Belhaven, worth far more than we could ever afford, had we hired their council like other clients for this analysis.

We were charged with distilling everything special about Belhaven into one or two words. If you had only one or two words to describe everything that is unique about us – what would you say?

I’ve suggested to the campus that “Christ focused” would be those two words, and while true, we were quickly convinced in our session that those words didn’t articulate what made us different from every other evangelical school.

Well, it may not be the perfect answer, but to summarize the nature of what distinguishes Belhaven University from all the other 4,168 schools in America we chose the words: “purposeful stewardship.”

Not too catchy for a billboard is it? Yea, we didn’t think so either, but it’s the truth, and we’ll find some good ways to explain it.

It comes down to this idea – we have a drive and culture ingrained in Belhaven that seeks to get the best out of everything that God has given to us. We are purposefully good stewards of whatever the Lord entrusts to us.

If we take all the complexities and distinctives of this University, and distill them into this core idea of “purposeful stewardship,” everything we do boils down into three critical stewardship callings given to us by God:

1. Purposeful stewardship of teaching an unchanging biblical
worldview

2. Purposeful stewardship of valuing every student
.

3. Purposeful stewardship of honoring God-given opportunities.

_______________________________________________________________________
Dr. Roger Parrott
President, Belhaven University
1500 Peachtree Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39202
(601) 968-5919 voice — 352-1911 fax

Blog:  http://blogs.belhaven.edu/president/
Home page:  http://www.belhaven.edu/

Belhaven University – Our Standard is Christ
Be strong and courageous! … The Lord your God will go ahead of you.
Deuteronomy 31:6 …. Belhaven University 2010-11 Verse of the Year

We have been blessed this year with the addition of two new Instructors in our Graphic Design Dept. and in the popular facebook ‘do you know your neighbour’ type quizzes I asked them a few questions.  :-)

First up Mr. Karlos Taylor, our new Specialty Instructor in Graphic Design

Favorite Designer? I don’t have a favorite designer, but I am an ABSOLUTE fan of German typography! I hope to study there at some point in my career.

Favorite Font? Totally depends on the situation. Century Gothic is very amicable and clear; great for copy.

Favorite non-Graphic place of inspiration?
My car. I am always in it, and for some reason, design concepts really come together on my windshield.

If you could describe your design style in one – two sentences what would you say?
Direct and indirect: Direct in its initial presentation, and filled with indirect details that support the direct stuff.

Favorite project you have ever done?  Any samples you could share?
The banners I do for my church’s pulpit and other concept banners/large scale pieces. I love them because it’s cool to have to create something that ties several aspects of truth into one finite work. (example attached)

Finish this sentence……

I am most looking forward to making connections between the Graphic Design Department and the rest of the institution, and making an impact on the surrounding community during my time at Belhaven

Work by Karlos Taylor
Work by Karlos Taylor

…and the Jonathan Shull our Adjunct Professor’s answers:

Favorite Designer: Joel Templin

Favorite Font: Century Gothic & DeSoto

Favorite non-Graphic place of inspiration: www.apartmenttherapy.com <http://www.apartmenttherapy.com>

Favorite Graphic place of inspiration via the web: www.beastpieces.com <http://www.beastpieces.com>

If you could describe your design style in one – two sentences what would you say? My goal is to create relevant and authentic design. If there is no relevance, what is the point?

Favorite project you have ever done? I am currently working on the branding for Parlor Market, a new fine dining restaurant opening downtown Jackson in late September. They have been a graphic designer’s dream client. Example: custom wooden cheese and charcuterie boards with the logo I created branded into the wood. The name comes from the building’s history, which I insisted the chef/owner do his research on. In the 1920′s it was downtown Jackson’s dry goods grocery store named Parlor Market. It was also a marble company, a leather company, and an oyster bar – all design elements which are being incorporated into the brand experience.

See more at http://www.facebook.com/parlormarket

I am most looking forward to learning from my students and helping them become better designers during my time at Belhaven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think you can see we have a pretty cool team assembled her for our Fall slate of classes & that we as Faculty are excited to be here and interacting, teaching, and mentoring you guys, the next generation of design, the up and coming visual voices !!

So I asked two of our returning students to give me some advice they would have liked to have when they first came to Belhaven that they had not gotten…… and this is what they came up with

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greetings from Colorado and no Humidity,

College Advice, What’s Happening this Summer, and Tidbits

My name is Lindsay Downs. I’ll be a junior (a 15th grader! ;)   graphic designer at Belhaven this upcoming year. I came in last year as a transfer student.  It was almost unreal that a jewel of a school is right here in Jackson, MS. My first year here was challenging, uplifting, and an experience I won’t forget. Being a transfer my biggest concern was:

“Crud. I have to do this all over again?”

Mostly, this came from memories of orientation and settling in.  My orientation was a class at my former school, not a one week ordeal. Either I passed or failed at being admitted into a new phase in my life: college. Well, whatever. There’s 5 things that work to pass. It doesn’t whether you’re a freshmen, senior, transfer, or someone in-between.

  1. A maturing personal relationship with The Lord
  2. Dedication and Passion:
  3. Hard Work: Utilize what God has given you to the best of your abilities
  4. Family and friends that will encourage, guide, and influence you in the ways of Christ
  5. The people God leads into your life for a reason, good or bad. That annoying kid brother or counter lady at Piggly Wiggly with the mobile mole? Yep. They count! Every person that I’ve come to know or meet in passing has impacted me in some way. There’s always something to learn from your life experiences and none are dumb or worthless!

My personal challenge in college (and in general) would be time management. Sometimes too much is going on at once and it’s hard to make the necessary time and focus to do what needs to be done. My biggest mistake when I was a freshmen was I was involved in too much. It distracted me! I need to remember to keep The Lord in sight at all times. Then will things will be clear and in focus. The Holy Spirit is like the lens of your soul. He adjusts what needs to be captured.

Advice as a designer:

Some of our best ideas as designers and artists come from lazy, spontaneous, and unexplainable moments. A mantra from a former professor of mine:

K.I.S.S: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

And it works!

And of course God’s Word:

Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD Godis with you. He will not fail you or forsake you…”

1 Chronicles 28:20

What’s happening this summer:

I am working as a receptionist and as a freelance graphic designer for Pierret Designs (a jewelry company) in downtown  Denver as well as a legal assistant and file clerk at The Hopp Law Firm, LLC  in downtown Denver.

My duties at Pierret consist of making sure orders are tracked, shipped/delivered, photos are taken, and on the side updating their business cards and creating a brochure for their services (I hope my photos uploaded)

The law firm consists of doing legal processing like bankruptcies, filing (lots of filing), and managing given projects like creating presentations for upcoming meetings. Grunt work basically.

These opportunities have been a blessing in learning how a small business runs, staying organized, and conducting myself as a professional but most importantly as woman of God. Anything I do should be for his glory and not my own dreams and ambitions.

Lastly, led God lead, my plans reach epic levels of stupidity and human limitations, so the wisest (and painless) way life works is when He’s in charge. And He is!

Lindsay's Summer Work

Lindsay's Summer Work

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok here are my ideas…

The old adage is true, you get out what you put in. If you aren’t very interested in a class, still put forth an effort. You’ll respect yourself in the end.

It’s not enough to care. You have to SHOW that you care.

The people around you are your biggest asset. Surround yourself with people that you can trust, but also make you laugh.

If you aren’t making an effort in a class you may feel that your professors are out to get you.

Your professors don’t hate you. In fact, they want to see you do well more than you do.

Dr. Martin might be a pool shark. :-)

1 hour of Chapel is better than 2 hours of Community Service. It’s not worth the nap to miss it.

If the sprinklers are on, it’s probably also raining. :-(

The food in the Dining Commons probably won’t kill you…(at least not until you are 50 with a coronary) ;)

If you play in the fountain late at night, watch for security and be ready to run into the shadows!

Emily Mabry
Sparrow Ink Design
emily@sparrowinkdesign.com
www.sparrowinkdesign.com <http://www.sparrowinkdesign.com>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks you two for fearlessly sharing, there is some pretty good advice up there.  Have a good Friday and we are looking forward to the first Monday of the semester! :-)

Alright the time has come for some more student projects.  I am going to post some ‘Font Monster Families’ created by the students.  Please vote for your favorites, and yes you can vote for more than one.  You can voice your approval by leaving your comments on this blog or by choosing ‘like’ or commenting on our  facebook page.  In the  ’Families’ assignment the students were asked to create two parents of opposite genders, two children of opposite genders, and a pet.  The characters must be completely created from fonts but can be manipulated to create the desired creative effect.  The children are supposed to look as if they are some sort of a parental combination while still being their own unique font.   In addition to the individual creations, I also asked that there be a ‘famliy’ portrait as well.  All that to say I think these are great and fun and of course full of personality and design!! :-)   Oh and in case I wasn’t clear you are voting by your comments and when it is all over there will be a winner and there is a prize (and it is more than just a good grade!)

Recently we had an opportunity in Graphic Design III to do two real projects for REAL living and breathing (yep… they had a pulse) clients.  What an experience for both myself as an instructor and 14 year design veteran, and the students involved in the project. We’ll hear more from them later.

Project 1, was a financial advisor with an amazing way of helping his clients. Wanting to help them to give as well as grow their funds, he is driven to the clients by his faith… and his wanting to help them in every part of their financial life.  It’s amazing that businesses still can run this way, right?

His firm is called Marshall Financial Planning. And he luckily had an idea of his wants/needs before hand. His tag line, is GROW. PROTECT. GIVE.

The project started off with a bang with good thumbnail work (though I always can see more… a-hem!) and conceptual ideas by the students  as well as interactive time with the client in a round table discussion before and at various stages of the project. The students actually presented several ideas each and we walked through the painstaking presentation board setup such as creating pockets for easy access so the client could remove mocked up business cards and see how they would feel in his hands. {Note from the instructor: graphic design is an interactive process, to be touched, held, and emotionally engaged}.

This project went smoothly, only a few things that I hope the students have learned. While I always discuss, and encourage them, I also demand that they go above and beyond expectations. To be honest, in this area we need a little more work. They are designers and should give the client the “wow I would have never thought of that” moment.  I had them also very involved with the estimating process. There is no small task in the overall process of creating for a client.

At this point I think they’ll agree that experience is truly the best teacher. I created this for myself as I was going through classes, and I am excited to guide opportunities like this in the Belhaven Graphic Design program.  I have attached the latest of the chosen logos for Marshall Financial Planning.

This logo below, is designed by Andrew White. I think you will find the concept clear and Marshall Financial will find success for their clients as they teach them to GROW. PROTECT. GIVE.          Stay tuned for Project 2 of this series.

Marshall Financial

When I was first asked about creating a blog for the Graphic Design Dept.  I wasn’t sure what I would write about week after week, so I stole an idea I saw on Scott Kelby’s blog where he invites different guests to post blogs on his site on Wednesdays.  I thought this was a great idea and thought I would use Thursdays to do the same thing.  :-)   Thus, giving other creative people and friends of our Department a chance to use our blog to post ideas, thoughts, or otherwise enlighten us.  Well our first guest does just that!

I am honoured and excited to announce that our first guest blogger is Dr. Roger Parrott the President of Belhaven.  So please tune in tomorrow and read his post.  You can also follow and read more about Dr. Parrott and Belhaven on his blog

So what exactly is it we are doing in our graphic design classes this semester… some want to know:

In Graphic Design I, we just completed an assignment to brand a fictional shoe store concept. Students chose and completed a container for the shoes, a logo, a business card, and a bag to carry the product away.

Branding is a concept that is usually foreign to new design students, but I think you have to start right away, thinking about function of your mark(logo) and whether the vision you have will work throughout a certain length of time.  This project created a lot of excitement, and I’ll have photos to post pretty soon.

Some of the  ideas were:

Notable, an upscale women’s shoe store which utilized the fabrics and tones of women’s business clothing fabric to help create it’s environment and palette.

Golden Idol, a store that carried island flip flops, materials were raw and imagery and visuals were taken from the forest of an island to give it a unique environment.

Ditto, a children’s shoe store, where the logo was a whimsical set of chairs in bright color and different sizes, and the box, had a handle to be functional for their mini clients to carry their new pair of shoes away.

The Refinery, an upscale men’s shoe store, inspired by aEuropean environment, and utilizing that imagery of the countryside and a store front of a small village upscale shop within  the brand elements.


Here is the Press release on the Belhaven Site.

Graphic Design Launch

You can also visit our informational website with our curriculum outline and other info here.

Here is the blurb about the New Graphic Design Dept. here at Belhaven that ran in the Clarion Ledger last week.

Graphic Design @ Belhaven

Welcome to the Belhaven’s new Graphic Design Blog.  Stay tuned and shortly we will be posting regular items here that will hopefully tweak your creative juices and give you an inside look into this new and exciting department.