A message from my students
Two months after being let go because of Covid-19 my students sent me this incredible message. I still have no appropriate words to express my gratitude and appreciation. Yes, of course, I will be happy to be your head ping-ponger - anytime, anywhere.
Building a design community
Table Tennis + Design Tennis + Tacos
Besides coming to a university to learn and be prepared for a profession, students want to have fun and be part of something bigger than themselves. Some time around Thanksgiving we decided to have an annual event called the Turkey Time Table Tennis and Tacos Tournament. Everyone would bring a taco related side and we got together to have a ping pong tournament and a design tennis match. Designers would have seven minutes to create a poster based off a particular theme. The completed file would be served up to the next designer who would use it as a starting point for their poster. It was a fun and irreverent get together.
Bryce Collier, my son and elementary student, won the first year. Congrats to José Bordelon in the second annual tourney.
AIGA events & Studio Tours
Exposing students to the design profession as early and often as possible is very important. The design world is vast. There are many career paths within design. Opening students' eyes to all the industry has to offer is an important part of their education and professional maturation. I conducted studio tours every semester to agencies in the St. Louis metro. We visited Osborn Barr, Fusion Marketing, Brouton Strobe, Atomic Dust, Toky, PGAV, We Are Alexander, New Honor Society, printing and sign facilities, and in-house creative departments as well.
AIGA is a terrific resource for new and established designers. I've been a member since 2001 and I believe its a vital part of a vibrant design community. I helped establish Lindenwood's AIGA student chapter with Professor Audra Hubbell. The university chapter hosted portfolio reviews near campus. We invited local creatives to campus for talks and presentations to our student body. The university chapter would often just have get togethers to watch a design related film or offer a hands-on project.
The chapter would hold regular meetings to let students know about all the AIGA had to offer. This included STL Design Week events, the annual St. Louis AIGA Student Conference, and many other events and initiatives. In 2018, I was elected to the St. Louis AIGA Board of Directors where I served as the St. Louis Chapter's Education Chair. A major responsibility of this position was to facilitate the student conference's portfolio review. 60 industry professionals reviewed the portfolios of 150+ senior students from the region.
Seen below are images from the student conference and the student mixer, lead-up event at Central Print.
Connecting with students helps make everything possible.
An engaged student is a successful student. I have always strived to find ways to bring students in, let them know they are important, and reinforce their belonging to something bigger.
