By Ashley Mussbacher (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: February 19, 2014 (Online only)
“You need to have talent to make a good portfolio,” said graphic and digital design program coordinator Karin Jager.
She spoke at an open workshop for the graphic design program in Mission on February 5, hosted by the graphic and digital design student association. Both Jager and graphic design instructor Nova Hopkins shared their knowledge on the graphic and digital design programs with a room packed full of prospective UFV students. Topics included technical details regarding the program, how to create a portfolio, fundamentals of design, and tips on how to effectively market your unique brand identity.
“We are influenced by design. [It] influences everything we see and do,” said Hopkins.
Bachelor of fine arts advisor Paula Funk also spoke to the audience about financial assistance, disabilities, and program planning.
The talk was followed by a tour of the facilities in Mission campus, after which organizers featured student projects, themed around sustainability, from previous semesters. Jager noted the next community project students were working on involves the promotional material for the annual folk music festival in Mission.
Hopkins discussed how graphic designers play key roles in advertising, web design, and magazines. She noted that wherever a graphic designer is, they are constantly keeping up to date with the latest in design.
“Graphic design is constantly changing,” Hopkins said, “and you must be able to change with it.”
Jager hopes the addition of a graphic design major is among those changes.
“[There have been] some big picture discussions on developing a graphic design major or a bachelor of design,” she noted.
Currently, two new 400-level courses are in the approval process for September 2014. These courses, Jager explained, will “offer the opportunity for students to focus on an area within the discipline of graphic design through self-directed projects, practicums, or internships.”
The courses would function as stepping stones to the prospective bachelor of arts design major. Jager explained how students would benefit from the increased upper-level graphic design classes.
“An additional two years of study would enable a more focused and comprehensive portfolio, specializations within the field, a higher level of skills, and great professional capacity,” she said. “At the 300/400 level there is a greater emphasis on design thinking and practice based professional development. A four-year degree would provide opportunities for internships and industry collaboration.”
Students who are in a graphic design program will be able to ladder into a major at the end-point of their studies, but getting in would be the trick.
“It is competitive,” Jager admitted. After all, only 20 applicants are selected per year to attend UFV’s graphic design program.
It all comes down to their portfolio, and their skills.
