What Got You Into Design?

The first design I remember doing was a poster to promote a show for the ska band I played drums for in high school.  I had seen a ton of cut/paste photocopier style punk rock posters at the local clubs. I ended up making a drawing, then clipping a photo out of an old catalog and placing the type in word perfect (it was the 90s), cutting and pasting each line of text on top of the drawing and photos.  I found that I could mix two things that I love, art and music and make something that people seemed to like.  The band eventually needed a website so I taught myself code and built my first site on geocities (again it was the 90s). I was sure to make use of every animated gif I could get my hands on :).   My art teacher told me I could actually make a living doing this stuff if I went to school for graphic design.  After a couple of years trying to do music full time, I went back to the advice of my teacher and went to school for design.  I ended up getting a BFA in graphic design from The University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and have been fortunate enough to do this for a living ever since.  Feel free to share your stories as well.  Thanks!

One Comment

  1. Trish says:

    My story isn’t as much of how my love for advertising started (my dad taught me Corel Draw – yes 90s!), but memories of school. Last night I dug through my portfolio that was in the back of my closet to find two presentations I did in college for Creative I and II. What was I thinking??!!! I laughed so hard at the bad layout and odd themes, but marveled at the time and thought put into the concepts and ideas. I definitely had a knack for advertising even back then – but, boy was I in far left field! Always keep your work, good and bad, to remind you how far you have come and how much you still have left to learn.

Comments are closed.