Category: Design Program

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Student Spotlight: Ashley Raine

“I originally wanted to go to school to do graphic design/animation like a few of my friends, but I knew I wanted to go to a Christian college close to home, so I came to Grove City. I really started learning more about design and what it really is and encapsulates here and I’m so glad I’m pursuing something more graphic instead of artistic,” Ashley says.

Ashley Raine, a junior at Grove City College, shows her passion for the Department of Communication and Visual Arts through her many related interests. Ashley is a Communication Studies major with a Marketing and Design minor. She started her freshman year as a Marketing major but soon realized that she had an overwhelming interest toward classes in the Department of Communication and Visual Arts. The fact that communication is all about interacting with people made Ashley specifically intrigued to make it her main focus.

Professor Mucha, Dr. Powell, Dr. Mobley, and Professor West have been some of Ashley’s favorite professors through her three years at Grove City College. She stresses how the Department of Communication and Visual Arts has changed her perspective in that they have given her hope and the tools to get where she would like to go after graduation. The impactful professors have been very helpful in showing her what she needs to do, even outside of class, to succeed and learn more. The relatability of classes to real life is something that has really impacted her, too.

Her passion for people and connecting with them shows especially through her Instagram page. It is filled with aesthetically pleasing photos that encompass her enjoyment of family, friends, a love of cute coffee mugs, and nature, just a few of her favorite things.

“I’ve always been a very visually inclined person and was attracted to Instagram for the pictures and visual communication. I use my personal Instagram to connect to others who share similar goals and values like minimalism and faith. I think one of my favorite things I’ve done recently is take over the Gamma Chi Instagram and used it in our rebranding by showing content about who the new Gamma Chis are, why we joined, information about the group, slice of life posts, and basically using social media as a way to connect with other campus groups, alumni, and potential girls,” Ashley smiles.

Ashley’s ideal job after college would be doing something in either graphic design or advertising. Her favorite classes so far have been Design Thinking and Intro to Marketing, mainly because they introduced her to the design aspect in marketing. Although she switched her major to Communication Studies, she highlights how important marketing still is to her. The nice thing is that she is still able to take classes that are not directly in her major and give her room in her schedule to add the minors she has. Ashley smiles excitedly as she sees the department reaching a full Design Major someday for the students especially focused in that subject.

“For me personally, I consider myself an aspiring minimalist. I’m not sure if that has anything to do with communication yet, but it’s definitely a big lifestyle choice. As a Christian and a minimalist it has allowed me to spend less focus on stuff and possessions and more focus on experiences and relationships,” Ashley says. Her minimalistic attitude is important in her studies because she can use her knowledge and skills to their full potential to go toward her future. Ashley is excited to see where the next year and a half take her, especially in her journey as a Communication Studies student.

 

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Reel Life at Grove City College: A Chat with Tara

Today, I talked to Tara about her life at Grove City College. If you have ever met Tara, you know how kind, welcoming, and warm she is. She is a wonderfully sweet person. Her academic life is awesome, too. Tara was originally a biology major but then switched to a communications major in her sophomore year. She has a minor in studio art and spends a ton of time in the Pew Fine Arts studios because of it. Honestly—I always see her there.

She is also passionate about growing in her walk with Christ. A leader on Grove City College’s Intervarsity group, Tara is no stranger to high levels of extracurricular responsibility. I have seen her lead in group settings many times. It is a joy to watch.

I wanted to introduce you to Tara because she has a lot of insight on cross-departmental academic life, being in Studio Arts and Communications. Plus, I do not know anyone as good and consistent at organizing fun activities for friends as Tara. In this video, I asked her about her involvement with Intervarsity, talked with her about some of her favorite professor moments, and got her advice on making friends when you get to college (something she excelled at). I hope you will watch and get a better feel for the type of campus Grove City College is, and the opportunities we have here. Tara is certainly a great example of how multi-faceted a student on this campus can be.

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Create Conference

Not sure if you’re cut out for the corporate world after graduation? Me either, and that’s okay! Grove City College prepares students to enter into a variety of fields following graduation. Some students will go to grad school to pursue medicine, while others land jobs teaching. Some students will land jobs at large marketing firms, while some accept positions at corporate banks. But others will take a less traditional route. Some will start their own business or turn their hobby into a career. In recent years the College has been working to develop its fine arts program in an effort to educate and train students interested in skills pertaining to painting, drawing, screen printing, graphic design, pottery and more. As someone who loves art, design, and the ability to create, I started asking myself how GCC could play a role in helping students to see how they could use their creative abilities following graduation.

In September of 2016 I began working closely with the chair of the Communication and Visual Arts Department, Dr. Jennifer Mobley, to plan a one-day event that would inspire, educate, and connect students hoping to pursue a career in creative communications. We called the event the 2017 Create Conference. Soon after the planning process began, Alexis Marnejon (‘17) hopped on board to join our efforts in planning this event.

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TJ Mousetis – walk in love.

One amazing part of going to school on a small campus like Grove City is that students have the opportunity to work closely with their professors. While planning the Create Conference Alexis and I met weekly with Dr. Mobley  to update her on the planning process, brainstorm and seek her advice.

The Create Conference was held on March 18, 2017. We brought seven speakers to campus to host seminars, main stage talks, and workshops. Our speakers each own small business focused on some field within creative communications. These fields included clothing design, graphic design, photography, music production, cinematography, and painting. Topics covered throughout the day included social media use, how-to’s, dreaming big, and being a Christian business owner. Our speakers were the following individuals: Tim & Brooke Mousetis (walk in love.), Andrew Williams (Neighborhood Film Co.), Cynthia Stanchak (mixed media artist), Taylor Courtney (Bring on the Bash), HB Mertz (wilderness photographer), and Megan Smalley (Scarlet and Gold).

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HB Mertz – wilderness photographer

The event started at 10 a.m. and seminars concluded at 6 p.m. Following the day-time events, we hosted an evening concert in the Student Union where student performers played and audience members enjoyed coffee, brownies, and cookies.

The Create Conference was a success. The speakers were fun and brought a lot of knowledge, wisdom and creativity to share with students. Throughout the day we had about 75 students attending events. The feedback was positive. An event like this has never been done on campus so  students found the opportunity to engage and learn about the creative field exciting.

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Taylor Courtney – Bring on the Bash

Putting on an event like this was hard work but Alexis and I learned countless lessons. It took us about six months to plan the event, so you can bet we breathed a sigh of relief when we saw our hard work come to fruition on March 18. Although we worked closely with Dr. Mobley, Alexis and I handled a majority of the planning. We took care of emailing speakers to invite them to campus and to negotiate accommodations and day of details. In addition we took care of reaching out to various on-campus organizations to help us fund the event. We also connected with various departments and services on campus to help organize details for the day of the event. One of my favorite parts of planning the conference was meeting with a senior graphic design student to develop a promotional theme for the conference.

 

PWhen you’re at Grove City, dream big. There are numerous resources available on campus to help you accomplish your goals. Whether you want to carry out some form of research, plan an event, or complete a big project, connect with your advisor and professors to see how you can turn your plans and dreams into a reality.

My dream was to bring more attention to the creative communications. Use the college as a resource to do big things. The faculty will support you and push you to work hard and to execute your plans with excellence.

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Designing the Design Minor for 2017

In recent years, Grove City has been taking leaps and bounds in the Department of Communication. Not only are great new opportunities emerging within the writing program, but within the visual arts program as well. In the past five years, design professor Nate Mucha has been working hard to single-handedly build Grove City College’s Design courses from the ground up. In fact, a Design minor is set to be available starting in the fall 2017 semester. This week, I had the chance to sit down and get an inside look at Professor Mucha’s experience with the Design program here at Grove City.

Professor Mucha began teaching at Grove City College in the fall semester of 2012. At the time, the school offered one design class taught by visual arts professor Kathy Rhoades. During his first semester, professor Mucha brought his own new design course with him: Intro to Visual Communication Design. Intro to VCD hones students’ practical visual design skills through abstract and applied design principles, introducing students to the grid system and to Adobe InDesign. In the spring semester of that same year, Interactive Design and User Experience was born. This new course incorporated visually appealing design with a practical application for product and web interaction. In 2015, the rest of the current design classes were added to the curriculum: Visual Communication Design I and II, as well as online classes Design Software and Design History.

VCD I and II further incorporate the skills acquired in Intro to VCD and apply them to real-world creative projects such as magazine layout and package design. Design Software utilizes Lynda.com to provide students with a crash course in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop: the industry standard software for designers everywhere. Design History utilizes a more traditional teaching style to take students through the evolution of design from its origins through modern design trends. At the same time when these courses were introduced, professor Mucha gave the school’s original design class, Design Principles, a complete makeover, and a new name: Design Thinking. It is an introductory course with an objective to get students into a practical design mindset, taking students through everything from problem solving and being able to make mistakes to brainstorming and collaborating.

Professor Mucha said that if he had to choose his favorite class to teach, it would be the series of VCD I and VCD II. In the Introduction to VCD class, students are generally starting out in design and curious to learn more about it and discover whether or not it is for them, but the VCD I and II series typically only sees students with a true passion for design, who have completed the basic level design classes. These students aren’t afraid to settle down to get real design work done and create many valuable portfolio pieces throughout the year. As time goes, on, professor Mucha’s classes are attracting more and more students with an interest in design. When he taught his first Intro to VCD class here at GCC, it had 12 students who were curious about design and eager to know more about it. Nowadays his students often know about design coming into the classroom, but they want to experience design classes to expand and apply their skills and learn whether they want to pursue design as a career.

The potential Design minor has seen interest primarily from students within the Communication, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship disciplines. Professor Mucha has also spoken about a Design minor with a handful of Biology and Physics students, as well as Computer Science students who work diligently to make the time to add a minor to their hectic schedules. Some science students are able to incorporate design classes into their schedules by also pursuing a technical writing concentration, which requires a combination of general science, writing, and design classes.

In total, the Design minor has attracted about 10 students so far. It has been received with great enthusiasm, although some seniors graduating in 2017 are disappointed that it won’t be available in time for them to declare it. Even though it won’t be official until next year, a Design minor has actually been in the works for a number of years. As soon as professor Mucha returned to Grove City College to teach, he knew he wanted a Design minor to be made available. With a small Communications department at the time, he knew there was much room for expansion. Professors from all over the school, including the Business, Communication, Art, and Computer Science departments got behind the idea, seeing how the program would be able to elevate all areas of academic thought. Being a discipline that can enhances communication in all areas, design focuses not on itself, but on its message. It is a growing area of study with which we should all become familiar, because it can benefit everyone.

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Your Passion is Here: 2017 Create Conference

Are you worried that your passion is not one of the majors offered by Grove City College? Is there a hobby that you would like to develop? On March 18, Abby Cunningham and Alexis Marnejon with the Communication and Visual Arts Department, Entrepreneurship Department, and Student Government Association will hold the 2017 Create Conference. This conference will be hosting professionals representing a wide range of creative fields such as photography, graphic design, fine art, and multi-media production. The day will feature main stage talks, workshops, small seminars, and a retail/connection event.

This event is really exciting – one of the guest speaks is from The Neighborhood Film Company. As a huge movie buff with dreams to one day to enter the film industry, this is a great opportunity for me to learn and connect.

With conference and events like this, I am sure that my passion will only grow and develop more. Having workshops and making a connection creates a door for my career path.

I have created a promo video for this coming event. Check it out!

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Student Spotlight: Nicolas Giorgi, Designs in Rhythm

I’ve known Nic for nearly my entire time at Grove City College. He came in as an engineer with the class of 2016 with the intent to pursue product design. After extenuating circumstances, Nic left due to medical complications, but returned with the class of 2017.

Despite immense trials, Nic pushed forward, still driven by his passion for aesthetics and practicality. With what was then a fledgling design program, Nic began to delve into the world of design, studying under Nathan Mucha, a recent Design hire at Grove City College. Through hours of study and practice, Nic honed his design skills to realize his dream.

“It’s all about the process,” Nic muses. “There isn’t necessarily a correct solution, or product, when you go into the design process. It builds on each idea you have. Likewise, the journey to becoming a good designer is not a straight shot upwards. Just like any skill or craft, there’s mistakes made; however, that’s the way things go.”

Ecce HomoAfter hours and hours of classwork and personal projects, Nic began to apply his design skills to various outlets across campus. From theatre posters to event programs, he’s applied what he’s learned to whatever comes his way.

For two years now, Nic and I have been roommates, and it’s an absolute pleasure to watch him go through the design process. The various iterations that stem from an initial concept always amaze me, but, being a perfectionist and skilled designer, Nic knows which route will bear the best results.

“Because of the classes I’ve taken and the professors I’ve been able to study under and ask questions of, I’ve had the privilege of taking part in projects which are not only campus-wide and beyond, but that have also stretched me as a designer. Grove City’s classes have taught me the basics, and the opportunities I’ve had provide me with the chance to apply those basics to a myriad of purposes.”

While Nic’s scientific background gives him the geometric and analytical tools to measure his tools with precision, his artistic experiences prior to Grove City College have tempered his design sensibilities to implement creativity into his well thought out plans. While he didn’t take many art classes before college, Nic was an avid drawer.

An aspect that ties closely into his designs, believe it or not, is his music choice. Many of my current favorite songs have come from Nic’s playlists, but his ethereal synth pop closely echos his work. There is a carefully calculated aspect to both, ideas that are filtered to ensure their purest essence is captured, and designs that are rhythmic and measured.

“Everything that I do as a designer is purposeful. It’s a microcosm of life. Whatever you may do, be it design or accounting, we are called to be meticulous and economical. We are given resources and abilities that are not to be wasted.”