Former YD Student is Profiled in Argo!
Former Youth Design student Edbert Wang is profiled in the Boston Latin School newspaper Argo!
Since graduating the Youth Design program in 2008, Edbert has continued to explore his passion for design and art. He has been accepted to numerous colleges of art/design, and will soon decide where he will study graphic design in the fall. We wish him luck and congratulate him for all of his hard work!
YOUTH DESIGN Visits Memphis! at The AIGA National Design Conference
YOUTH DESIGN Visits Memphis!
at The AIGA National Design Conference
Make/Think in an Affinity Session Panel Discussion
Looking Back/Looking Forward: Mentoring and the Economic Future of Design,
sponsored by Sappi Fine Paper
Friday, October 9 11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Denise Korn, principal/owner, Korn Design; Mark Randall, principal, Worldstudio; Greg Selkoe, founder, KarmaLoop.com; Petrula Vrontikis, principal, Vrontikis Design Office
Denise Korn and a distinguished panel of designers from various disciplines will share their experiences on how they got their start—the funny stories, awkward interviews and impressive mentors that molded them into the vibrant creative professionals they are today. Join them as they share these formative experiences, how they propelled their careers forward, and their thoughts on what the future holds for the design industry as a whole in this new economic environment.
Last day at MetLife
Everyone at MetLife Creative Services
So Friday was my last day at MetLife! I feel kind of sad to leave. During my last few weeks I made 20 different talk bubble images to be used in a dental brochure, and on my last day I filled them with type or punctuation to match the theme of the brochure, which is the idea that two people are having a “healthy” conversation throughout the pages. I also made some magazine ads and website ads for the brochure.
I spent the majority of the last two weeks working on a personal project, a website portfolio for myself: www.faithzeng.com. I actually spent a while designing and coding a different layout, but I wasn’t happy with it and changed it to this one. It was frustrating having to constantly edit the code the images to be just right, but all in all I’m really happy with it, and it’s very nice to have something like this to take away from the internship.
On the second to last day everyone gave me a laptop bag and some extra MetLife stuff as a going away gift!! Everyone was so nice there, I’m really going to miss them and all the little jokes. I am totally going to visit in the future.
The Mentors of Today…and Tomorrow
Tracy Swyst, Director of Operations, AIGA Boston
AIGA is the professional association for design. Founded as the American Institute for Graphic Arts, we are the largest and oldest community of professional designers, with over 60 chapters across the country representing over 20,000 members. The organization is nearly 100 years old our local Boston chapter just celebrated it’s 25th anniversary.
Our mission includes stimulating thinking about design and empowering the success of designers at each stage of the careers. That is one of the reasons we are particularly proud of our long-standing partnership with Youth Design. Our relationship with the professional design community puts us in a unique position to find mentors for our future design community: the students of Youth Design.
I like to ‘joke’ that we take all of our mentors kicking and screaming. As a busy professional, it’s one thing to think about mentoring…’oh…wouldn’t it be nice…’ but something else entirely to actually do it. And one of the most rewarding things about this program is that it offers something to both the interns and the mentors. I heard one mentor say “He opened up a whole side of my brain here….He’s going to inspire me to look at something different next time.” And another mentor shared with me that their intern was part of a client’s intended audience, and so having her input to the design was like going directly to the source. The students can become the teachers. In many ways these young interns are a clean slate, approaching design problems without all of the baggage and pre-conceived ideas that we professionals bring to the process. Having this type of fresh input in a problem solving effort is not only exciting, it’s addictive!
Most of us has had our own mentors in life or in work and when you think of that person, there’s emotion there: pride, growth, nurturing, comfort. I’ve met some of the Youth Design kids at their interviews before they participated in the program, and then again when it’s done. And the changes in them are noticeable. They appear more confident, excited and articulate.
AIGA learned from a recent survey of our members that young professionals want a relationship with AIGA for personal benefits. Designers at age 40 are more interested in what AIGA is doing to position the design profession in the business landscape. And designers who are 50 to 60 years old are most interested in giving back. Perhaps this means that the interns graduating from the Youth Design program today, are the mentors of tomorrow!
Tracy Swyst
Director of Operations
AIGA Boston
Congratulations YDB ’09 Graduates!!
YDB Graduates, Mentors and Volunteers gather and celebrate together after Graduation!
Students and Mentors present their experiences:
“I am frankly blown away by this summer’s group of students, mentors and volunteers. It could not have been more diverse and eclectic from every angle…this amazing combination of people, ideas and knowledge fed an incredibly rich experience for anyone who touched Youth Design ’09.”
- Denise Korn, Youth Design Founder
“This has been a wonderful and successful summer! I have truly enjoyed every minute of the program and working with these fantastic, smart and creative students as well as with the fabulous, talented and dedicated mentors.”
- Tara Oremus, Youth Design Director of Operations
“Attending the Professional Development events turned out to be the highlight of my summer! The presentations were wonderful especially in terms of giving the students insight into the design process of various individuals–what inspires them, how do they think, what really excites them about the process of doing design work, and what really challenges them. When the students look at a magazine, product, an article of clothing, a poster—they will understand some of what went into it and how much the designer’s passion and individuality contribute to making the design powerful. If this excites them, they now know they can pursue this as a viable career. It was clear that all the presenters love what they do in design, and their very genuine interest in sharing their passion and knowledge with the students energized the atmosphere. It is really fun just being with the students and their quick and curious minds, hearing their thoughts and ideas, what kinds of questions they ask, what surprises them, etc.”
- Alisa Aronson, Youth Design Boston Madison Park High School Liaison
“I have been completely impressed with the maturity, enthusiasm, talent and dedication of the students involved in this year’s program. If I could sum up these kids in 2 words they would be ‘impressive’ and ‘amazing’.”
- Maegen Rzasa, Youth Design Boston Student Coordinator
“…A consistent theme I’ve experienced over the course of the last three years has been around the surprise over the drive and energy these students bring to the table. I am quite certain that for some of us, high school was less than preparatory for real life. Therefore, look at what you have given these bright minds and creative talent, at this impressionable and important stage in their lives.
All of our mentors enrich this program in many ways. You make it bright and help it grow from one year to the next. You provide a valuable, honest, creative environment for each student. There is no doubt in my mind that each young person will walk away from this experience with something positive that you have instilled in them. And, there is no doubt that they will continue to draw from this experience, that you have generously provided, for years to come.”
- Emily Parent, Youth Design Boston Mentor Coordinator
Do you like to cook?
Notes from Maya at Schwadesign: I started with a tour of the studio and an introduction to what I was going to be doing during my internship. I was expecting the usual tasks such as organizing books. Josh told me to explore their website, to learn more about the studio he started almost 12 years ago. While exploring, I found out what a schwa is, and where their logo came from. A schwa, represented by the upside-down ‘e’, is a “neutral middle vowel…subtle, yet necessary.” A schwa makes communication clear, courteous, and creative. And throughout my internship, I have witnessed the people at Schwa work enthusiastically and diligently to communicate their clients needs and uniqueness.
But on my very first day, I knew things were going to be different when Josh, my boss, turned to me and asked, “Do you like to cook?” — we discussed the parallels between design and cooking. Type, color, form, function, and content are critical to design just as timing, presentation, and ingredients are to design and cooking. Segueing into my project, I got really excited because I didn’t think that I would be able to design something that would actually benefit an organization that I care about. Eventually I decided to design a poster and logo for an environmental organization at my school named Eco. This was very important to me because Eco is the only opportunity at my school for the students to be involved with environmental awareness. Students work side by side with the teachers to make sustainable choices as the school develops. I wanted to inform the students that they could make a change for the school and in their own environmental footprint. Making a poster that was informative and attractive was a way to encourage awareness and involvement in the meetings, and in the organization. After some research and writing a project proposal, I learned to approach projects as being given an opportunity, not given a problem that needs help.
The studio wall is decorated with a compilation of photographs, posters, illustrations, and labels. On top of the refrigerator, there is a very large sculpture of two bananas, and hidden in the high Pawtucket mill ceilings there is a large disco ball suspended. This strangely reminds me of my room because I too have my assemblage embellishing my walls, as well as a disco ball. (Sadly, I do not have the bananas.) Being in a real work environment is awesome; at Schwa there is normally around five people in the studio, a lot of the team, called Ministers, work outside the studio.
I have always wanted to pursue an artistic career path, and after this experience I am even more eager to explore the world of graphic design.
Getting creative on the Northeastern Campus
Notes from Tamika Reid: Wow. I can honestly say that I’ve never enjoyed a job like this before. There are so many things going on and everyday I’m learning something new. This summer at Northeastern University I learned how very important typography can be from my co-worker Stacey Bakaj; I never knew how scrupulous people were with fonts. From my mentor Pam Rodriguez I learned the basics of web design such as creating layouts with Photoshop, content matrices, and tools for inspiration.
One of the best parts of this summer was being able to follow Bruce Ployer while he acted on all his visions for Northeastern University. One of these visions was having Shepard Fairey install a piece of his artwork in the new Northeastern dorms. Although Shepard Fairey couldn’t be there it was still an amazing experience that not many people can say they have done.
Book Publishing at Harvard University Press
Notes from Colin at Harvard Press: The first two weeks have been amazing! I’ve learned so much at HUP like color, printing, and how much goes into publishing a book. The first couple of days they had me doing some archiving work, it was a bit tedious but it gave me a chance to look at the work of some of the designers who have been there for years, so that was a major plus. After that, they had me design the back of paperback books and that was a lot of fun! I’ve even started doing some of my own book jacket designs– they’re just rough drafts, but it’s good practice. Oh! And I’ve learned the ins and outs of a MAC! Because of this I’m starting to hate my PC :D. Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to here at HUP!
Troy Thompson For Society Original Products
My mentor Marcel
Hats I’m working on
The t-shirt logo I’ve been working on
Notes from Troy: I love this job so much. I did layouts for the Society clothing in illustrator. I also designed my own shirt and hat in Illustrator with my airbrushed name on it. It was really hot. The other day I saw samples of the Society products. I saw shirts, hoodies, and sweaters. So cool. That’s the day when I met Brandon, Marcel’s partner in SOCIETY.
When I finish with my hat and shirt project, Marcel is going to print it out for me. I’m so happy for that. I think I could wear my shirt, and my hat too! This job works well for me. I’ve learned a lot in Illustrator because of Marcel, and I know how products is being shipped around the world.
“What do you think of when you hear the word typography?”
Notes from Stacy Arman:
“Fonts!”
Introduction to Typography was definitely a new experience for most of us. Our 1st project, Kerning, was a little difficult for me. I learned that in typography, kerning is widening or narrowing the space between each letter evenly. Arranging the letters was easy but it was taping them together that I had a hard time with. Overall I saw originality with each intern’s version of the word Helvetica.
Out second project was using only text from newspapers and a few magazines to create a story on a piece of paper. The text was purposefully all in foreign languages so that we would focus more on the image that a word gives off (for our story) than what the word actually says. This project was fun because I could arrange an image out of typography.