“At
the last meeting you chose a concept for your 25th anniversary
event, which has a stylized version of a running shoe with the
Roman numeral ‘XXV’ worked into the laces…”
Colleen Mandle, a senior in Linda Powell and
Barbara Loveland’s Design Application class, is presenting
variations of the logo concept the design team has worked out
for the 2003 Reeds Lake Run. A team of three students walks the
client through the different color combinations, which they have
printed out and mounted.
It’s a big decision. The logo will appear
on entry applications, posters and the commemorative t-shirts
that runners and volunteers receive.
There’s only one problem with the logos—the
client likes them all and keeps shuffling the examples like bright,
oversized playing cards.
It’s a good problem to have.
Out
of the Go-Fer Business
For the last 12 years, Ferris Visual Design
students have been working on real projects for real clients.
“We jokingly call this a ‘protected
internship,’ but I don’t know how protected it is,”
says Loveland, from her office on the Big Rapids campus.
“What they’re protected from is
having to make coffee and run errands,” adds Powell. “In
a lot of internships, students are just go-fers. This class gives
students the opportunity to go beyond the traditional classroom
setting. We try to teach them about design process in the real
world—from establishing the criteria all the way through
production.”
The two-semester class is run like a small—or
not so small—business.
“We generally review projects in August
to evaluate their potential,” says Loveland. “Getting
projects is pretty much word of mouth now, since we’ve been
doing this for a dozen years.”
West Michigan American Marketing Association,
Gazelle Sports and the Big Rapids Community Foundation are just
some of the clients with whom students have worked.
“So far, clients have been quite pleased
with the results,” says Powell. “That’s proven
by their willingness to come back and work with us on repeat projects.
Each fall we get a new group of students in, and we start from
ground zero again. It’s really fun to see them grow.”
Projects aren’t just a matter of designing
a logo and handing it over. For some clients, the students perform
what could only be called project management—overseeing
multiple facets of a job.
One of the class’ ongoing clients is the
Children’s Assessment Center, which works with sexually
abused children. For the CAC’s 10-year anniversary fundraiser,
students designed event materials, including the invitations to
the gala event and folders that held the designed programs for
the evening.
“In addition, the center bought teddy
bears for the donors. The more money someone gave, the bigger
the bear they got,” says Powell. “The students made
hearts with the corporate sponsors’ names on them that went
around the bears’ necks and physically set up the display.
For the silent auction, they made clipboards with sheets to put
bid numbers on, held by magnets with the center’s logo.
They even attended the black-tie optional event. That’s
really seeing a project all the way through.”
Tearing
Along the Dotted Line
Kristen Aidif, Fifth Third River Bank Run race
director, is addressing a crowded press conference at the bank’s
downtown Grand Rapids building. The highlight of the conference
is the unveiling of the designs for the 2003 commemorative
t-shirts and billboards.
“I want to tell you about a partnership
that I have been excited about for months,” says Aidif.
“The Fifth Third River Bank Run partnered this year with
Ferris State University, which if you don’t know, has a
ton of students who have incredible talent.”
Those talented students are none other than
Powell and Loveland’s Visual Design seniors who not only
designed the 2003 race logo, which will go on everything from
advertising to t-shirts to billboards, but also suggested the
theme.
Aidif makes clear to the assembled media that’s
only part of the story.
“When we first went to them and they started
brainstorming themes, they came back to us with 99 tag lines—99!
Can you believe it?” With the logo on display and the Visual
Design students sporting some of the apparel that will be worn
on race day, Aidif still seems incredulous. “It was very
professional.”
The Fifth Third River Bank Run is the largest
25K race in the country, attracting both casual runners and international
world-class athletes. It’s one of Grand Rapids’ highest
profile annual events, so designing the promotional material was
both a real coup and a real challenge.
Then-seniors John Zerfas and Mark Bolek worked
on the logo design for the run, in terms of its concept design
and actual illustration. The design consists of a colorful yellow
and blue footprint of a shoe in the middle of a road. Behind the
print are several yellow centerlines floating off into the sky.
Zerfas says it all starts with concept development.
“The entire team came up with ideas, brainstormed
in groups, which generated all the different ideas—from
really wild to more straight-forward approaches,” he says.
“One benefit with working as a group is that one person
might be a good illustrator, someone else a good concept person
and another experienced in actual production. In the end, you
become a better illustrator, better concept person and gain experience
with the entire design process.”
Illustrating
the Future
Each student who graduates from the visual design
program is unique. The career possibilities are nearly endless
for someone who possesses a creative mind and talent for design.
While some students are struggling through a
rough job market, many Visual Design students are already working.
Zerfas is one of several graduates who landed a job right after
receiving his diploma. Now working for the McNenly Group, a graphic
design firm in Lansing, Zerfas owes his career start to a portfolio
review day held before graduation. All 21 graduating seniors participated,
presenting their work to several graphic design professionals,
some of whom were looking to hire.
“It was a great opportunity,” says
Zerfas. “As a class, we spent most of the year developing
pieces to show at portfolio day.”
Rochelle Wieber was another student who lined
up a job early. Before graduation, she learned about a graphic
design position at McCarty Communications in Saranac, where she
now designs newsletters and posters for credit unions, banks and
other clients.
Before most students started thinking about
a career, at least a third of the Visual Design students already
had positions before, or soon after, graduation.
For the Ferris students who received real world
experience with clients such as Fifth Third and those who have
jobs, the race down the dotted line is running smoothly.
