How has design influenced the way you see or interact with the world? Share a personal experience that highlights its impact on your life, thinking, or creative approach.

On the southern shore of a freshwater lake, in a small town in northwestern Montana, my great grandpa owns a museum called The Miracle Of America Museum. Two summers ago my family and I went on a road trip to visit him. Soon, big tattered billboards advertising the museum began to stream past us, announcing the closure of our drive. I stared at those billboards with their cramped and tiny typography, trumpeting a logo that should have been put to rest 30 years ago, and knew I could design better. I decided it was my time to do my part in the family business. Redesigning the museum's brand would not be hard at all.

I was wrong. Not only was it difficult, it's still a project I am working on 2 years later. In my efforts to build a better brand, I dove into the rabbit hole of marketing and logos and billboards, trying to bridge the gap between knowing the existing designs were bad but being unable to remedy them. Thinking about and trying (and failing) to solve these problems has caused me to grapple with design everywhere. I had to consider the designer in 1986 who made the bad museum logo, and in turn, I have to consider the designers who made my shoes, my favorite websites, and the logos I see every day. They must be considered, because I find bad design displeasing, and good design delightful. It is my intent to maximize the delightful and purge the displeasing, and so I must understand. I must understand why my great grandpa chose to put a paragraph on a billboard, so I can learn from it, or fix it. Design has impacted my life by commanding my curiosity and encouraging me to ask. Why was this designed in this way? Who made this? Most importantly, how can I make this logo not look like it was made in MS paint?

What does success in the Graphic Design program look like to you, and how will you work toward it while helping build a supportive studio community? Consider the habits and skills you want to develop and the ways you plan to support your peers through critique, collaboration and shared studio culture.

I want to be able to say yes to a design request. Yes! I can definitely design a website while effectively using type, composition, color, and motion. I'm not quite there yet, but through sustained effort and building a supportive environment, I will. In my mission to become a great designer, I plan to habitually spend my time designing, making friends with designers, and designing some more.

For the past 8 years, I have been a percussionist, playing in duets, big bands, and in the Razorback Marching Band. The varying collaborative environments of music have taught me the importance of community. There is no substitute for putting in the work, but striving alongside those who practiced daily, were on time for rehearsal, and cared about their peers influenced me for the better. My community encouraged me to care and work hard, creating experiences and connections that are deeply important to me. In the small cohorts of graphic design, every individual is integral to building this type of community. It's a positive feedback loop of effort and learning. I intend to contribute to this loop by showing up, giving my all every day, and caring about those around me, like I learned to do in a musical environment.

In my foundation classes these past 2 semesters, I have felt the buoying influence of encouraging words and questions, friendly banter, and shared artistic inspirations. I can sense it underlying the work I've made. The critiques I've received, and given, have literally changed my art and influenced the way I think about it. The collective minds of 15 artists hold the potential for exponentially excellent designs, but only if shared. I plan to share my mind and opinions, drawing on my unique experiences, to create art and designs that I could never achieve alone.