Design Futures

If you’re just out of school you’ll want to listen to this interview with Associate Graphic Designer at Insider, Alyssa Powell. She talks about the challenges of landing her first job and the random connection that led to it. We talk about the non-design stuff at work, including salary, deadlines, teams, and working and learning from co-workers. She also discusses making videos and chalk typography as projects to work through some life issues, how she doesn’t get creative block, and traveling to Cuba and Italy during her time at Saint Rose.

Show Links

• Alyssa’s website
• Insider
• Can I Have Your Number (Mad TV)
• Type Thursday
• Big Chop Tutorial
• Slack
• Seth Godin

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

In episode six we travel west to Colorado to talk with illustrator and designer Amanda Lenz. We talk about remembering how to talk to people with the help of renting a desk at a co-working space, illustrating a portrait of Oprah Winfrey for Time Magazine, and being selected for the Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund. Amanda talks about her love of nature inspired by growing up in West Virginia where she was encouraged by her mom to attend special art programs to explore her artistic interests. We also discuss the challenges of life drawing class, transitioning to working as an independent illustrator, project scope creep, and client red flags.

Show Links

• Roost
• Time Magazine’s 100 Women of the Year
• Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund
• Oprah Winfrey
• Colorado Fourteeners
• University of Denver
• AIGA Colorado
• Graphic Artists Guild

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

It’s baseball season. In episode five, graphic designer at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Dani Dayton talks about designing exhibition and social media graphics, inauguration tickets, and the retail catalog. We discuss the process of using wood flooring as the background for a product photoshoot, the Tao of Pooh, and that magical experience of walking in the Plaque Gallery in the early morning as the sun shines through the skylights. Dani also talks about the challenges of being a student athlete (softball) at the College of Saint Rose and thanks Mr. Erik Wilson, the high school art teacher, who deserves some credit for Dani’s successes. Thanks Mr. Wilson.

Show Links

• The Tao of Pooh
• National Baseball Hall of Fame
• New York Yankees
• The College of Saint Rose
• SR Golden Nights
• Tony the Tiger

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

In episode four, 2014 graduate of the College of Saint Rose, Erica Cotten and I nerd-out about user flows, prototyping with Sketch and Figma, the art of comic books, and the UI pattern of toggles. We discuss her role as a user experience designer at Salesforce, a cloud-based software company, where she works on story grooming, wireframes, user research, and rapid prototyping. Erica discusses a number of conferences that she’s looking forward to attending post-pandemic to connect with college and gaming friends. And she helps me understand Twitch. Let the streaming begin.

Show Links

• Erica on Twitch
• The College of Saint Rose
• Salesforce
• Adobe XD
• Figma
• TwitchCon

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

The husband and wife team at Macaroni Creative, Ron Gibbons and Mackenzie Carey, join me in episode three. We discuss designing for consumer packaged goods, leaving their full-time jobs to start their own design firm, and being the only designers in the room. They share the challenges of teaching an online course (“props to our teachers” —Mackenzie) on Nerdabe.com and streaming their design process on Adobe Live. We talk about all this and more while New York City fire trucks drive by and the dogs, Harvey and Milo, sleep at their feet. Did somebody say Greenies?

Links

• Macaroni Creative
• The Sage Colleges
• The College of Saint Rose
• The Dieline
• Cleveland Kitchen
• Louisville Vegan Jerky
• Nerdabe
• Adobe Live

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

In this episode creative director and entrepreneur, Paul Gonzalez shares stories about making pillows with his mom as a child in Sarasota, FL, his appreciation for House music, and being a professional Salsa dancer. We also discuss his New York City internship and returning to the city to begin freelancing immediately after graduating from the Ringling College of Art & Design in 2012. He also tells us what he learned from those years of freelancing and how that experience helped him start his own design firm, StudioBlack. And finally, we absolutely do talk about Type Club.

Show Links

• StudioBlack
• Ringling College of Art & Design
• Baila Society
• Nike
• Audible

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

In this first episode I talk to Josh Terry, graphic designer at T Brand Studio at The New York Times, about his role as an editorial designer working on branded content articles for advertising clients. We discuss collaborating with illustrators to design editorial content for interactive experiences. Josh also reflects on drawing boxes, learning art and design history, and developing design concepts at The College of Saint Rose. We also discuss his sweet tooth, being a marine reservist, and meeting Milton Glaser.

Show Links

• Josh’s portfolio
• T Brand Studio
• Star Trek: Discovery
• The Darkest Hour
• The College of Saint Rose
• Rui Ricardo
• Mads Berg
• Boldtron

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

Graphic Design? Can you make a living at that? Design Futures is a show about the lives of designers as they discover their way in the world after graduation. 

Chris St.Cyr, Associate Professor of Graphic Design at the College of Saint Rose and creative director at the design firm, 2communiqué, interviews former graphic design students to find out what they’ve been doing since graduation. Maybe you’re a high school student or the parent of a high school student wondering if your child can have a career in graphic design or maybe you’re in college right now still wondering about your choice of graphic design as a major or you’re a former student at one of the schools I’ve taught at and you’re wondering what happen to your classmates. We’ll have stories that consider these questions as they relate to design, careers, education, and life after school.

Subscribe! The first episodes will be available in early 2021. 

The Show

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Youtube

The Host

• chrisstcyr.com
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Twitter
• 2communiqué

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)