Every year, another class rotates through the University of Tennessee's graphic design program. Around March panic sets in as seniors in the program realize there's only one month left to pull together a semester's worth of work. I can sympathize with March Madness because I graduated from the program 4 years ago, 10 lbs. lighter and sleep deprived.
Being invited back to to join the "professional panel" that critiques the thesis projects was a delight. Overall, the half of the class that presented on April 7th had solid projects and showed a great amount of potential. Students tackled subjects that were close to their own recreational, social and professional interests.
To bookend the day, the first student who presented is developing a book that celebrates the component of "chance" in relation to a designer's process. The book shows examples of how this student incorporated "chance" into her design and the results. In it's simplest form, it reminds designers that experimenting off the computer oftentimes leads to interesting, unpredictable solutions. The component of "chance" is the thrill seeking part of being a designer–it involves risk, audacity and can lead to the best design solutions you could ever think of (only thing is, you didn't think of them–you "chanced" upon them)!
The last student had a compelling personal story that motivated her to develop a journal for girls who are suffering from abuse. The journal intends to reach out to girls who are in a transitional state between knowing they need help and taking action steps. The final product will be a small, disguised journal that includes encouraging quotes from other women who have been in the same situation, questionnaires, room for journaling and a resource guide with local contacts of where to go to take the next steps.
Those are only two projects and many more were just as notable. If you're interested in learning more, UT's Senior Show is Friday, April 25th, 6-9PM at the Downtown Gallery.
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