Graphic Design 3 was one of the most inspirational courses I’ve taken at Whittier College.
It was such a small class that everyone knew one another. Together, we explored art that continues to shape our world and gained hands-on experience with visualizing a brand’s identity—all with a professor who could work with us on an individual level.
What I particularly liked about it was how our art professor exposed our class to a wide range of sources, covering everything from the innovative design of Corita Kent, to the iconic posters of Oscar-winning filmmaker Saul Bass, to more modern artists and designers. From Kent, we learned how we can use everything around us as source material for our own work, and how to work hard while still taking pleasure in our work. This inspired us to further discuss graphic design history and how creative work can sometimes be a lonely pursuit. From Saul Bass, my class learned about the process behind designing logos, since he had begun as a graphic designer and how he transitioned into motion graphics and title design for the film industry.
Our professor also taught us how to execute silk screen printing, and went out of his way to make sure we could silkscreen print logos we had designed throughout the semester. I gained first-hand experience of the silk screen printing process through this class. I learned how a stencil is placed onto a mesh screen and then the ink is pushed through the screen using a squeegee, which I had a chance to try out in person in the basement of the Whittier College art building.
Silkscreen printing is a valuable technique, especially when it comes to graphic design. We learned that in the real world, the screen printing industry needs to know how to resolve issues with designers because a digitally designed logo may look great on the web, but doesn’t translate to physically printing on material.
Through this class, I also learned how businesses and organizations translate their brand identities into visual form. From this process, I learned how we can look at a company's values and identity and apply what we visually see on their website or marketing materials to a logo/brand redesign. For example, each one of us was asked to go through the redesign process after choosing an existing company logo that could use some work. We had to pretend as if we were pitching an entirely new visual identity for the company as we presented our process in front of each other.
After taking this class, I’m better prepared to market myself when it comes to developing brand identities and logo systems. I would recommend this class to anyone who’s passionate about design and marketing, since what you learn here actually does apply to the real world and can help you in future endeavors.
