Purdue University

Anonymous
First-Year Visual Communications Design Student
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Table of Contents
Helpful Links.........................................................................................2
Description of VCD...............................................................................2
Ethnography: AD 432............................................................................4
Professor Profile: Jun Bum Shim...........................................................6
Practitioner Profile: Laura Garner.........................................................8

Senior Profile: Ryan Buchanan...........................................................10

Reflection...........................................................................................11

Citations.............................................................................................13

Helpful Links
The Professional Association for Design: http://www.aiga.org/
Blogs, tutorials and tips for designers: http://www.youthedesigner.com/

Graphic Design Forum: http://www.designtalkboard.com/

Purdue’s VCD program: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/vpa/ad/vcd/

Visual Communications Design

“Students interested in Visual Communications Design combine words,
ideas, and images in original ways to convey information and promote ideas to
targeted audiences,” according to Purdue’s Visual Communications Design
webpage. Everything you see around you had a designer behind it: posters,
billboards, buildings, letters, webpages, everything. With so many possibilities
as a designer, the doors are open wide with what you can do with your major.
With a major in graphic design, you can work freelance, which
means people come to you when they need something designed. Work
could be pretty unpredictable if you take this route. You can also work
for a company and do design work for them specifically. You could be
asked to design the letter heads they will use or design company memos
that will be distributed. A third avenue you can take is the path Laura
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Garner, who I interviewed, took with a degree in graphic design. She

works for a company that designs and prints material when people need
them. They are a combination of freelance and corporate work in the
idea that work could be unpredictable but you quite so on your own
when it comes to money.
At Purdue, the classes in Visual “Don’t tell me
Communications design are sequenced. This the sky’s the
means that you have to pass the one before it in limit when
order to take the next level which is what you there are
would expect. The surprise for me was that the
footprints on
classes are only offered certain semesters. So you
must pass all your classes or you will be a year the moon.”
-Paul Brandt
behind. Consider the situation where you fail
your design class your first semester here, that
class won’t be available to you until the
following fall. So be sure to keep that in mind as
you make your schedules.
My favorite graphic designer, Milton Glasser, doesn’t constrain
himself to only creating one type of thing. He is truly an inspiration to
me and if you have never looked at his work I would fully recommend
that you do. He is the man that came up with the “I heart NY” image for
New York City that has become wildly popular. He also designs poster
and book covers and magazine layouts. He is living the life that I hope
to lead someday, creating beautiful and moving pieces that influence
people. He is making a difference in the world and that is a very
powerful position to be in. With a degree in Visual Communications
Design you are making an advantageous move to power. You are
allowing yourself to have an opportunity to be remembered in a very
beautiful way. You can create anything you can imagine and if you
continue to pursue this major you will make a glorious impact.
So you can choose to work solo or with co-workers; the door is
wide open. I was talking to local business owner, Katy Gunderson, the
other day and she told me a quote she used to keep herself going when
she was starting up her own bakery and I think it applies seamlessly
with the concept of graphic design. Paul Brandt sang, “Don’t tell me the
sky’s the limit when there are footprints on the moon.”
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Ethnography
AD 432
Many people might expect
that a class of art majors
would be all females, but
that was not my experience
when I observed an upper
level Visual
Communications Design
Class. In the class of 16,
there were seven guys and
nine girls. The small class
size allows the professor to
get to know and assist the
students on a personal
level. There are two classes
of sixteen students offered
for Visual Communications
Design majors after sophomore year. This means only thirty-two VCD students
will make it past their sophomore year. It is a very competitive program.
Currently there are sixty-four students enrolled in classes hoping to pursue a
major in Visual Communications Design. That means that half of the students
will not make it into the program. This is a very scary reality that all VCD
students must face.
The room where AD 432 takes place is surprisingly bare. The walls
were a shade of tan with light brown bulletin boards covering three of the four
walls. On the front wall, there was a single white board and a projection screen.
There were four small posters covering a tiny fraction of one board and that was
it for colors in room. Along the right side of the room there were 35 flat drawers
for the students to store materials, on the shelf above the drawers there were
industrial printers, a scanner and large paper cutter. The high ceilings and bright
lights make the room seem more open and allow for creativity to flow freely.
You can be more creative if you don't feel cramped into a small dark room.
There were two long tables running vertically with eight computers on each
table—four facing the right side of the room and four facing left. Each of the
sixteen spacious work stations had a computer and a large monitor, a cutting
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mat and a tablet for drawing electronically.

Before the class began, the students gathered together in small groups
and talked excitedly. Lots of chatter filled the entire room and it was a pretty
large room. The group closest to me consisted of three girls and one guy. They
were discussing the current assignment they had and their individual ideas on
what they were doing for it. As they gave their ideas the rest of the group gave
constructive criticism and feedback. They all wanted everyone to do well since
they were no longer competing with each other for a spot in VCD. They built
each other up and encouraged one another to go bigger and better. It was a very
comforting sight for me because that is not how it is now as a freshman;
everyone else sees you as their competition and wants to do better than you.
While in this class of seniors everyone wanted to do their personal best and
didn’t compare themselves to the rest of the class. Excitement filled the room in
anticipation for the class to begin but as soon as Li began to speak the room
went silent and everyone faced forward in expectancy. She announced that
there would be a guest speaker that would inform the class of the next and final
project of their senior year. All students listened to the presentation actively.
They took notes on what the team was saying and asked appropriate questions
at the appropriate time. I was very impressed by this class and the respect they
had for the professor and the guest speaker.
While the class that I was fortunate enough to sit in on was a peculiar
one and not very common for AD 432, it was extremely informative and really
stirred up some passion within me. The students were informed that they would
be part of something way bigger than themselves and bigger than the any class
project they have done before. They would be assisting the Purdue team with
the Solar Decathlon. If you are like me, you might never have heard of this
before. The Solar Decathlon is an international competition where teams put
together a proposal for the construction of a net-zero home—a home that
produces enough energy to sustain it and appliances completely. This is done
using solar panels and recycling the water back into the house. Only twenty of
the teams that submit proposals are selected to actually build the house. The
process takes two years, so this same opportunity could be available to you
when you are seniors here. Once all the houses are complete, they are
transported to Washington DC where a “neighborhood” is created of the
houses. The houses are open to the public and are judged by a panel of judges.
The challenge presented to the seniors in Visual Communications
Design was to create all the signage that people would see as they went through
the home. They are to create brochures and posters and signs, anything that the
students feel will enhance the effectiveness of the signs throughout the home.
The signs will inform people of the different energy-saving appliances as well
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as highlight important aspects of the home. The students in the class were extremely excited
about starting this adventure. The team leaders will select a design by one of the groups and they
will use it in the home. The students will also get to help set up the signs so they can see the
vision they had come to life. They get to be involved in something real, something meaningful.
Something that was very real to this group of students a couple years ago was the
Sophomore Review. Do not fret over it, if you work hard and do your very best work on your
projects you will do just fine. If you do not make it into the program, you can
try again the following year and just beef-up your portfolio in the meantime. If
you decide that graphic design is not for you, you can change your major.
Whatever the case may be, cross that bridge when you come to it. If you are
constantly worrying about not making it into the program you will not do well,
just take each project one at a time and you will do fine.

Professor Profile
J. B. S.
As you walk through the halls of visual and
performing arts building also known as PAO,
the walls are covered in brightly colored and
enticing student artwork. If you take the time to
examine the signage next to the art, you will
see the names of the students and the professor
responsible for the decoration. One such
professor is J. B. S., a graduate student from
North Korea. He attended Purdue for his
undergrad studies as well as his graduate work.
He is currently teaching Visual
Communications Design Computing II. He
taught Computing I last semester; a sophomore
level class to prepare students for the
Sophomore Review at the end of the year.
There are currently four classes of prospective
Visual Communications Design students and after this year there will only be
two classes. That means that half of the people pursuing a degree in graphic
design will not make it to their junior year. They can try to pass the sophomore
review the next year and improve their portfolio in the meantime. Since that
option is available, Jun says that each year gets progressively harder because
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students have to compete with the students that did not make it the previous
year. The five full-time VCD faculty members are responsible for reviewing and
making final decisions about the sophomore review. For the sophomore review
you need to have projects from both your freshmen and sophomore year. Jun
says the best way to do well in the sophomore review is to “…work hard. All
you can do is your best. The decision is out of your hands...”
In Computing II there are only three major projects so it is crucial that
you do your best on them to do well in the sophomore review. There are also
smaller assignments given every one or two weeks. In his
classes he lectures for approximately half the time and the
rest is work time. It was kind of difficult to understand him
because English is not his native language. This is how it
is with all the faculty members and most of the graduate
students teaching the classes. So just be prepared because
you will have Asian teachers in VCD. He focuses the class
on learning how to use the Adobe products effectively. He
said that when students leave the class after Computing II
they are very proficient at the programs. He showed me
some work from the students and I could definitely see the
improvement from semester to semester.
When discussing scholarships and internships he
suggested joining the Midwest chapter of AIGA, a
professional association for design. They offer
scholarships and sometimes internships. It is a great
place to start networking as well. I also asked Jun
whether or not to invest in a Mac computer and he
says that the faculty were discussing switching the
Visual Communications Design labs over to Macs
for the next year. I have never used a Mac in my life
so this came as a shock to me. He said that the
Adobe products are better and more effective on the
Mac. When it comes to the professional life, it
depends on the company whether or not you will
have to use a Mac. It is an important skill to be able
to use both PC and Mac effectively, that way you are
prepared for anything professionally.
An example of this was that Jun was very
professionally dressed even though it was casual
Friday. This gave me the sense that he was a serious
man and took his job very seriously. He was also working on a logo for a
Examples from Jun
Bum Shin’s class.
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company in South Korea when he met me for the interview. He is very dedicated
to his work and to helping his students.
In speaking with Jun about the classes next year, I am extremely excited
to get to work with the computers more because that is what I am most
passionate about. I am really excited about learning to use all the Adobe
products effectively and efficiently. The classes I am currently enrolled in are
almost all hands-on, physical construction. While we are learning the basics of
design, it is not what I want to do. I want to create graphics on the computer.
Creating is the best part about graphic design for me. Getting to create
something out of nothing and helping someone somehow, whether it’s getting
their name out there are helping them look more professional. I cannot wait to
break into the field.

Practitioner Profile
L. G.
I visited L. G.at her place of employment,
Purdue Printing Services, which is on campus
just past the veterinary studies buildings. From
the outside, it doesn’t look like much but once
you walk in it is a whole different story. The
offices were pretty standard, gray cubicles with
a desk and two computers to make the design
process more effective.
The enormity of the production room blew me
away. Ms. G. took me on a tour of all the
machines used to make people’s visions
realities, which happens to be the slogan for the
company. There were a dozen printers and
industrial printers that could print billboard signs. There were many cutting
stations with rulers and industrial paper cutters. Ms. G. however doesn’t deal
much with the production room technicalities, she is the design coordinator. She
got a degree in graphic design from Ball State University.
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She said it was a long road to get to where she was because it is difficult
to break into the field when you are just starting out. Her advice to landing a job
is to, “put together an impressive portfolio; have a professor review it. That is
what they are there for, to teach you what to put in [the portfolio] and what not
to. And after you have a portfolio, get your name out there. You can’t be afraid
of rejection, it is going to happen.”
She told me that she would love to help me put together my portfolio as
time got closer to graduation. There are people out there willing to assist you in
your journey, all you have to do is take the time to ask.
When I asked about scholarships and internships she said “You can’t
that there weren’t any available with her company but that be afraid of
I should try other local businesses. “Someone will have an rejection, it
opportunity for you, you just have to ask,” she said. She
agreed that opportunities like that would be extremely
is going to
helpful for any prospective design student. She suggested happen.”
-Laura Garner
one of the satellite locations and, while I wouldn’t be
assisting with design, I would be getting experience with
the technical side of design production. She gets to design
so many wonderful pieces within Purdue, from
promotional items like t-shirts, mugs and Frisbees, to
printed items like calendars, certificates and programs. I actually got to help her
with a program when I was there. I found some small errors like the bottoms of
long letters like “y” were dipping below a picture.
Getting to know someone in the field you are hoping to pursue is a great
way to gain insight into the career. Generally practitioners don’t get to talk
about themselves that often and will jump at the opportunity to speak to a
student that is passionate about their field. At least, that has been my experience
so far. I have met with three different practitioners throughout my journey
toward a career in graphic design and all three were more than willing to help
me out. They also left the door open for communication at a later date if I ever
had questions or just wanted to discuss something with the field. I would highly
recommend putting yourself out there and gaining mentors in the field of
graphic design. It was a great experience for me.
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Senior Profile
R. B.
Sitting outside the Student Union
Thursday afternoon you can see
some pretty interesting people.
One interesting person I met was
R. B., a senior in the Visual
Communications Design program.
This outwardly carefree student
came riding in on his skateboard
and when I stood up to meet him,
he grabbed my arms and spun
around me until he came to a stop.
“Sorry about that, I left my depth
perception in the studio today,” he
laughed as he picked up his
skateboard and took off his hat. He
shook out his crazy curly hair and
we proceeded into the Union to
find a place to talk. We found a
table near Starbucks, where it was
loud but we were still able to
converse.
In addition to majoring in VCD, R.
is also majoring in Philosophy. He
will be completing that major in
December and will be graduating
then. He is really excited about graduating and starting his path to a career. He
has been looking around for jobs but has not found the one for him yet. He
wants to go out to California, with the thought that he might just go out there
with what he has now and try and find a job. That is a very gutsy move but if he
finds a job it will be well worth the risk. The graphic design field is all about
persevering through rejection until you make it. With his degree in graphic
design, Ryan hopes to design logos for businesses as well as other business
needs they may have such as, letter heads, proposal designs and memos. With a
major in graphic design, the doors are really open for what you can do.
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When I asked him about what classes were his favorite he said that the
sophomore classes were the most fun because they “were all about the
computer, which I like.” He also said that they were the most stressful because
of the impending Sophomore Review. He said that the Sophomore Review was
“the single most nerve-racking thing I have ever done, and I have been sky
diving and base jumping.” In the end, however, it all worked out because he
passed his Sophomore Review at the top of the pack and was able to continue
on in Visual Communications Design.
“Hands down, my least favorite class was AD 105. The teacher was so
condescending and thought she was so much better than everyone in the class
just because she was a graduate student,” he exclaimed when I asked about the
worst class he had. When I asked for her name all he could muster was a
grumbled “R.” It is safe to say that this teacher is long gone but it just proves
that the teacher can make or break the class. When I asked him if the projects
would bad or was it just the teacher he sat there and pondered this thought.
Finally after a long silence he said,” You know, I never thought about it like
that. I guess it was just the teacher, none of my classes I have had were that
hard…huh. Wow. I can’t believe she is the reason I hated that class.”
He left me with this final piece of knowledge and advice for the future
so my life in Visual Communications Design will go more smoothly than it did
for him and I will share it with you so you can have the right mind-set for this
major. “Do not procrastinate. Let me say that one more time, for the love of
God, do not procrastinate. It will mean so many more late nights if you do. And
let me tell you, the cutting mats in the studio do not make adequate pillows
when you pull an all-nighter in PAO. In case you didn’t hear me the first time,
DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!” he yelled in the middle of the Union.
In speaking with him I was able to get a student’s opinion on the
courses and he was able to help me become more successful in the future. I
would recommend speaking to a student if you get the chance. I would be
happy to tell you about what I have learned this year if you so desire.

Reflection
An Inward Look

While I understand that this is a very competitive major, I do not want to

deter you from pursuing it. Do not worry about the Sophomore Review, it is
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going to happen and you just have to be ready for it and arm yourself with the
best portfolio you can. This was a very beneficial assignment for me because I
would not have gone out and talked to any of these people without proper
prodding. I would recommend doing something like this on your own time.
There are plenty of people out there willing to talk to you and allow you to
voice any concerns you may have about succeeding in this career. I also stirred
up some passion of my own through this project. I am fired up about next year
and all the computer classes we get to take as well as learning about the
programs. Everyone I spoke with reiterated the fact that this major is not a walk
in the park like many other people might think. Just because it is not
mathematically oriented or that we don’t have tests does not make it any less
difficult. It is hard to come up with new and creative ways to say the exact
same thing that the rest of your classmates are doing but if you have a passion
for this and an open mind, like I do, you will go very far in this career. I wish
you the best of luck and hope that you choose Visual Communications Design
as a major if you really want to have endless possibilities career-wise. Just
remember, “Don’t tell me that the sky’s the limit when there are footprints on
the moon.” Also, don’t be afraid to contact me with any questions or additional
desired information: [email protected].
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Yue-Kong Pao Hall

of Visual and Performing Arts
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Citations
B., R. Personal Interview. 17 Feb. 2011

B., R. Photograph. Facebook. 24 Feb. 2011. http://www.facebook.com/#!

Essex, Patrick. Digital Art. Esquire Magazine. 2010. 24 Feb.2011.

http://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/vpa/ad/vcd/sophomore/index.html

G., L. Personal Interview. 20 Feb. 2011.

Garner-Miles, Pamela S. Photograph. Facebook. 19 Nov. 2008. 24 Feb. 2011.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?

fbid=1013591633087&set=t.100000112423087&theater

S., K. “Marengo Cave.” Photograph. 23 Oct. 2009. 27 Feb. 2011.

S., K. “My Eyeball.” Photograph. 4 Feb. 2009. 27 Feb. 2011.

S., K. “Pine Tree.” Photograph. 19 April. 2009. 27 Feb. 2011.

S., K. “Super Kaytie.” Photograph. 23 March 2009. 27 Feb. 2011.

S., J. B. Personal Interview. 18 Feb. 2011.

S., J. B. Photograph. Facebook. 22 Feb.2011. http://www.facebook.com/#!

Zubik, Jimmy. Digital Art. Esquire Magazine. 2010. 24 Feb.2011.

http://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/vpa/ad/vcd/sophomore/index.html

Pao Hall. Photograph. 24 Feb. 2011. http://www.cla.purdue.edu/resources/buildings/pao.html

Studio Classroom. Photograph. 4 May 2010. 24 Feb. 2011. www.google.com/images