when it all makes sense

It's amusing to go back and look at work done as a student. This piece represents for me the moment when I finally started to "get" graphic design. Although I created it almost 8 years ago it still feels fresh to me, unlike most of my student work. The assignment was to create a packaging for educational software. Since I will always be an English major at heart I chose to create software about Shakespeare. I started working more with textures and typography than I had done in the past.

When I used to teach Graphic Design II it was a great class because it was about midway through the program and it was often the turning point for students. You learn about all of these separate elements — line, shape, contrast, scale, type, color– but it takes a while for it to come together and really make sense. I had a teacher who used to tell us that when a good design was taking shape she would get a feeling like butterflies in her stomach. I remember experiencing that sensation as I worked on this piece. It was a real aha moment for me and it solidified my love of design and gave me the courage to keep doing it.