VCD students receive advice from industry leaders

Visual communication design students and alumni gathered last Tuesday for a night of building community and making connections – industry leaders and EWU alumni spent the night critiquing up-and-coming graphic designer’s portfolios.

For the past four years, VCD professor Travis Masingale has been expanding portfolio reviews to include industry leaders in a professional space, rather than on campus. Masingale wanted to create community inside the program, as well as help students understand what it takes to make it as a graphic designer once they graduate.

“It raises the stakes for students in terms of importance,” he said. “They want to impress. I think it brings meaning to each student’s portfolio.”

Roughly 30 students and 12 alumni attended to discuss the students’ portfolios at Desautel Hege (DH), a local public relations, advertising and branding agency.

“You can only get so much feedback from your professors to the point where you almost need a reality check,” said John Mujica ’12, a graphic designer at DH. “Who better to give that than people who work in the industry? It’s a good opportunity to get some face-to-face time with working professionals.”

Although nerve-racking, students such as senior Mae Larimer found the critique helpful.

“I think it’s cool to get help from design professionals. They’re doing [graphic design] in the real world and I’m doing it for projects,” Larimer said. “It’s cool to get their input on what works and what doesn’t work. It makes me feel more confident. They make me feel better about what I did.”

For more information, visit the VCD program website.