Students who major in Graphic Design at Northeast Community College can show off their creativity and demonstrate the skills they have learned.
That was evident again this year during the Graphic Design Portfolio Show, which took place recently in the upper level of Union 73. The show enabled sophomore Graphic Design majors to display their portfolios, sharing some of their projects while discussing what decisions they made and work they completed to get each of the finished products.
Emily Jacobs of Norfolk said the projects in her portfolio reflected a range of fictional situations and gave her experience with a variety of tasks. For her portfolio, she chose 14 projects but had considerably more to choose from her classes.
With her corporate identity project, Jacobs made stationery, a business letter and business card. The jobs required such things as selecting the colors to use and various design components for each product.
Jacobs also helped her dad redesign the logo for his seamless gutter business as one of the projects she was assigned for class. She also designed the program for her wedding to husband, Tanner, which was included in the portfolio.
Another of the projects was high-end package design, which she created for a hypothetical product of goat milk butter. She also used the same hypothetical product for her mid-range package design.
Jacobs, while she is a sophomore, transferred into graphic design, so she is a couple of classes behind and will graduate in the fall. Once she graduates, she will be seeking employment wherever Tanner finds work, with hopes they will be able to stay in Norfolk.
Korene Johnson of Oakland, another of the eight sophomores who had portfolios on display, said she also hopes to stay in Norfolk, while working in graphic design.
One of the more creative projects in Johnson’s portfolio was “the bumblebee project.” It was a non-traditional book, which required the students to create a book that isn’t.
Johnson said she likes bumblebees, so she decided to make the project reflect it. She made a layered beehive out of cardboard discs, then printed, cut and pasted information on the cardboard discs. The discs are made to stack in a way that resembles the beehive.
“I had fun making it,” she said.
Phil Schimonitz, Northeast graphic design instructor, said this year’s class of eight sophomores were different than other classes.
“This class has a really strong dynamic,” Schimonitz said. “What was really nice is they all get along well. They have pushed each other very hard. There was some heavy-duty competition in here, and competition drives excellence.”
Students who complete the program sometimes go on to earn a four-year degree in graphic design. This year, the transfers include to the University of South Dakota in Vermillion and the Kansas City Institute of Art.
Other students have secured jobs in Nebraska or are looking for jobs in the field.
Graphic Design Show, Johnson
Korene Johnson, a sophomore from Oakland, shows a hive she created as she holds a pair of bees she made for the recent Northeast Community College Graphic Design Portfolio Show. (Northeast Community College)
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