My classroom at Portland State University, Spring 2021
Portland State Graphic Design changed my life.
It almost feels like yesterday that I remember walking into this classroom for the first time. It was 2015, and I was taking my first illustration course. At the time I didn’t even know what “graphic design” was—I just knew I wanted to go to school and hopefully draw and maybe get a job. Little did I know that years, careers, and huge life events later, I would return to the Portland State Graphic Design Program. I was hired at PSU in Fall of 2020 in the thick of the Covid pandemic, and to say the adjustment was hard is an understatement. I jumped into teaching multiple courses (I had never taught before) and was tasked with converting them all to function in a remote setting. Many panicked emails and anxiety-sweat stained shirts later I was able to settle into a modality that felt right.
Four years later and I have taught a range of courses:
DES 121, Introduction to Typography
DES 210, Illustration and Narration
DES 224, Communication Design
DES 310, Advanced Illustration
DES 470, Thesis 1
DES 472, Senior Portfolio
And Countless workshops covering Risograph printing to incorporating play into your process.
To say PSUGD changed my life is an understatement. This community has made me more organized, compassionate, engaged, and provided me the capacity to let myself fall and get back up again. Being able to grow as a young designer and pass a few of my skills and experiences on has been the deepest and most brilliant joy I could experience.
