Graphic Design with 1st-Gen College-Bound Teens
This was our third summer teaching the Hope College TRIO Upward Bound art elective. TRIO Upward Bound is a nation-wide pre-college preparatory program for students grades 8–12 who are interested in pursuing an educational program beyond high school. It’s designed to work with students from first generation college families.
Each year we walk them through different relevant art & design skills, as well as what goes into preparing a portfolio when applying for an art program. All of this is done under a new theme or creative direction. This summer Suzy Parker and Erin Drews replicated projects from our Spring Graphic Design Class, including a previously implemented Steve Frykholm poster project.
Each of the students were able to select a food that held some memory or meaning to them. One student made a donut with five sprinkles to represent the five members of her family. Another student talked about how going out for ice cream was a family bonding activity when he was a younger child, and now he can’t eat ice cream without thinking about his family and the preciousness of that time shared.
The group visited the Herman Miller Archives to see the posters, and as luck would have it our tour guide was a first generation college student who was able to speak to their upcoming higher education experience.
For the students’ final project, they were prompted to create a logo for their own mock business. Some chose to focus on their initials. They studied font design and typography. We debated topics such as: “How can we use fonts to convey meaning?” At the end of their brainstorming, students had designed logos with everything from a Chicken Shop to a Doggy Day Care. These logos were created in Adobe Illustrator and later printed out as stickers to “promote their business.”
All in all, it was a rich summer full of creative growth, heightened curiosity, and a lot of fruitful experiential learning. Many of these students at the beginning of the elective were not self-proclaimed artists, but all of them left the class with a piece to be proud of: “I honestly loved how everyone was so supportive with our creations. I’ve never really considered myself an artist, so it was really nice to hear positive feedback.”
90% of students in attendance stated that they have grown in their artistic and creative abilities.
