Graphic Production: 2009

I have never attended a CSUN panel discussion until last night. I've always wanted to attend one in the past but could never because of my work schedule. I was anxious to actually get to attend this time and learn more about my major and maybe even get inspiration from the speakers. All three speakers graduated from CSUN two years ago with a major in art!

The first speaker was Dominique Brad. She talked about how hard it was to get on her feet after she graduated from CSUN. At first she said she partied and was lost when it came to pursuing her career with Graphic Design. She came across a friend that wanted to her to create a logo for her shop. This was her first opportunity in the real world. Her first logo was "Karla G." She later found out that she didnt want to work with this client and continued on her way.Next, she worked with Cali Optics and helped create a leopard/zebra type logo for the company. Dominique finally landed an awesome job opportunity with MTV Nickelodean Kids & Family and is currently a graphic design coordinator for the company. Her jobs include designing websites, banner, billboards, etc..She was able to show us some of her current work and talked to us about what she has been through in order to get where she is now.

Teresa Sheldon, our second speaker, is a graphic designer for Neuronsyndicate Entertainment. Her passion deals with home entertainment. Her first project was MONGOL. She spoke to us about her journey so far and warned us about the multiple rounds that are done in order to get to the final product that is eventually chosen. One of her pieces included the dvd cover for the newest Bonds movie.

Our last speaker, Max Shuster, was more of a packaging designer. He works with the Hamagami & Carol (if thats how you spell it) company as a graphic designer and also does free lance. He was quite a character :) Max showed us some of his work from CSUN, including the Fall 2007 Schedule of classes catalog which was a really nice piece. Many of his pieces were packaging for video games, including EA BOOGIE SUPERSTAR and BOOGIE Pop Star. He mentioned what companies usually favor versus his own style and how he feels about the "crappy" design they choose. One thing i learned from him was to make sure you know how much your time is worth, for example, $30 an hour to $15 an hour. At the end, i asked to look at his portfolio and felt a sense of inspiration after viewing his pieces.

I feel the panel discussion helped me realize what's in store for me in the future. This discussion gave me a clearer idea of pros and cons of my future career and real life examples of how people start from the bottom up. :)