The Art Institute of Atlanta

Stephen Washburn

Designers Statement
Artists tend to have a different way of seeing things than most other people, whether it is how a building is made or how the clouds move in the sky. The basic concept behind my poster design was to portray how my life has been made more interesting and colorful through art. I chose to use two pictures of a kid: one dull, boring, and void of art, the other exploding with color and fun. It is obvious that the kid covered in paint is living a better life through his experiences with art.

I am very interested in graphic communications and the visual world around me. I have been artistically inclined ever since I was a kid. I am a very good drawer and love to sketch and doodle in my free time. Throughout my education I have always enjoyed taking art classes because they allowed me to express my creative self in a visual way. I go to Shiloh High School. I consider myself a responsible and hardworking student with very good grades. I have a 3.96 GPA and no disciplinary referrals. In addition to Shiloh I also am currently enrolled as a second year student in the Digital Media and Design program through the Grayson School of Technology.

Grayson Tech is an extracurricular program offered at all Gwinnett County schools. The students that are chosen to attend are given the chance to work with industry-standard equipment in order to get a head start on a career of their choice. In the Digital Media and Design program, I have been exposed to graphic design, web design, and even video and audio editing. I have been able to grasp a better understanding of the principles and elements of art and the basics of graphics and composition. I feel that I have been able to hone my skills in that I am more creative than ever. I have some experience in Adobe Premiere, Adobe ImageReady, Adobe GoLive, and Adobe Premiere, but I am most experienced in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator as well as Macromedia Flash. I have had minimal exposure to Alias Maya, and by minimal I mean only a couple weeks at most.

One of the many benefits of the Grayson Tech program is that I was given firsthand experience as a graphic designer for various businesses in the Grayson area. Companies would come to the school looking for logo and stationary ideas, and we as students would be given the job. I very much enjoy being able to help other people with my creativity. Another benefit of the Grayson Tech program is that companies will come to the school looking for potential employees. That is how I was able to attain my first job. I am currently working for a local newspaper, the Gwinnett Citizen, and its sister newspapers, the Hall and the Walton Citizens.

I manage and upkeep the newspaper website using Adobe GoLive. It’s a good start on my design-oriented career, but it can get pretty boring sometimes. I’m looking more for a graphic design job. Hopefully through Grayson Tech I can get an internship at a local design shop or something similar. If accepted, I would be able to bring a great amount of experience as a student and I would be sure to work very hard to do the best that I could do. After graduating and getting a Bachelors Degree in Graphic Design, I hope to become a contributing member of a graphic design team. Eventually I hope to become a freelance designer or start my own design business.