#peopledesign

Ferris State Graphic Design Senior's day of Design Feb 6th

On Thursday the Seniors of the Ferris State University Graphic Design program took a trip to Grand Rapids to have quite the day. First we stopped at PeopleDesign to get some insight from the pros (Yang Kim! & Kevin Budelmann!). All sorts of knowledge was passed down about how it is important to stay flexible, especially right now with the ways we communicate so rapidly changing. They also hit on what possible employers will be looking at, as we all will very soon be out in the job market portfolio in hand.

Next we shot over to the GRAM(Grand Rapids Art Museum) to check out "Legacy: The Emily Fisher Landau Collection". It was awesome to see post modern works up close and personal and really get a sense of how and why they did what they did.

Finally the students went over to the AIGA West Michigan's No Agenda event. I think I can speak for all of us that went when I say it was a tun of fun. Talking to pros from the area (like Joe Morris) and getting the chance to network. We also helped out while we were chatting by making some Valentine's Day cards for sick children in local hospitals.

Yang Kim, described as a visionary visual communicator, was featured today as the second speaker of The Wheelhouse Talks, a program of the Cook Leadership Academy & Hauenstein Center at Grand Valley State University. 

Yes I know, I know Kim asked us not to write any of this down. But being the rule breaker (or life long student wanna be) I am, I decided to write everything down anyway. Kim made 8 points during her talk: 

Don't spend your money on an office space

Invest in good shoes

Don't hire another you

Be lazy

Use common sense

Have good manners

Don't brag

Know when to delegate

While each point certainly holds some value, I was particularly surprised and delighted by her second point, "Invest in good shoes" (Finally! Validation for my embarrassingly large shoe collection!). Shoes are about more than covering your feet- apparently it's the first thing Kim looks at when she meets someone. And, from Kim's perspective, great shoes exude confidence. 

To try and expand my understanding of the shoe-confidence correlation, I did a quick google search on "good shoes and confidence", which yielded interesting results: how to be cool as a teenage girl, shaking in your shoes, how to be confident as a short person... and finally (and most appropriately), finding shoes to inspire confidence and comfort. But alas, it was nothing more a marketing ploy asking me to buy dr.scholls inserts.