Stefanie Strand
Degree: Bachelor of Science
Major: Graphic Design
Additional education undertaken after graduation:
Avid Express Pro Training
Current Job Title: Senior Print and Design Specialist
Organization: Lands' End
How did you find this job?
I went to a career fair in January of my last semester at the U of M and gave my resume to a Lands' End representative. I interviewed with a few different people at Lands' End and was offered an internship as an Art Director Intern for the summer of 2005 (a GREAT internship program by the way). I then was hired on as a full-time employee in September of 2005 as a Print and Design Specialist in Employee Communications and am moving up the ladder within this role.
Graphic Design Intern, Wild West Studios
Art Director, The Minnesota Daily
I do a variety of things: Everything from filming and editing video for special events to creating invitations to send to our top 10 vendors announcing a seminar. I also help plan events (company picnics, company meetings, company holiday parties, etc.). I work with the event planners to come up with a brand strategy for all events (creating a logo and all included collateral). I also work with Recruitment to update their materials on an annual basis. Overall, I help engage and inform our employees through graphic design and multimedia to make Lands' End a great place to work.
Having work experience prior to applying was very helpful. Acquiring as much experience as you can is very important - internships, campus design jobs, freelance, volunteer projects - these are all good experiences and show initiative and a desire to work in the field. I also think that learning the basic design principles is important - many of us have natural talent, but it is also important to build a foundation supporting that talent. The core classes (GD I, GD II, GD III, etc.) also helped strengthen my design skills. They provided us with real world design projects—this helped me decide what type of design work to pursue.
The biggest misconception about design is that it is easy/fluff work. This is not true at all - there is a definite purpose behind what we do and it is not always easy. As mentioned above, I have had the opportunity to create short videos for events - these videos range from inspirational (with quotes and music) to light-hearted fun. We get great feedback from people describing how these presentations really inspired them or left them feeling good. It is wonderful when we can change a person’s mood or way of thinking through design.
As I stated above, get as much experience as you can - this will not only look good on your resume but it will help you decide what type of work or working environment you want to go into. Also, when deciding what you want to do for projects in class, choose a variety of subject matter so you end up having a diverse design portfolio in the end. This will make for a more interesting interview experience for you and your potential employers.