Hello! My name is Maria Chodnicki, and I am a sophomore BFA Graphic Design major.
During my junior year of high school, I didn’t have a definite plan of what I wanted to pursue in college. I was enrolled in an art foundations course as one of my electives. In this class, my art teacher, Mrs. Braun, submitted my printmaking assignment for the district art show. Taking me by surprise, it ended up winning a Gold Key. After that, it got automatically entered into a competition with all the other Gold Keys, and I won a National Gold Medal for the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition. This amazing, yet unexpected experience that took me to Carnegie Hall in New York to Washington D.C. to be recognized. This experience triggered my creative path and had me thinking seriously about a field in design.
Graphic design skills focus on details, precision, creativity, and Adobe Creative Suites experience in the programs. I have learned a lot about the elements and principles of design and how to think outside of the box. I also learned about thinking about the audience and realizing what things would appeal to different groups and types of people.
My favorite class so far is Color and Design (STA 113). In this class we used various forms of media from painting to digital project. It taught me a great amount of design tools and skills that are important to think about when designing.
I am currently interning as a student graphic designer for University Advancement (ADR), located in the Spartan Tower. I am working directly under the graphic designer for the company who designs all of the invitations for their events they have throughout the year. I am just getting started with this internship, but so far I am pleased with how much I have learned already and I am very excited for where it will take me. After graduation, I hope to find a job working as a graphic designer, so this is a great experience for me.
Additionally, I am both the secretary and head of the public relations committee for the College of Arts and Letters Student Council. With this, I run the social media accounts such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and I create the posts for the accounts and design the images and graphics for them. I have also created flyers for events we had.
If I had to give any advice to incoming freshmen majoring in graphic design, I would have to stress to keep an open mind and try your best to get outside of your comfort shell. It is definitely easier said than done, but it is important to try new things to learn more and get the most out of your experience here at MSU.
