This edition of From Our Eyes features Ava Brandt (‘27 Creative Writing, Documentary Film and LGBTQ Studies minor), one of the 20 students who participated in the annual summer graphic design course GD 308: Sustainable Design. Through this program, led by Professors Eric Chimenti and Kathleen Kaiser, students partner with a client in London to deliver a master project by the end of the 5-week course. 

If you read the description above, you’ll know I am not a Graphic Design major, but the fact is, GD 308 is open to all majors. I was very intimidated at the start of the course. I knew I was the only person in the class who had never done graphic design work before, or any kind of design for that matter. However, I soon learned that there was a lot of work that occurred before initial designs were developed.

Chapman students meeting with the client, Cambridge Growth Company and Buro Happold, before leaving for London. (Photo courtesy of Ava Brandt)

Our client was the Cambridge Growth Company (CGC) who we partnered with through Buro Happold–an international consultancy of engineers and advisors located in London. CGC is a newly founded government-backed organization that aims to support the long-term growth of Cambridge. Our job was to figure out how CGC could best message themselves and their mission to the people of Cambridge and promote growth.

We spent the first two weeks at Chapman, and the last three in London. The first two weeks of the course focused on research and a lot of trial-and-error brainstorming ideas. Our client didn’t know what they wanted or needed, so we had little direction. We split up into four groups of five and spent our days researching and coming up with ideas. By the end of the first week, each group presented what was essentially a campaign idea. The next week we got feedback and refined our work.

We arrived in London on June 7th. On our first day, we walked through Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, went to the V&A museum, and then met our clients at Buro Happold’s office. Alongside our long work days, we got to go to Cambridge for the day and visit the Design Museum. For a full breakdown of what we did day to day, you can visit the London Blog written by Professor Chimenti.

By the third week of the course our focus shifted. The client was still undecided about our ideas, so we went back to the drawing board. The class broke into teams working on ideation, color, logos, icons, typography, moodboard, copywriting (me), and more. Every time we presented, the client was amazed at our work, and we continued to refine our ideas for CGC.

Ava Brandt (left) and fellow Graphic Design student Olivia Greenberg (right) and her mom (center) at the Tower Bridge.

The last week was full of high-pressure work and late nights. Everyone did a phenomenal job creating posters, logos, and icons for CGC. We ended with one master presentation full of templates, messaging strategies, design assets, and design deliverables. Our client was very pleased with the final presentation.

Overall, this course was a huge learning experience. I learned that design is so much more than colors, layout, and type. Design can make people feel emotions, it can inform, educate, and it evolves. I also got to see so many places on the evenings and weekends we weren’t working. I visited Notting Hill, Soho, Camden, saw the Tower Bridge, rode the tube, went to museums, and so much more! It is definitely an experience I will never forget and one I recommend to anyone who is interested in this course. I’ll be honest, it is hard work, but it is so worth the experience. No matter what major/minor you are, this class has something for everyone and so does London!

(Pictured in header: Group shot of all the GD 308: Sustainable Design students and professors on final presentation day. Photo courtesy of Ava Brandt).