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Visual Communications
Kristin Marie Centers (BA Graphic Design and Advertising, 2002)
Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, Nashville, Tenn.
When Kristin Marie Centers enrolled at O'More College of Design in 1998, she was considered a non-traditional student. She had just left her job as a junior account executive at a large Nashville advertising agency to pursue a design degree.
Because of her past experience, she knew the technical side of her field; what she really wanted were design fundamentals.
"When I decided to go back to school, I thought I'd pursue the creative side of the business I had been in," she says. "I chose O'More because the program allowed me to immediately begin learning what I needed to know."
Since Kristin graduated 10 years ago, she's run the gamut in the design world. She spent three years at The Zeal Group before becoming the senior coordinator for marketing and public relations at Williamson Medical Center (WMC), and she now serves as the program coordinator for the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH).
When Kristin joined WMC in 2006, she hopped on board during a critical time for the hospital: It was undergoing a large expansion and needed a corporate re-branding to reflect the new improvements. As part of the marketing department, Kristin took the reigns in guiding the facility's new direction.
"I really helped coordinate and lead the corporate identity through that time," she says. "When I came in, they were working with a logo from 1986."
Kristin worked extensively with WMC leadership to establish a new brand, which included re-working the hospital's logo, collateral materials, internal communications and website. The new building, service lines and improvements were all incorporated with old elements to produce the new design.
Kristin says one of the greater challenges during the project was effectively communicating - and executing - the re-branding through all of the hospital's materials and audiences.
"It took several years to roll everything out," she says. "We had to incorporate the re-branding throughout the hospital, not just in patient materials. Internal materials were just as important."
She was also involved in the creation of all marketing materials and external campaigns during her seven years there, helping the director develop creative ideas and advertising campaigns, and finding patient testimonials.
Now, Kristin is the program coordinator for the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, running its communication channels, disseminating program details and gathering grant information, along with various public relations tasks. Her duties range from working with videographers on certain projects to making sure the Institute's research discovery is properly distributed.
Though her current role isn't directly tied to her design degree, she says she utilizes her background in many of her daily activities. She recently worked with the university's creative services team to help visually re-tool a new global health track program. This included poster and brochure designs, collateral materials, and the addition of new design elements to the old program.
"One of the most rewarding things in my job is that I'm able to use my training and contribute to problem-solving efforts," she says. "The people I work with are scientists, and at the core it's about defending and backing up your argument. It's similar to defending my design choices. Critical thinking has served me well."
Inspired by her colleagues at VIGH, Kristin returned to the classroom and is now a candidate for the master of liberal arts and science degree from Vanderbilt University - no small feat with a full-time job.
In spite of her heavy workload, Kristin has stayed active in Franklin, a community where she's spent more than 25 years. She's a past board member of Franklin Tomorrow and a current advisory board member for the O'More visual communications department. She says she's stayed connected with her alma mater in more ways than one.
"I was able to hire interns at Williamson Medical Center, and it worked out really well," she says. "And I just had dinner Saturday night with an old classmate. We've all stayed in contact with one another, and it was the small classes that made a difference.
Amy Lyon (BFA Visual Communications, 2010)
LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville, Tenn.
LifeWay Christian Resources is revamping two of their monthly magazines, and Amy Lyon is leading the charge. As the sole graphic designer of Living With Teenagers and ec, she'll be responsible for capturing the readers through a facelift of the 60-plus page publications.
For someone who graduated less than two years ago, it's a large load - but it's the opportunity Amy says she's been waiting for.
"It will be a completely different style for me," she says. "I loved what I was doing before, but at O'More I gravitated towards the product and magazine side of design. This is where my heart is."
A few months ago, Amy was working on a different team within her department, designing church-related curricula and materials sold in LifeWay stores across the country. A promotion landed her as lead designer of the two magazines, which sell nearly 150,000 copies per quarter.
"With the curriculum, I only needed to capture a teen's attention for a few pages each week," she says. "Now I have to capture the reader for an entire magazine."
Both publications cater to the teen market: Living With Teenagers offer a Christian perspective on parenting, and ec is geared toward a teen's faith-based life. Amy was brought on to update each; the two magazines are currently using design bases several years old.
"We want to keep them fresh, and it's always good to have a new pair of eyes," she says. "I'm researching and studying teen interests right now
Once the content for each magazine is nailed down, Amy sits down with the submitted articles. From the stories, she pulls particular quotes to highlight in each story and decides what content to feature on the cover. She then draws inspiration for the interior and exterior layouts, and selects the best images to highlight in the issue.
Amy works closely with a team of writers and editors to produce the final copy. Together, the group determines each month's focus - an aspect the visual artist says she particularly enjoys.
"I love the non-designer perspective," she says. "The rest of my team sees things differently than I would, and they really help mold my ideas."
Amy says this collaborative atmosphere has added an important component in her creative process.
"I'm not stuck in just a design world," she says. "Everyone sees everything differently. I've loved that in my job."
Amy says she's always been interested in the creative side of publishing, wanting to break into the music or book publishing industries after college. Originally from Ohio, Amy saw the Nashville area as a thriving hub of both industries. She says she was drawn to O'More in particular because of its familial campus and design-focused curriculum.
"In a lot of schools, you don't get into design classes until your third year," she says. "I wanted to jump right into it."
She says that her O'More instructors paved important groundwork for her career throughout her college years.
"I loved the fact that we were taught by professionals. They either had their own company or were active graphic designers," she says. "They told us stories of they had experienced to prepare us for the real world."
Taras Lesko (BFA Visual Communications, 2004)
Turn 10 Studios, Seattle, Wash.
Taras Lesko is a full-time contractor at Turn 10 Studios, part of the team of more than 200 people responsible for the Forza Motorsport video game franchise for Xbox 360. The Seattle-based artist is the lead designer responsible for the in-game user interfaces on Motorsport 4, the latest project that's been two years in the making.
"With Xbox and video games, it's the interactive design that I really love," he says.
Taras also designs a variety of promotional media for Forza Motorsport, including advertisement campaigns on Xbox Live, apparel for industry expos and promotional videos for the game's downloadable content packs.
"It's a dream come true for me because I've always been very passionate about video games," he says. "I get paid to create games and play them for product research. My day job doesn't seem like work... it's something I love to do."
When he's not working on video games, he spends his nights and weekends exploring various graphic design arts, personal projects he showcases through his website.
"I experiment with all kinds of creative media to challenge myself as an artist and to grow as a designer," he says.
His latest endeavor has been his most popular viral project to date: a seven-foot Japanese Gundam robot replica, made from 750 sheets of paper through a process called papercrafting. Taras discovered the art form four years ago and soon began tinkering with the conventional methods. He creates templates that are then printed, cut and assembled into three-dimensional objects.
The massive Gundam replica-a project he spent more than 350 hours creating-is larger than your average papercraft. It weighs 10 pounds and comprises 1,250 individual parts. But perhaps the coolest part is the construction time-lapse video captured throughout his crafting process.
"My personal projects and time-lapse videos act as viral marketing pieces for myself as a designer, and they also help me stand out in this competitive industry," he says. "I aim to inspire the viewers, encouraging them to wholeheartedly pursue their creative passions."
Taras films, photographs and documents the projects himself, while he's creating the pieces. He says the video part of the process is just another way he's able to exercise creative energy through multiple design outlets.
"It's a combination of graphic design, hands-on construction and storytelling through motion graphics," he says. "I'm very passionate about all these creative mediums, and I try to build them into every personal project."
The visual component-coupled with the physical Gundam model-launched the designer to online stardom in its Fall 2011 debut. The video received more than a quarter million online views within the first month, was mentioned on thousands of blogs and was featured in several online magazines.
His projects have created such an online stir that big-name companies such as Audi have come calling. The company commissioned Taras to create a four-foot long replica of the 2012 Audi A7 for their announcement of the vehicle at the 2011 New York Auto Show.
"Any free time I get, I work on my creative explorations," he says. "Even with the tiring amount of hours I put in, I love every minute of it."
He says it's his faith and his family that play huge motivating roles in the creative process.
"I thank God for my amazing wife, Oksana," he says. "She encourages me to keep working hard and pursuing my dreams. I wouldn't be where I'm at today without her in my life."
Taras began his professional design career during his junior year at O'More, working as a web designer at Vision 3 Interactive in Nashville. Immediately after graduation, he moved to Seattle and worked in web design for four years before switching to video games.
He references his course curriculum at O'More as an influence in his current work.
"The massive amounts of homework trained me to create dozens of creative options for a final design solution," he says. "I still work in a similar way on my professional and personal projects."
A native of Ukraine, Taras chose O'More for the small class size. He says the availability of instructors for discussions and feedback at O'More helped him grow quickly as a designer.
"I was committed to working hard and making good use of each lesson taught," he says. "The professors really pushed us to explore different ideas and design solutions."
To learn more about Taras and his work, visit his website at VisualSpicer.com.
Joanna Dee (Visual Communications, 2010)
Graphic Designer, Nashville, Tenn.
Joanna Dee graduated less than two years ago, but the graphic designer has already been nominated for two Dove Awards.
On Thursday, April 19, Joanna will be sitting in the historic Fox Theatre in Atlanta, crossing her fingers that her name is called in the "Recording Music Packaging" category. She's got a pretty good chance - of the five nominations, Joanna is recognized twice for her deluxe-edition package designs for Jason Gray's album A Way To See In The Dark and Aaron Shust's This Is What We Believe.
"I was stunned when I received the email. I kind of just stared at my computer screen trying to register what I was reading," Joanna says. "It didn't really feel real until I called my family and husband to squeal about my big news!"
Joanna is now a full-time freelance designer. Before she decided to set out on her own last fall, she was the sole designer at Centricity Music in Downtown Franklin. She spent last summer creating the 32-page, hardbound, CD deluxe editions for Gray and Shust. These were her first two full-length albums to design.
"I was so thrilled to design these that I could barely contain my excitement," she says. "Until then, I had only designed single covers and EPs."
For Joanna, this honor is a culmination of a lifelong dream. She enrolled in O'More with aspirations to work in the music industry as an album designer, but she never imagined she'd be gaining national recognition so quickly.
She started with Centricity as a student intern, working on projects across several musical genres. That experience eventually lead to a part-time job with the label her senior year at O'More. Immediately after graduation, she became the lead designer at Centricity.
"During my nearly two and a half years with the company, I designed tour posters, splash pages, websites, and album artwork for the artists," she says. "It's pretty cool because I came to O'More wanting to do album artwork - that's really where my heart was."
Joanna says creating artists' materials involves more than working in a design program. She's there from start to finish, brainstorming the initial concept and facilitating the branding of the project. This includes the single cover, the album cover, the website, concert posters and more. She even stays on set at photo shoots to ensure they're achieving the proper aesthetic.
While she still works on Centricity projects, Joanna's now freelancing full-time for several other clients in the music industry. She says her favorite thing about the profession is the freedom it allows - literally and figuratively.
"Coming out of school, I didn't want to be in a corporate environment. I wanted to be able to use my creativity," she says. "I may be out in the country doing a photo shoot one day, and then back in the office working on a website the next day."
As for what pulled her to the field, she says it was just a natural progression from her high school interests to the O'More campus.
"Designing is who I am," she says. "I always knew I wanted to be in a creative field, and the second I was on campus I was like, 'I'm supposed to be here.'"
This spring, Joanna will be teaching two community education classes on the College's campus: one on basic web design and the other a social media marketing tool course. She says the connection she feels to her alma mater extends past the education to which she attributes a lot of her success.
"The relationships you build at O'More are life-long. I think that was the most important thing I walked away with," she says. "There was something really cool about my classmates - we pushed each other to grow. We developed as designers and people because of our surroundings, and because of the relationships we formed there."
"I'm just an O'More cheerleader," she laughs.
To view the design packages nominated for Dove Awards, go here. For more information on Joanna, visit her website.
Amanda Barnhart (BFA Visual Communications, 2010)
Healthcare Realty Trust, Nashville, Tenn.
Amanda BarnhartAmanda Barnhart (Smith) is the sole designer at a multi-billion dollar corporation. As design coordinator at Healthcare Realty Trust in Nashville, she spends her days interpreting the brand standard of the company, applying her insights to visual media for both internal and external communications - everything from advertising and marketing materials to internal presentations for stockholders and employees.
"I've realized that the corporate setting is where I truly fit as a designer - creating clear and effective messages for a very specific audience," she says. "Being an internal designer is definitely for a more structured person, and I've always had a knack for clean and structured design."
Healthcare Realty is a real estate investment firm that integrates owning, managing, financing and developing income-producing properties associated with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services. Minutes from a music-dominated city, many O'More visual communications students pursue opportunities to design for record labels, advertising firms and other traditionally creative entities. Amanda says that for most fledgling graphic designers, corporate communications isn't usually the first career path that comes to mind.
"I think when you study graphic design in school, you think you're going to work in a really creative environment and design edgy stuff," she says. "A lot of students gravitate towards that."
While she may have taken the road less traveled, she says she's always been pulled towards this style of work.
"Looking back, my peers and professors at O'More used to say, 'You have such a sense of corporate style,'" she says. "I found myself enjoying classes at O'More in more structured design."
Right now, Amanda is working on her company's 2011 Annual Report.
"I'm dealing with a lot of financial data that is difficult to understand. I have to represent numbers, charts and graphs in a way that's easy to interpret," she says. "It's challenging, but I thrive off of it. It just clicks."
Amanda is also in charge of running the digital directories for the 200-plus hospitals Healthcare Realty leases. When she first started there in July of 2011, she was immediately charged with re-designing the directory portal, making them not only more attractive, but also more intuitive and user-friendly. It's an important role for her - this technology allows patients and visitors to reach their loved ones and their doctors.
For Amanda, one of the most exciting parts of the job is the ownership the designer exercises over the firm's brand.
"It's my job to make sure we are represented in the right way," she says. "In order to have a strong brand, you must have strong visual consistency."
She still enjoys tackling various freelancing projects, such as book designs, logos and event invitations with the contacts she's made in the industry.
"It's a great escape from the corporate style that has filled my aesthetic," she says.
Amanda says her time at O'More helped prepare her for the corporate world, through constructive criticism, unique courses and professors who pushed her toward a higher goal of excellence.
"The atmosphere and environment on campus was great. You're just surrounded by this creative energy," she says. "The class critiques made everyone stronger. We got thicker skin. We became better designers and stronger people.
"It's a great place to be before you get thrown into the real world."
To learn more about Amanda, you can contact her here.
Katie Markus (BFA Visual Communications, 2011)
Fox Head, Inc., Morgan Hill, Calif.
Katie Markus grew up around motocross racing. She fell in love with the sport at an early age, tagging along to watch the races with her family and eventually competing in them herself. The Tennessee native decided early on what her dream would be: to design for Fox Head, Inc., a brand that has become synonymous with the sport.
So Katie enrolled in O'More College of Design. She worked with her professors and completed challenging internships and even did a little freelance work on the side. All that hard work paid off when she secured an internship with the motocross apparel company in southern California before her senior year, an opportunity that led to her first job immediately after graduation.
"I always dreamed of what I'm doing now, but I never thought everything would fall into place so perfectly," she says. The front page of her personal website proclaims, "I am a Graphic Designer - My Heart Beats for Motocross."
Katie is a junior print designer in the marketing department of Fox, the most recognized and best-selling brand of motocross merchandise. She works daily on various sales and marketing aspects: advertising pieces, catalogue designs, sales presentations, events and promotional materials. Katie and her team apply their ideas across different media platforms, including video, print ads, online marketing, web promotions and more.
"When I was younger, I thought I wanted to design racewear, because that's what turned me on to graphic design," she says. "At that point, I didn't really know what graphic design entailed. Now I'm in marketing, and absolutely love the print side of things."
She discovered her love for print design at O'More, a passion she says she's cultivated each and every day in her work with the company.
"We are the voice of Fox. I love thinking full-circle, from both a sales perspective and a consumer perspective," she says.
Right this moment, Katie Markus is racing through her 20-minute work commute, heading to the annual international sales meeting. As she's juggling her morning coffee and the phone to her ear, she recalls exactly where she was two years ago today.
Katie was standing in the lobby of Fox, a junior in college, waiting to present her portfolio-and having no idea she was about to meet Peter Fox, the CEO of the company. Mr. Fox was on his way to the same international sales meeting Katie is about to walk into.
"I had always known who he was and been a fan of him," she says. "He actually looked at my portfolio right then. It was cool to meet people I grew up idolizing."
Katie was in San Diego for an internship program with SoCal Action Sports Network when she stopped by Fox that day. She nailed the interview with the company, and was back to California the following summer for a three-month internship in the motocross business. She stayed in contact with the crew when the job was complete, and was back in the Golden State the moment she graduated from O'More.
"I feel really grateful to be here," she says. "I've always felt the support of my family and friends - my family has encouraged me to chase my dreams since I was little."
For Katie, there's one particular moment with Fox that will stay forever. The fall after her internship, the graphic designer joined the Fox team in Lakewood, Colo., for the 2010 Motocross des Nation. Fox was one of the sponsors, and Katie was able to experience all of the races and the full production with VIP status.
"It's kind of like the Olympics of motocross. It's been going on for around 70 years, and it's been held in the U.S. three times," she says. "Fox designed the Team USA gear. It was so cool."
She says the patriotism exhibited at the event, and the build-up to that moment, is what really struck her.
"I remember standing there, seeing everyone decked out - just All-American fans. I had never seen such pride first-hand," Katie says. "And then watching all the fans lining up to get autographs... I used to be that fan, and this time I was the one on the other side of the fence. Unforgettable."
She says her most memorable single moment at the races was meeting Team USA Manager Roger Decoster, who she calls "a legend."
Katie achieved her goal, but it wasn't by luck. She apprenticed with two of her O'More instructors while at the school. And before landing the internship at Fox, she learned under Ryan Myers, owner of UD+M, a branding and design studio in Franklin.
"He liked my worth ethic and aesthetic. He was always very supportive of my goals. He just got it," she says.
Between UD+M and Katie Markus 47 (her freelance gigs), she also worked with Meghann Roberts - another former O'More profession - at The Roberts Press. Katie helped brand companies and design logos, packaging, event collaterals, T-shirts and websites, all experience that helped prepare for her career.
And though Katie is now more than 2,000 miles from home, she still finds ways to incorporate bits of life at back home in her California dream.
"I loved downtown Franklin - the restaurants, the shops, the historic homes. I actually moved this past weekend to an area like it because I wanted to get back to that," she says.
Katie says that both downtown Franklin and O'More will always hold a special place in her heart.
"I kind of always dreamed of going to a huge university, and doing that whole thing," she says. "At O'More, I made the best group of girl friends there, and I wouldn't trade that for the world."
"Once I experienced O'More, I knew I made the right decision."
To learn more about Katie, visit her website.
Alex Fortney (BFA Visual Communications, 2010)
Warner Music Group, Nashville, Tenn.
Alex Fortney remembers the first time she was blown away by her job. She was standing in front of a printing press, watching four million copies of her design work whiz through the press at 40 feet per second.
"My favorite thing about what I do is that my work ends up being three-dimensional," she says. "It's tangible. With everything going digital lately, that's cool that you can still hold an album cover in your hands."
Alex is a junior print designer for Warner Music Group, sharing her services between two of its labels: Warner Music Nashville and Word Entertainment. She designs fliers, album covers, displays -- even stage props and backgrounds. On any given day, she could be alternating working between Blake Shelton's tour materials and a Faith Hill poster, or a Point of Grace format display.
"I'm super jazzed to be here. It's a really good fit," she says.
Immediately after graduating from O'More, she began working for a Nashville ad agency, designing for clients such as KFC, Taco Bell and First Farmers Bank.
"I worked for Ryan Milby, who was wildly talented," Alex says. "I did a lot of things that made me a really strong production artist, but not the kind I wanted to be doing forever."
It was Milby who recommended Alex for the print design work at Warner, and she says she couldn't be happier.
For Alex, this job is what she's been working towards since high school. A self-professed "epic bad student," it wasn't until she began taking graphic design courses in high school that she found her professional calling.
Her attempt to major in something other than graphic design lead to her dropping out of the University of Tennessee two months after enrolling. She says it only took eight weeks to realize she needed O'More.
"My favorite part about O'More is the competition," she says. "I talked to my friend that goes to another college, and they didn't really get the cut-throat, heavy critiquing environment. The first time I got out in the real world, I was used to that critique."
This rivalrous aspect of the College was familiar to the visual communications student: Alex began playing on the Nashville Women's Rugby Football Club while at O'More, and is now the president of the club team. She says she always worked hard at O'More because of the high-energy atmosphere and the constant push from her college instructors.
"It was the teachers that I respected and appreciated the most who made me do more than I thought I could," she says.
Alex says the two specific instructors -- Dale Addy and Paula Hanback -- who made the most impact with her were also the ones who challenged her the most.
"Paula was willing to push me harder than I thought I could be pushed, and I knew from her classes that I wanted to be a print designer," Alex says. "She was the first person to really light a fire under me."
After her junior year as a visual communications major, Alex was invited to intern at the DNA Creative Marketing agency, owned by Addy. The agency had just taken on the Nashville Humane Association as a pro bono client, and Alex became an integral component of the campaign.
"Dale had me come in and work on everything from the inception to the completion of that project," she says. "I designed billboards, print ads, and got to be part of a TV shoot. Dale ended up getting me my first job."
As a professional graphic designer, Alex says the close-knit community at O'More was a definite plus, she is most appreciative for what the school did for her as a professional.
"I don't think I could have thrived as much in a 'traditional' college environment," she says. "I contribute where I am to the professors at O'More."
For more information about Alex, visit her website.
Merissa Tomlinson (BFA Visual Communications, 2010)
Daniel Burton Dean, Nashville, Tenn.
After graduating from Tennessee Tech University with a degree in sociology with an emphasis in criminal justice, Merissa Tomlinson always thought her next move would be law school. But when Merissa realized she wasn't pursuing her true passion, she enrolled at O'More College of Design. It's a big career jump from attorney to graphic designer, but she says she wouldn't change a thing.
"I had a friend who told me O'More is a school that you have to work hard to get into and work even harder to stay in," she says. "I saw that as a challenge and really wanted to take that on."
This kind of determination reflects in all aspects of Merissa's life, helping her juggle being a wife, mother to her five-month-old son, and graphic designer at Daniel Burton Dean (DBD) in Nashville.
"It comes pretty naturally to be able to handle multiple things at once," she says. "There was a running joke in school that if you needed something done, you would come to me!"
Merissa made sure her hands stayed busy at O'More, too. She was the Student Government Association president, worked in the admissions office and served as a member of the O'More Ambassadors; she also helped in the Tea Room on campus. Passionate about photography, she helped the school when it needed imagery. And she landed two internships while at O'More: One in California with TOMS shoes - a company that matches a pair of shoes purchased with a pair of shoes for a child in need - and another with DBD.
Merissa says her involvement while in school allowed her to get to know each faculty and staff member on campus, even if they weren't involved with VisCom.
"The thing I love most about O'More is that it's like a family," Merissa says. "I loved that everyone at O'More trusted me to do what I knew how to do and allowed me to implement new projects and programs that had never been done before. That's huge."
She references specific instances in her jobs at O'More, and times where students were given the freedom to expand, and even create, their own classes and assignments. Merissa held O'More's first "Style Your Sole" TOMS event, and started the annual Masquerade Ball/Fall Cocktail. She's even continuing to host the VisCom Tacky Sweater-Ornament Swap-Potluck-Superlative-Yearbook Photo-Christmas Party, as an alumna.
Now Merissa is working at DBD, the firm she interned for her senior year at O'More. Her responsibilities range from print work to production, to website design and back-end coding. DBD specializes in advertising, marketing and digital, and Merissa touches all of it in her work. For her, the creative outlet that graphic design offers is the best part of the job.
"I like to think things out. Come up with an idea, see it through the design process, to production and completion," Merissa says. "Taking things from start to finish is incredible, especially when there is the possibility that thousands of eyes will get to see it."
Merissa says that the O'More instructors helped prepare her in a way that other colleges may not - something she says she didn't realize until she was in the working world.
"There are a lot of current professors who were working in the real world and teaching us at the same time," Merissa says. "We weren't just learning from books, but from a direct perspective - stuff they'd dealt with on a day-to-day basis. I don't know if you get that with other schools."
Daniel Summers (BFA Visual Communications, 2010)
Iron Solutions, Franklin, Tenn.
Most people never get the chance to work with a Fortune 500 company. But O’More visual communications grad Daniel Summers racked up an impressive list of such clientele at his first job, within months of graduation.
Daniel landed at Acxiom, the largest consumer data company in the world, soon after finishing at O’More. He helped code email marketing campaigns for the likes of Proctor & Gamble and Starwood Hotels & Resorts, his work touching more than 15 million people a week. Daniel stayed at Acxiom for nearly a year before he felt called to an opportunity with a more creative outlet at Iron Solutions, Inc.
“Iron Solutions needed someone who could do both print design and web coding,” Daniel says. “O’More prepared me with a substantial base of knowledge in both fields. A lot of people in the industry can’t do both.”
Iron Solutions is an industry leader in customer and equipment lifecycle management services for the equipment industry. As the graphic designer and production coordinator for Iron Solutions, Daniel handles everything from email marketing campaigns to re-designing the corporate website and designing print ads for publications within the industry.
“When people have ideas for marketing, I make them happen,” he says.
Daniel says he gained the skill set required for the job from the work experience and education he received at O’More. All Viscom students are required to complete an internship before graduation, and Daniel says O’More helped him nab an internship at the Nashville marketing and advertising agency White | Thompson. There he helped with logo design, ad layout and design and web coding.
“The department chair called me in and said there’s a company you’d be good for,” Daniel says.
The standard classroom never appealed to Daniel, and it wasn’t until he enrolled at the College that he began working in something he enjoyed.
“Once I got to O’More I started putting so much effort into what I was doing, which is something I had never done before,” Daniel says. “It was because of the structure of the classroom and the environment.”
He says his new-found inspiration was also a combination of the expertise of the instructors and their ability to maintain his interest in the field.
“The curriculum for interactive multi-media goes well beyond the web, and there’s so many things related to it now,” Daniel says. “O’More has amazing teachers for that.”
Dann Petty (BFA Visual Communications, 2008)
Merican Made, San Francisco, Calif.
O’More visual communications alum Dann Petty got the idea for Merican Made while on the back of a surfboard, where he gets all of his inspirations. This one just happened to be one of his most successful yet.
Merican Made is an “idea house” made up of freelance advertising and design professionals who work remotely, from all over the United States. National Geographic called it “the most creative agency, ever,” and they’ve worked with big names such as Apple, Nike, GM and Paramount. Dann is the creative director and founder.
“Merican Made is my mind being revealed to the world,” Dann says. “It’s about people living their lives without the barriers of a cubicle, which leads to more ideas. It’s precisely what makes our agency a creative powder keg.”
There’s no office to speak of, or a corporate headquarters, but when a new creative project comes in – interactive or mobile app design, for instance – Dann reaches out to the Merican network and brings the concept to life with the help of other top developers around the country. And when Dann is not working on client work, he’s creating products of his own that satisfy his entrepreneurial spirit.
“The Merican dream is to be making our own products,” Dann says. “Since Merican Made isn’t a funded company, we still take on big client work to fund the ideas we want to make.”
Originally from Tullahoma, Tenn., Dann now lives in San Francisco. He’s also working on another start-up he co-founded there, holler.com , and if his past projects are any indication, this should be a success, too.
His personal roster of clients is staggeringly impressive. To date, he’s worked with: MINI Cooper, Nike, Adobe, Reebok, The North Face, Columbia, National Geographic, ESPN, NFL, Google, Oakley, Red Bull, Patagonia, Roxy, Hurley, American Eagle, Mattel, Lucas Arts, Virgin America, Priceline, Bridgestone Firestone, MTV, Epson, DC Shoes and more.
Dann’s been a junior designer, interactive designer, interactive art director, and creative director since graduating from O’More. He says there are endless opportunities in his field; the trick is knowing how to take advantage of the possibilities, along with making sure that what comes from Merican Made is some of the best product in the world.
“I want everyone to know we’re not here to make a quick buck,” Dann says. “We love to meet our clients and we can easily do that with a team across the states.”
As a visual communications major at O’More, he learned how to be dedicated and prepared, he says, which has played a large role in his success within the industry.
“The creative vibe was on fire there,” Dann says. “My class was so talented that the drive to be the best is what helped me get ready for the competition battle in the industry.”
Visit their website at www.mericanmade.com.
Ashlea Lanier (BFA Visual Communications, 2010)
Bottlecap Development, Atlanta, Ga.
Ashlea Lanier had her mind made up about the career path she would take. The O'More VisCom major wanted to be a book and print designer, and she was only taking the web design course to meet the degree requirements. But after a week in the class, Ashlea's plans changed.
"After the first couple of classes, a spark went off inside of me," she says. "It was definitely eye-opening, seeing where the industry was going and all the possibilities. O'More helped push me in that direction."
Now, Ashlea is a production designer at Bottlecap Development in Atlanta, working with big-name clients such as General Mills on their brand image and online presence.
"Design makes me happy," she says. "I never thought I would be here, but it's the best career move I could have made. I couldn't imagine doing anything else."
After graduation, Ashlea went to work for Media 3 Design in Murfreesboro, a graphic design company she interned with while at O'More. When she moved to Atlanta, she used the skills she had gathered during her years at Media 3 Design to build her freelance work.
"I got to see how they worked, and how they acquired clients," she says. "It definitely helped me in my career, and it was a great relationship to build."
Ashlea says that the confidence O'More instilled in her through instruction and class critiques has been a big factor in her professional work.
"O'More taught me to value my work and to be proud of what I do," she says. "A lot of that comes in to play when you are presenting your work to your clients."
The technical aspects of web design - writing code, for instance - are what first grabbed Ashlea's attention. The more she learned, the more enthralled she was with the field and the possibilities... so fascinated that she helped create an advanced web design course with O'More VisCom Chair Josh Lomelino and three other students: Joanna Jones, Elle Woodward and Danny Summers.
"Josh helped us shape what we wanted to learn," she says. "The class was very, very hard, but the four of us were eager to learn more."
Ashlea says that a common goal encouraged the group to push itself toward not only absorbing the information, but excelling in every aspect of web design it faced.
"We were all passionate about what we were doing," she says. "Being a part of that group helped push me, because we all learned from each other. That's what's so great about a small school - the relationships."
She points out that O'More's small class sizes help facilitate friendships with others who are passionate about and eager to learn the same things. Ashlea says the constant learning process created a camaraderie among her classmates that translated into their personal lives, as well.
"The close-knit part of that was great, because you become a family," Ashlea says. "O'More helps build life-long relationships."
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