Real-world application of classroom studies is an essential part of the student experience at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. In this AAC student highlight, we talked to B.F.A. students Jena Russell and Megan Hathaway about how they translated a classroom project to a professional contract last Spring. What originally started as a simulation of the client-designer experience became a paid opportunity when the owner of Make.Do, a Cincinnati yarn and fabric shop, contracted them to bring their proposal to fruition.
Classroom Studies to Commercial Experience
Assistant Professor Kate Tepe, AAC’s Head of Design Major, teaches DS303: Experience Design every Spring semester. The course immerses AAC juniors and seniors in the world of design, brand building, visual communication, and industry standards and practices. The course also presents potential opportunities for working directly with clients.
Kate invited Make.Do shop owner Jennifer Cox (Jen) to her DS303 class so that students could gain experience with client-based work. The project called for students to research Make.Do’s brand needs and design strategies so that they could present a proposal to Jen.
Jen was seeking creative solutions to increase the visibility of her shop, located on a main road in Pleasant Ridge, by developing a retail display. Students needed to familiarize themselves with the Make.Do brand, understand the business’s industry and target audience, and integrate the business’s unique needs. For example, Jen’s senior mother enjoys working on the window displays, so the materials needed to be safe and accessible to manipulate.
Megan describes, “Jen was looking for ideas on what she could do to make displays livelier, bring more customers in. As a class, we could ask Jen questions and see what she was looking for. The project was to create a window display that could work for four different seasons.”
“Jen was originally saying she wanted something that she could keep all year-round, but Megan and I came up with the idea to create a series of props that represent the everyday bag that her typical customer would have. She mentioned that her mom enjoys making the displays herself, putting in different props for seasons and holidays. We decided to make generic props for the everyday bag so that her mother and her could go in customize for the seasons,” says Jena.
Designing the Details of Make.Do
With a full scope of Jen’s needs for Make.Do, Jena and Megan started focusing on visualizing their display.
Jena explains, “Something that Megan and I both enjoy are the Anthropologie window displays. There was one a long time ago where they had these humungous macarons, and they would basically stack them up in different ways and would install different window displays with the different macarons they had. We thought it would be cool to have something that versatile.”
Resembling a life-size dollhouse, Jena and Megan designed larger-than-life tools and items that Make.Do customers use, like a ruler, buttons, a spool of yarn, a ball of yarn, knitting and crochet needles, and, of course, the everyday tote bag.
Megan says, “This project taught us how to work with a client in the way of taking steps to complete it. Our first phase was conversations with Jen about what she wants, what’s the budget. Then it was buying the materials and making sure we were buying the right amount of materials and keeping track of it all. Working with a budget, we had to make sure we weren’t going crazy with all these materials. I feel like it taught me how my time and my skill are really worth something. You’re not just working for nothing—you’re building things that are worth something.”
Developing Key Insights
Jena and Megan’s experience of transitioning a simulated project to a paid professional opportunity represents exactly what AAC aims to facilitate for students. Under Kate’s guidance, Jena and Megan—both of whom are B.F.A. Design students who recently began their senior year—established contracts, delivered creative design work for commercial purposes, and solidified local, professional connections.
Adds Megan, “I haven’t really worked with clients before, besides friends and family. I think this course really taught us how to talk to a client, how to have that professional relationship with someone who wants to hire you and having enough research to say, ‘I know who you are, I know your business, I think this is the best course of action.’ Kate helped us step by step. She really helped to prepare us for the future. I feel like I can confidently do that on my own.”
“I think this class is pretty essential and important for everyone to take, especially if they don’t have that experience yet of working with people in the real world,” says Jena. “It helps you figure out what type of people you’re interested in working with and what type of businesses. It gives you a sneak peek into what things might be like when you get out of school. Not only does this prep you for other classes for your senior thesis, it also helps prep you for the real world for when you graduate.”
Says Kate, “The 300-level Design classes allow students to engage with real business leaders, gaining insight into practical challenges and the opportunity to collaborate to develop creative solutions. With this project, Jena and Megan we able to understand Jen’s needs and provide her with a modular system that keeps her store windows fresh and engaging for the very walkable culture of Pleasant Ridge and her customers!”
Jena and Megan are both B.F.A. students who are studying Design. As seniors this academic year, their thesis work will be on view in our galleries on campus during the Spring as a culmination of their studies.
Kate is Head of the Design Major at AAC and is a multi-media artist who creates work related to group and personal identities, interpersonal relationships, and community networks. She has over a decade of experience working with brand identity and development, communications, marketing, and art education and programming. Kate has a socially engaged practice but has also worked with brands such as Massimo Zanetti, Target, and Pepsi, and creative partners such as the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati Public Schools, University of Dayton, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Interested in Design? Read more about the undergraduate program here.
