Senior Carolyn Martin was named the Outstanding Senior for the Fashion Show department.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. Today to conclude our 10-part series, we interviewed senior Carolyn Martin (CCAD 2011), who was named Outstanding Senior for the Fashion Design department.

Q.) What scared you most while you were at CCAD?
A.) What scared me most while in design school at CCAD was always “What if I work this hard for four long years and don’t get a job after graduation.” Fears conquered. I have been hired by Dress Barn as a design assistant/CAD artist.

Q.) How did you land your first “real” job?
A.) I landed my first “real” job through the power of internships.  Each of my internships was for the same company so I built strong relations with the designers I worked with and developed a kind of seniority over other interns. Once a position became available, my background with the company put me closer to the top of the list.

Q.) What’s it feel like to graduate knowing you have work lined up?
A.) I didn’t even realize how much I was stressing about finding a job after graduation until I got an offer.  It was such a tremendous sense of relief and accomplishment. I finally felt like all my hard work had paid off.

Q.) Why is it important as an alumnus to continue giving back to your alma mater?
A.) Sharing achievements is a great way to inspire current students and show them all the possibilities that are available after graduation.  There is no straight path or one specific career direction for any major, and the more students are informed of all the possibilities the more confident they will be to build a career path that best fits them.

Q.) What will you miss most?
A.) As happy as I am to be finished with school, I know that what I will miss is the challenge of always being busy.  Being a student at CCAD has constantly challenged me to find the perfect harmony between school, work, and friends and family.  No matter how happy you may be with your work, it’s family and friends—your biggest supporters—who bring true happiness.

Q.) I hope future CCAD students…
A.) Continue making a bigger and better fashion show every year!

Carolyne is one of the 25 Fashion Design seniors who will be showcasing her collection at  the May 13 Senior Fashion Show event on campus. You can read more about what inspired her designs (and her journey to CCAD) on our post, Carolyn Martin’s Road to the Runway Takes Her from Pre-Vet to War Vet, To Chanel.

Senior Ryan Slicer was named Outstanding Senior for the Industrial Design department.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. Today in part nine of our 10-part series, we interviewed s

enior Ryan Slicer (CCAD 2011), who was named Outstanding Senior for the Industrial Design department.

Q.) What’s it feel like to graduate with not one but two job offers?
A.) It feels great. I feel like all the sleepless nights and long hours were worth something in the real world.

Q.) What’s the ultimate dream job?
A.) The ultimate for me is pretty simple. I just want to design new solutions for existing problems. As long as I am able to do that, I will be happy. Eventually, I would really like to start my own firm here in Columbus.

Q.) Do you remember a single point that made you sit back and say, “This is why I am doing this?”
A.) Actually receiving this award. I think this means the most because it’s validation from the faculty that I have done well in the program.

Q.) What smell always reminds you of your time here as a student?
A.) Definitely the smell of walnut sawdust. Junior year I built a dining room table from walnut, and the shop and I smelled like sawdust for weeks. It smelled wonderful.

Q.) What are you going to miss most about CCAD?
A.) Everyone sitting down in room 108 on the cintiqs. We would stay down there together for days it seemed, laughing. The people here are great.

Q.) Finish the sentence. The best class at CCAD was…
A.) ID302 with Joel Gundlach.

Q.) What was your favorite thing to do on the weekends?
A.) Put away all my stuff to spend time with my wife—as long as there was no presentations the following week.

Q.) Any advice for future CCAD students?
A.) Take it upon yourselves to see that you are successful.

Ryan’s Coroflot portfolio is available here.

Senior Jordan Edwards was named the 2011 Outstanding Senior for Advertising & Graphic Design.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. Today in part eight of our 10-part series, we interviewed senior Jordan Edwards (CCAD 2011), who was named Outstanding Senior for the Advertising & Graphic Design department.

Q.) What was your biggest achievement while studying here?
A.) Being Outstanding Senior is great—don’t get me wrong—I love this, and I’m very proud of it. But I really liked seeing how the Student Programming Board has grown. I started with them my sophomore year. We did a few small events here and there and some people would come. Obviously Big Boo! was kind of our shining achievement. But this year we’ve really been taking on a new structure, we have a really great team, and our events have really started to get a lot of attention. So I’m glad that I got to be involved with that and see what it has become.

Q.) Did you ever have that feeling of “ugh, why do I have to learn this” that eventually led to, “wow, this is so important?”
A.) Color Concept. I remember going into class and being like, “Color concept?!? I know how to mix colors, I already know what this is.” But I really didn’t understand all the intricacies of it and how you can use colors to affect the mood of the piece. So I think that’s the stuff that I employ the most that I thought was the most bogus at the time.

Editors Note: at this point in the interview Director of Career Services Cynthia Gravino came to table. “He’s awesome. Seriously, quote me. This kid is awesome.”

Q.) You’ve landed some really big projects. How’d you do that?
A.) Mostly, it’s just badgering the right person.  One of the big projects I’m working on now is Leakycon, a Harry Potter fan conference that is being held in Orlando this summer. The group that planned the conference held another one in 2009 that I went to and after I left I said, “I have to be a part of this somehow.” And, you know, you start following the right people on Twitter, and you pester them—and pester them, and pester them—and then finally they’ll say, “okay, fine.” I started out as just a graphic designer but have now risen up and am now creative director for the whole conference, which means I’m leading a team of other designers to make everything for the conference.

Q.) The dream job. Everyone has one. What’s yours?
A.) My ultimate goal is to head to California and work for Walt Disney Imagineering. That’s my long time, pie-in-the-sky dream. My parents took me to Walt Disney World when I was five, and I didn’t know what Imagineering was, but I knew that it was really cool that somebody got to make this stuff for their job. It’s always been floating around in the back of my mind, but I never took it seriously until I came here and realized that this is a legitimate possibility and I am learning the stuff now that it takes to get there.

Q.) What’re you going to miss the most?
A.) The community of support. If you’re working on a piece, there is this huge group of people you can tap into for inspiration, support, and motivation. There will always be teams in the future, but we’ve got a pretty strong group here, and I will miss it tremendously.

Q.) If you could go back and tell your 17 year old self anything about CCAD, what would it be?
A.) You’re going to learn more than you ever thought you would. You’re going to meet people who are so similar to you that it is scary, and they are going to be your best friends. And you’re going to get opportunities that you’ll never get again. You’re going to love it—so don’t be scared.

Q.) Finish the sentence. Graduating feels like…
A.) Ripping off the Band Aid. It’s going to be painful, but once it’s off, it’ll be really gratifying.

Learn more about Jordan on his website.

Senior Justin Highlander was named the Outstanding Senior for the Interior Design department.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. Today in part seven of our 10-part series, we interviewed senior Justin Highlander (CCAD 2011), who was named Outstanding Senior for the Interior Design department.

Q.) When did you realize that this is, without a doubt, what you want to do?
A.) Sophomore year. Our final project had to be entirely hand-drafted, and I was at the point where I re-hand-drafted my floor plan about fifteen times—and it took a couple hours each time. So I was at the point where I really started questioning if this was really what I wanted to do and if this was the industry I wanted to be in. Am I really going to have to do this fifteen times just to get it right?

But it now serves as a sort of traumatic experience that has gone well. This is how it works. This is how it is done right. You can’t just turn anything in, you can’t turn in junk work. It is real work that goes to a real client. And that’s what makes it so exciting.

Q.) Do you have a job lined up for after graduation?
A.) Not right now, but I’m looking to get into the commercial and retail industries. I’ve applied to about 15 places, and I’m looking for contacts. I’m willing to go anywhere that the opportunity presents itself—basically whoever wants to hire me, and if it’s a good place, and a good company, I’m game.

I did my first internship through Career Services, and they helped me with my first portfolio as a junior and my resume and interviewing skills. It is a great department at the school, and I hold a huge respect for those who work there.

Q.) What’s your sales pitch? Why should someone hire you?
A.) I always tell people about everything I’ve self-taught myself. I’m pushing my knowledge, sort of as, ‘if there is something new that you guys don’t know how to use, I’ll learn it, I’ll teach myself.’I think it’s very important to learn something new, so every semester I taught myself something new (outside of the curriculum) to help push my projects. I realized early on that this is what the industry wants and what the industry needs. It helped my projects and it helped me as a person, but it’s also helping me to apply for jobs, saying that I do know how to use these programs that others may not know how to use.

Q.) What’s the dream job?
A.) The dream job is working for one of those companies that gets a new client every three months, so you can do the ultimate design for every new project that you do. I would reference Chute Gerdeman as the dream job. I mean, M&M World! Plus, as a CCAD student, I’ve gotten to work with them, to go to their offices, to meet some of our alums who work there.

Q.) What word always reminds you of CCAD?
A.) Crane. Crane reminds me of CCAD. When I come to CCAD on the weekends, I come to Crane. When I go to classes, I come to Crane. I mean, I basically live in Crane, so of course it will always remind me of this place. Someday, I’ll see a crane and be like, ‘oh, yep, CCAD.’

Q.) Can you describe what graduating feels like in one word?
A. Ecstatic. Finally done. That’s two though. Some more? Congrats. Hooray.

Q.) If you could give yourself a do-over, what would it be?
A.)Leave myself a note sophomore year that said, ‘Push yourself farther. Do more.’ I learned my lesson after two years that I can accomplish so much if I continue to push myself, but I wish I would have learned that sooner.

To learn more about Justin, visit his Coroflot profile.

Senior Taehee Lee was named Outstanding Senior for the Media Studies department.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. Today in part six of our 10-part series, we interviewed senior Tahee Lee (CCAD 2011), who was named Outstanding Senior in Media Studies.

Q.) What was your proudest achievement while at CCAD?
A.) To be able to work with Design Group and to be chosen as the Outstanding Senior for Media Studies. I learned a lot from working with Design Group. I really enjoyed editing the Jay-Oh-Bee project because I learned a lot from the alumni and from getting to edit the project.

Q.) What scared you the most?
A.) We’re all a bit uncertain about our futures, but as an international student you truly never know how things are going to go. Many companies are reluctant to employee international students because they will have to prepare visas on the side—so a lot of them think, why bother when they could just get any American student.

Q.) So, what’s next?
A.) I am relieved and excited to work on something I really love doing. It just feels great. Most of my Korean friends are probably a bit jealous. My main focus was always going to graduate school, and I did get accepted but I was offered a job and made the last minute decision to accept it over graduate school.  When I was offered the job, all I could think was, I need to seize this opportunity because grad school will always be there but this may not.

Q.) What’s the dream job?
A.) To be able to work at a design studio as big as Psyop.

Q.) If you could describe graduating in one word, what would it be?
A.) Bittersweet.

Q.) What advice do you have for future CCAD students?
A.) The technique comes later; you will learn about technique when you have the job. I recommend trying everything that you can possibly do at an art school—even if it is really different from your major. You really have to get to know design first: the technique will come later. So enjoy being at an art school. Take ceramics or glassblowing just because you can—it’s all design, and it will really help in the long run.

View Taehee’s work on her website. Stills from her projects are below.

Animation major Chelsea Mummert was named the 2011 Outstanding Senior for her department.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. Today in part five of our 10-part series, we interviewed senior Chelsea Mummert (CCAD 2011), who was named Outstanding Senior for the Animation department.

Q.) Describe a particular thing you learned at CCAD that didn’t make sense to you at first, but that you realized later “Oh, that’s what that meant!”
A.) I would say a lot of things I learned foundation year fits into this category. For example, the project where we had to put three black squares on a white page. I realize it was the simplest form of composition, balance and hierarchy, something that I consider for each scene of animation.

Q.) What’s the ultimate dream job?  Or goal? Basically, when will you be able to sit back and say ‘I’ve made it’?
A.) When I am working in a major animation studio like Pixar or Disney as a part of their core team!

Q.) Why is it important as an alum to continue giving back to your alma mater?
A.) I think it is important for students to hear from us because we come from the same background. When Mike Altman (who was recently tapped as spring 2011 commencement speaker) came to talk to us after landing a job at Pixar, it really made me feel like it was all possible.

Q.) Do you remember a single point that made you sit back and say, “This is why I am doing this?”
A.) When I can sit at my computer for hours at a time and it only feels like a few minutes has passed. Then there are moments when I look at my work and am amazed to think to myself, I made that! It just amazes me what can be accomplished with passion and dedication.

Q.) What smell, word, object, or whatever always reminds you of your time here as a student?
A.) I would say Hounddogs pizza reminds me of my time here because of all of the times I spent there with my closest friends through all hours of the night. It’s a place you don’t go to for the service but the pizza is amazing!

Q.) If you can describe what graduating feels like in one word (okay, one sentence), what would it be?
A.) It’s like the end of a very intense training program and the beginning of a very long and beautiful dream come true.

Q.) Finish the sentence. I hope future CCAD students …
A.) Take their time here seriously and get the most out of their experiences because now is the time to grow and experiment. I also hope that they are not afraid to challenge their teachers or push the “limits” of creativity.

Learn more about Chelsea on her website.

Senior Sean Blanton was named Outstanding Senior for the Photography department.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. Today in part four of our 10-part series, we interviewed senior Sean Blanton (CCAD 2011), who was named Outstanding Senior for the Photography department.

Q.)What was your proudest achievement while at CCAD?
A.) I suppose that being selected as the Outstanding Senior in Photography has been my proudest achievement. I know that there are a lot of other people in the photography program producing some really amazing work. Any one of them could have received this award. I’m flattered that I would even be considered.

Q.) What scared you most while you were at CCAD?
A.) Scared? I don’t know about scared. I was however, intimidated. I was definitely intimidated at first by the expectations of the college. It was a completely different environment from what I used to. I wasn’t used to being pushed as hard as I was, especially with having a strong conceptual standpoint in my work. I was really pushed to make my work about something, to have concrete reasons for creating work. Producing work with that kind of conviction was at first intimidating: now, it has become an integral point in my work.

Q.) Why is it important as an alumnus to continue giving back to your alma mater?
A.) CCAD has given me more than I could ever ask for. They have done so much for the artist community in Columbus, and I have truly grown to love this school for that connection. The more we can give back to CCAD, the more we can help it—and Columbus as an artist community—grow. I would like to remain involved in the CCAD community as much as possible, for as long as possible.

Q.) What will you miss most?
A.) The professors. Many of the professors I’ve met during my time at CCAD have been some of the most inspirational people with whom I’ve ever come in contact. Their advice has stretched way beyond critiques on my work. They have truly shaped me—and I mean that only in a positive way. They have driven me to do great things and challenged my thinking. I’ll be sad to drop out of immediate contact with all those people I’ve relied on for advice the past four years. I’ll be sad to never sit through a lecture that leaves me breathless.

Q.) If you can describe what graduating feels like in one word (okay, one sentence), what would it be?
A.) Graduating feels to me like the transition where professors no longer feel the need to teach you, and instead have given you the opportunity to teach yourself. (Sorry for breaking the one sentence rule – but to clarify what I just said – graduating doesn’t feel like the end of my education – but instead a transition where I now need to take my education into my own hands. They have laid the foundation for my education as an artist, but that is all. I now have a lifetime to spend teaching myself to be an artist. That is what it is to be an artist – to always be constantly observing and learning.)

Learn more about Sean on his website.

Senior Phong Nguyen was named co-Outstanding Senior for the Illustration department.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. But sometimes, it’s hard to pick just one—as is the case in the Illustration department. Today in part three of our 10-part series, we interviewed senior Phong Nguyen (CCAD 2011), who was named co-Outstanding Senior for the Illustration department along with classmate Graham Erwin.

Q.) What was your proudest achievement while at CCAD?
A.) During my time at CCAD, I’ve had several small achievements here and there, be it getting compliments from a teacher or winning an award. But if I had to pick just one it has to be placing 1^st and 3^rd at the 2011 CCAD Art of Illustration Show.
I had worked really hard on the pieces that I entered and wasn’t going to be satisfied with anything other than 1^st place.  When Chris Payne (Dean of Illustration) called my name for 3^rd place, I was happy but a bit disappointed too because I thought that meant that that was the highest I could place. When he called my name again for 1^st place, I was in shock but extremely happy. I guess this was possible because judging is done per entry piece and not per student.  I can’t help but imagine what it would feel like if I took the 2^nd place spot also.

Q.) Describe a particular thing you learned at CCAD that didn’t make sense to you at first, but that you realized later “Oh, that’s what that meant!”
A.) In freshman 2D design, we were taught the idea of dominant, subdominant, and subordinate in designs. I had never heard of this before so I just went through the lessons. At the end of my freshman year when I began to work on more personal pieces I started to realize the concept behind what I had learned. It’s even more evident when I had to explain it to someone while critiquing.

Q.) How did you land your first “real” job?
A.) My real job is the one I’m currently waiting to interview for. I have a friend who works at a company in Boston called Tencent that makes online computer games. After getting back from winter break, I started looking around for possible places to apply to.  As luck had it, my friend informed me there was a position available at Tencent for an “environment concept artist.”

For the next month or so, I ate, slept, and breathed environment concepts. Eventually when I felt I had a good enough portfolio, I sent the art director at Tencent an email. Got an art test. Completed it. Got a phone interview. Now I’m waiting for the onsite interview.

During this time, my actual school assignments suffered but I knew it was worth it. There’re two minutes left in overtime, I’ve got no more timeouts remaining, it’s time to make a BIG PLAY.

Q.) Do you remember a single point that made you sit back and say, “This is why I am doing this?”
A.) When I saw a picture of Craig Mullins working freelance over the internet in his house by the beach in Hawaii. When I talk to friends who are in college and still don’t know what they want to do, they tell me their biggest fear is settling into a field of work that they don’t love. I know I love art so making a living doing what I love is a great way to live.

Q.) Finish the sentence. I hope future CCAD students…
A.) Would not wait too late to start getting serious about their work.

Selecting just a few of Phong’s works was an incredibly tough challenge. Visit his website to see what else is available.

Senior Ken Aschliman was named the Outstanding Senior for the Fine Arts department.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. Today in part two of our 10-part series, we interviewed senior Ken Aschliman (CCAD 2011), who was named Outstanding Senior for the Fine Arts department.

Q.) So what’s next?
A.) I like to do a lot of different things. I like to make artwork, but I also like to organize shows, help other artists. I think that I want to go the Denny Griffith [CCAD's president] route, where I have a professional arts industry job, and then do my artwork in my personal time. He’s a great role model for me. If I want to be just a studio artist, I have to make the connections that are necessary in order to sell art. Now by working with these various arts organizations, I feel like I am beginning to make those connections. I’m looking at different art museum, gallery, and organization jobs.

Q.) What was your proudest achievement since you’ve been here?
A.) I don’t know if last night [winning AICUO’s Excellence in Visual Art Grand Award] has sunk in yet. It still feels like it just happened. So I’d say, Everything Explodes, the exhibition I did my junior year. By doing that, I realized I really enjoyed the organization of the show and the artwork and a lot of great things happened because of it. We were interviewed in Alive! and the Dublin Art Council will be doing a CCAD student show next year because of it. And the second one was the Mario mural. The goal was to promote student government, but the mural was only what it was because of the collaboration I did with so many people—plus it got a lot of attention, which was great.

Q.) Do you remember that “this is why I’m doing this” moment?
A.) My junior year I had a serious crisis of faith. I was debating in my head whether I had made the right decision in coming to art school. I felt like I had made the wrong decision for a while. I felt the classes prepared me to be an entrepreneur and to sell my work, but then all my experiences in trying to do that failed miserably. I showed at an art gallery for six months and made $40, sold only one print. But now I’ve interned at the Columbus Museum of Art and at the Greater Columbus Arts Council and those have really shown me that there are different paths I can follow. And sure once I graduate I may have to spend a year being the coffee guy for one of these organizations, but I know that there are paths I can take.

Q.) What smell will always remind you of this place?
A.) Coming out of AMF [Amelita Mirolo Fine Arts Building], there is always this really sweet smell. It smells like donuts. The smell of coffee is the other smell that will always remind me of this place.

Q.) What’re you going to miss most—besides the donut smell?
A.) Definitely the people and the sense of community. The college is fantastic. When I walk from one building to another, I see like five friends, who I can say ‘hi’ to or stop and have a conversation with. There is always someone to work with and to bounce ideas off, which is really crucial when you’re working on anything really.

Q.) What’s your hope for future CCAD students?
A.) We have a really good thing going here, and I want the next generation to keep it going. My selfish goal is that the Spotlight Exhibition group I started keeps going. The Student Government has really done a lot this year under David Merz and I really hope that energy continues. I see great artwork happening around me, I see younger students getting up to that level and I just hope it continues.

To see more of Ken’s work, visit his website.

Senior Graham Erwin was named the 2011 Oustanding Senior for the Illustration department.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. But sometimes, it’s hard to pick just one—as is the case in  Illustration. Today in part one of our 10-part series, we interviewed Senior Graham Erwin (CCAD 2011), who was named co-Outstanding Senior for the Illustration department along with classmate Phong Nguyen.

Q.) What has been your proudest achievement while at CCAD?
A.) Just a couple of weeks ago I received an email from French Paper Company asking me if I would like to have my screen print featured on their site. Having my work featured among many of my screen printing heroes was a huge honor, and one of the first signs that I have a chance making money off of my personal work. (Check it out here.)

Q.) What’s your ultimate dream job?
A.) Ideally, I want to be my own boss. I want people to respect me for my personal work and give me the benefit of the doubt that I’m going to create something awesome on my own. I found that while freelancing there will always be someone that thinks they know more about your profession than you do, even if they never spent a day in art school. I’m in the process of turning selling screen prints from a hobby into a solid part-time job, hopefully it will be full-time in the near future!

Q.) Why is it important to give back to CCAD?
A.)  I’m not a big fan of using people. I think every good relationship is mutual. Although there are ups and downs with any college experience, I am so grateful that I was lucky enough to go to college, and I owe it to CCAD to give something back.

Q.) What about CCAD will you miss the most?
A.) The forced creativity. The most valuable skill CCAD has given me is the ability to force myself to make something when I don’t want to. There were so many times when I was in the middle of a project and was just tortured by how much I hated what I was making. If I didn’t have that deadline, I would have just given up. It’s funny looking back now because those projects have always ended up being my best.

Q.) What word or phrase sums up the feeling of graduation?
A.) FINALLY.

Like his work? Buy a poster online through Graham’s Etsy shop. And to learn more about Graham—and to follow his success—subscribe to his blog.