Education Outreach
Our chapter is committed to offering college level graphic design and high school level students a variety of opportunities to supplement their education. We also seek to mentor the next generation of designers by providing inspiration to our youth. Our Education Director, Faculty Advisors, and Student Liaisons work with local college design programs to provide relevant programming. The Education Outreach task force investigates mentoring opportunities, internship goals, and student group needs for the Board of Directors to implement. Join the Education Outreach Task Force by emailing taskforce@aigaaustin.org.
If you have any questions regarding AIGA Austin student groups, please contact our Education Director at education@aigaaustin.org.
Education Outreach Events
Student Picnic
Join other design students and creative professionals for a picnic, an opportunity to mingle and build a creative network. Also take this chance to meet our Austin board, a time to voice your opinion and share your passion for our amazing profession!
AIGA Student Portfolio Review
This day-long event is designed to give you—a graduating senior or graduate-level student about to embark on a career in the design industry—advice, insight, and useful information about how to present yourself and your work. Here is your chance to have a professional look at your portfolio in a no-risk, non-competitive environment. Practice your interview skills and get honest feedback about your portfolio and resume.
Graphic Design high school mentorship
AIGA Austin has partnered with the Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA) to provide professionals for an electronic magazine class mentorship program. In 2007, Brandi Richey and Kendra Young developed a 9th-grade course for the Liberal Arts and Science Academy called Electronic Magazine. The semester-based class serves as an intro to new media, and the students create magazines, blogs, and podcasts. The course is one semester, so students learn the basics of InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator, as well as interviewing, writing, and editing skills. All 9th-grade students are required to take the course, and very few (if any) have had any experience working with design software.
Here are some magazines from semesters past.
What will the students know?
Well, depending on when you visit, students may have just started working with page layout or they may be making polishing edits to their designs. To see what students are learning at a particular point in the semester, please visit our class calendars (Richey) (Young) and reference book (http://tiny.cc/8t32d). These resources are constantly updated, so check back regularly if you want a glimpse of what we’re working on.
How can you help?
At the beginning of each semester, we seek volunteer graphic design mentors who can meet regularly with 2 or 3 groups of students (each group usually has 3-4 students) for about an hour to an hour and a half. If possible, we’d love you to pop in at least once a month to provide encouragement and constructive criticism to your groups. You are not responsible for reading or editing their content; we only ask that you help them polish their design layouts.
Responsibilities:
1. Provide constructive feedback for students. Remember, most have never had experience in designing and a little encouragement can go a long way. There is no way that we can teach everything about design and writing in 18 weeks, so please understand that there are some principles that we may not have time to address.
2. Ask questions. If you want to know why a student used a particular image or font, ask away. They should be able to defend all of their design decisions.
3. Communicate. We know that the unexpected is bound to happen, but please let your group(s) know if you are unable to make an appointment that you previously scheduled. In addition, your group may email you with design questions, and they really appreciate it when they receive a timely response.
4. Have a good time! Being a design mentor can be a very rewarding and fun experience -- especially since the students LOVE getting feedback from the pro’s. If you’re willing to listen, counsel, and guide some enthusiastic designers-in-training, please let us know! We’d love to have you on our team.
Current mentorship needs have been met, but check back for more opportunities or contact LAZA at lasaezine@gmail.com.
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