“I’m trying to make my classroom come alive, to make it as real world as possible,” says Erik Strommer, interactive media arts and graphics program chair at Globe University.
That is why he invites local business owners into his classroom to become clients for his graphic design students. Globe’s business partnerships program offers students and local businesses a chance to work together: Students gain experience solving problems for clients and local business owners gain a fresh perspective on their marketing efforts.
Business partnerships turn up in surprising places, so Globe staffers are always on the lookout for potential partners. Jeff Johnson, owner of Johnson Jewelers in Woodbury, became a Globe business partner after taking Strommer’s Photoshop class. Johnson enjoyed the class and was impressed with the skills of his fellow students, so he jumped at the opportunity to see his own business from a fresh perspective.
Johnson brought high professional expectations too. “All these college kids are in their flip flops and back packs, but he showed up every day with a suit on,” Strommer recalls. “It really upped the ante in my classroom.”
Globe students created posters for a Johnson Jewelers Christmas promotion that could also be re-sized and used as a poster or mailer. Johnson was impressed with the quality of the designs the students presented, and says he enjoyed getting their impressions of his 37-year-old, family-run business. “It’s always nice to see how other people perceive you, and the students really appreciated our artistry and the unique, custom part of our business,” Johnson says.
Adam Schotzko of Schotzko Chiropractic in Woodbury became a Globe business partner during the course of an ordinary appointment with Strommer, his client. Schotzko felt his advertising budget was yielding mediocre results. The two men began brainstorming new advertising strategies right there in Schotzko’s clinic. Strommer suggested letting his class get creative and develop a new advertising strategy for Schotzko’s services.
Strommer knew the assignment would provide a challenge for his students. How would they create compelling advertising for a business selling pain relief services? He challenged them not to go with clichéd photographs of people gripping their backs with furrowed brows.
Laura Howard, a recent Globe graduate, created an innovative solution with a cheerful twist. Her design incorporated the ubiquitous yellow smiley face, shown in a progression across the page. The first face wears a grimace of pain, but as it repeats across the page, the expression begins to soften, relax and finally breaks out into a blissful smile.
Howard’s design was a great visual representation of the relief chiropractic services offer, since healing a back pain is a gentle and steady progression. Schotzko was pleased with the students’ work. “It was a really fun experience to see the different concepts they came up with,” he says. “A lot of it works well as in-office materials.” He hung the posters on the walls of his clinic and got opinions from his clients and staff.
Working with an actual client was a valuable experience for Howard too. She appreciated hearing the feedback and learning more about her own creative process. “It’s a great experience to get while you’re still in school, because you find out what people in the real world are looking for in a graphic designer,” she says. She currently works as a freelance graphic designer, thanks in part to the skills she learned at Globe.
Those practical skills and real world applications are exactly what students come to Globe to learn. Strommer loves making sure they get what they need. All his students leave with a professional online portfolio full of logo designs, advertisements and magazine layouts, as well as a physical portfolio they can bring along on interviews. They will also have marketable skills in Adobe Photoshop, In Design and Illustrator.
That portfolio combined with practical experience from Globe’s business partnerships gives them the most important real world skill of all—confidence.
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For more information on Globe University’s business partnerships, go to globeuniversity.edu.
