Student Org Updates
2023–2024
AIGA (The Professional Association for Design)
The Anderson University AIGA student group is in its second year! AU AIGA is a student organization for Graphic Design majors that provides a community with other students, along with an essential link to professional practice. We enjoyed a variety of events this year including:
- Launch Event: Those who came got to enjoy pizza and community as we went over our goals for the year and how to join us.
- AIGA Atlanta Portfolio Review: We traveled as a group to Atlanta for a portfolio review with some of the industry’s top professionals and explored the Museum of Design (MODA).
- Guest Alumni and Graphic Design Portfolio Reviews: Underclassmen benefited from hearing two Alumni, Caroline Reynolds and Lindsey Gatlin speak about professionalism and getting your portfolio ready to go.
- Lino & Love: Designers got to learn from a senior designer about the history of linocut printing and even got to carve and print their own designs to take home.
- Internship Chat: We’re all about leaving a helpful impact on underclassman designers, so hosting a chat with three of our design seniors about what to expect from internships was a blast.
- Member Exclusive: Our members got access to exclusive features this year, including a roundup of the most impactful design resources and a mentorship program.
- AU AIGA Publication Vol. 1: A publication featuring the work of AU AIGA Members is currently in the works!
We’re excited to finish out this year strong and see what great things will happen next year!
Clay Collective
Clay Collective has been busy this year!
- Scholarships to Arrowmont (the oldest craft school in Tennessee) have been provided
- We attended the NCECA ceramics conference
- Provided funding for art markets
- Hosted many visiting artists and exhibitions
- Had our bi-annual ceramics sale
- Continued to build connections with Student Activities at AU
Anderson University Type Foundry (AUTF)
The idea of creating the Anderson University Type Foundry (AUTF) was first inspired in 2022 by the first group of students to take the Digital Resurrections in Typography class led by Professor Tim Speaker. These students had a passion for typography and history that they wanted to share with AU and the surrounding community of designers. Until this point, their idea has lived within the confines of the Typography course taught once a year.
This year, a group of Senior and Junior design students underwent the process of establishing AUTF to be the first student-led type foundry. After creating a set of goals and pitching our dream to the Student Government Association (SGA), we are on our way to establishing AUTF as a student organization at AU! Additionally, this past semester, AUTF hosted a successful exhibition titled Transcend; Across, Beyond, and Through that examined enduring concepts of resurrection typography. On behalf of leadership, we want to send out a big thank you to everyone who has supported AUTF along the way, from attending interest meetings and our exhibitions to sharing the dream.
Keep an eye out for AUTF next semester! We have exciting things happening.
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Digital Resurrections and Transcend
Study Abroad, Italy
Design For America (DFA)
We are thrilled to announce a new partnership with Design for America (DFA), being the first and only in South Carolina and in the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). DFA is a student organization that uses human-centered design to create local, community-oriented and socially-driven impact. Our studio joins a global network of other DFA studios including prestigious universities such as Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Notre Dame, MIT, RISD, Rutgers, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Yale, and others. This past semester, Prof. Herb Vincent Peterson’s Design for Social Value class used DFA principles and methods to design and facilitate a community event, capturing Anderson community stories, called Echo, which you can read more about here: Echo Exhibit.
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Design for America: New Partnership with Anderson University is First in State
PlusCo.
Over the past few years, the Department of Art+Design has employed a handful of design students to support a variety of its internal needs. Much of their work has historically revolved around cultivating social media channels as well as organizing and marketing internal events. Due to the recent and continued growth of our Department, we felt this year we needed to form this group of ad-hoc designers into something more formal and structured. Alongside the leadership of Professor Luke Anspach, this year’s team became officially known as PlusCo. The name serves as a nod to the primary identifier in the Department branding between Art+Design and references the conceptual meaning of both “joining together” and “adding to.”
The internal, student-run design studio’s primary goals are twofold: to provide design and marketing services for the Department of Art+Design and to aid in cultivating the student culture throughout our programs. The three pillars of the studio center on (1) Legacy — generosity to the program and the future student experience, (2) Leadership — collaborative contribution to the team environment and department culture, and (3) Learning — formative growth and skill development.
This year the team has been hard at work. Here’s a list of some of our highlights:
- Social Media Development — Continued to develop our social media channels on Instagram, Medium, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Behance as well as centralized our various partner Instagram accounts into a LinkTree
- ADWK — Planned, designed, and marketed Art+Design Week (ADWK) 2023 and many of its associated events
- PlusCo Identity — Designed a visual identity for PlusCo and created accounts for Instagram and Behance
- Senior Symposia Event — Carried on the branding of Senior Symposia (started by Alumni Abbie Vanasse ’23) into this year’s event, as well as the event materials and the Senior Design Philosophy book
- Marketing Campaign — Created and distributed a direct marketing campaign toward prospective design students for the BFA in Graphic Design program (Read Case Study)
In addition to our efforts this year, we were honored to be recognized by AAF Greenville, receiving a Gold Addy Award for Magazine Design (Senior Symposia Philosophy Magazine) and a Silver Addy Award for Direct Marketing (Future Design Student Campaign).
Stay connected to updates and happenings with PlusCo by following us on Instagram, Behance, or read any case studies we might post on the Department’s Medium account.
