Reflect + Present

Hi! I’m Sarah, and I don’t really like talking about myself, but here we are.

I’m a graduate graphic design student at Boston University, but that’s not where my story starts. I was born and raised in New York City (a place I never want to live again) by parents outside of any creative field, but who also fostered and encouraged my creativity all throughout childhood. They took me to museums and art classes. They sent me to an arts day camp when I was so young that I couldn’t even carry the bag with my lunch in it. I was always encouraged to be creative, but it took a while for me to figure out where my creativity would lead me.

Figuring that out started in high school, when I was required to participate in a “major” extracurricular activity. Sports and theater were never things I really enjoyed, so I joined the newspaper. I realized that going out and conducting interviews with people in and around my school was not something I enjoyed, but I absolutely loved sitting down and laying out pages each month. I realized I could take a creative path within communications, but I still hadn’t completely found my place.

I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado Boulder in Strategic Communications, specifically on the “Media Design” track, which was basically graphic design for advertising.

While I really did enjoy my time there, and enjoyed the program as well, it made me realize one big thing about my future: that I do not want to work in an advertising agency. Certain classes were structured like ad agencies and we were taught more about how to come up with a concept for an ad than how to actually execute the ad at a high level. I just wanted to design.

I structured my schedule in undergrad to include classes that gave me more design skills, picking up minors in Creative Technology Design and Media Production. I took fine arts classes “for non-majors” and tried to focus more on design than churning out ad concept after ad concept.

I realized my love for graphic design, especially typography, and decided to further my education in that direction. And that’s what brings me here.

As an MFA student at BU, I have gotten to spread my wings in design and gain the technical skills that undergrad did not provide. I have gotten to explore graphic design more than I ever had and produce work that I didn’t know I was capable of.

I don’t know exactly what’s next for me, but three areas that interest me are type design, accessible graphic design (especially for a neurodivergent audience), and signage/way-finding/exhibit design. I’m also still figuring out my design process, but being in this program is helping me to develop both my aspirations and my process.