Two Years Later
Recently I was going through two years’ worth of projects in preparation of putting a final portfolio together. I felt something every grad student probably feels after looking at the tangible results of their Portfolio Center experience: I’m so glad I came here.
It was a risk. Like many, I didn’t know a soul in Atlanta before coming here (although I considered Wolf Blitzer my personal friend regardless). I had just gotten out of the lowest low of my life: a depressing inner-city teaching job that made Dangerous Minds look like Saved By The Bell (first season, Hayley Mills style). But after drawing up customized worksheets and sometimes teaching with a British accent (anything to get the students’ attention), I realized that my true passion was creativity.
So it was refreshing to find out that you could really make a living being creative. Like most others, I was immediately sold upon taking my first steps into Portfolio Center. I too wanted to create things like the cool student-made projects that occupied display cases in the museum-esque atmosphere. There was something different about the students and staff too: everyone was smiling. The contrast with my previous work environment could not have been greater.
Luckily, I wasn’t alone. The Fall 2003 incoming class included everyone from an ex-law school student to a writer working in a dead-end ad agency job for five years. Everyone was in the same boat despite our diverse backgrounds and interests, and right away we were stretched to the limits in the introductory classes. Anyone who believes that PC isn’t as challenging and involved as other types of graduate schools has never survived through Sylvia Gaffney’s Design Aesthetics class. Panda bears still give me nightmares.
After the course of two years, the stuff my friends churn out now on a regular basis blows me away and is consistently inspiring. Jeff Ma’s typeface Sincere. Katie Kosma’s chair. Roger Wong’s God poster. Matt McKenna’s Ace Hardware radio ad. Leon Henderson’s photographs from Croatia. There’s no doubt in my mind that these and many other classmates will be among the movers and shakers of tomorrow’s creative industry.
Maybe this all sounds like a used car salesman pitch, but I love this place. If the creative world interests you, and you’re stuck in a crappy job or just thinking about life after college, do yourself the service of coming down to Atlanta to visit. You’ll know right away if this is where you need to be or not. Sit in on a class. Talk to Hank. Take the CNN Studios tour and get kicked out because you threw spare change down from the five-story escalators. It’s all worth the risk.
Ah, I can almost hear Green Day’s “Good Riddance” (Time of Your Life) playing…It’s something unpredictable, but in the end is right…
I’m a first quarter student who came from the Last Frontier to the First Frontier(?) looking for something exciting. Your words are encouraging to the point that makes me remember that love is a dangerous thing. Love is too comfortable. If I had loved my alma mater, if I had fallen in love with my Literary Criticism professor, I wouldn’t have ever felt the discomfort that pushed me to drive thousands of miles to Atlanta and Portfolio Center.
Luckily, I’m not feeling love for Portfolio Center, not even a puppy love. I’m beginning to feel a happy tension with the school (how come everyone keeps talking about a Design Aesthetics class that not everyone is taking or will take? How come all of the students who spoke to the 1st quarter students at orientation were designers?). I know this tension will make me uncomfortable enough to keep me looking towards the future: to find the Last Frontier, not my home, but of creativity.
DAVE—YOU CAN’T LEAVE!!!! PLEASE DON’T GOOOOOOO!!!!!!
The journey is long and challenging.
I promise in the end it is worth every moment.
This weekend I was flying back from being away and I looked up and the inflight advertisement on the screen was displaying work I had completed earlier this summer for Delta. Pretty darn cool is all I have to say. It was one of several moments I’ve experienced due to my time at PC. The skillset you will earn will be invaluable and you will find yourself capable of synthesizing things beyond just an aesthetic, something you may not understand now but you will, trust me.
Anything is possible. I promise you.
Cheers,
Lorenzo
Online Design Developer - delta.com
For a good goes around experience, visit delta.com
Well, what can I say. Thanks for the kind words man. But I will say Dave is right. I came here almost two years ago and can’t even believe I made it this far and the quality of work I produce. It’s real satisfying hearing your friends and people in the industry just appreciate you. I think your work is secondary compared to you as a person. You just have to be yourself from the beginning. Its really hard at first to find your niche, whether you’re a photographer, designer, writer, art director or whatever, you go through stuff while you’re here (believe me I know) and it just helps you in the long run. I’m glad I came and met the people I’ve met and became friends with them because you can’t do this alone. To everyone starting out, just stay encouraged and talk to as many people as you can. Just be you and you’ll be amazed at how far you’ll go in such little time. Trust me.
Buenas noches,
the black dude at school