Summary of College Graphic Design Experience

This document did not turn out to be convincing enough for the committee, though. About a month later, I developed a document about twice as long, largely spent detailing the process of developing one of my first website designs, the Earlham Word Online. In the end, I graduated and produced a couple of documents that may be interesting to others that may have otherwise gone unwritten. -mark 9/30/00

Application for substitution of waiver of credit
submitted to the Committe on Academic Programs by Mark Stosberg

I have thus far not been able to fulfill my General Education requirements
in Fine Arts. I request that my Fine Arts credit requirement be waived in
light of my experiences documented in this application.

My chosen career beyond college is publishing and graphic design. Earlham
offers no Fine Arts courses in graphic design. Throughout my college
career, I have actively worked to receive this education on my own. Early
in my sophomore year, I joined forces with an Antioch student to form a
small press to publish books of working class writing. My role in the
venture was to produce designs for all our publications and promotional
material. Eventually, I designed the following for the press: logos,
flyers, posters, postcards, business cards, two editions of a book, a
chapbook, a catalog, and a website.

That year, I also worked with  Bill Nixdorf to design two sets of flyers
and tickets for his "Anything Goes" TV shows. Additionally, I functioned
as Director of Photography of one show, and was able to help to a small
degree with the editing of the video footage.

I also designed a homepage for myself and developed the idea of designing
the Earlham Word Online as an independent study. I contacted the Art
Department at that time to set it up through them, but they were
understaffed at the time, and could not help me. I was eventually able to
set up the independent study with the Journalism professor, Cheryl Gibbs.
As part of the independent study, I read three books relating to print and
web design: Website Wizardry, Publication Design,  and Principles for
Desktop Publishing. Since then, I have also read Looking Good in Print and
Hotwired Style: Principles for Building Smart Websites. The diverse range
of views about design I encountered helped to shape my own views about
what effective design might be, and what styles I wanted to use. I also
learned some historical knowledge about graphic design (pre-computer!).

In preparation for the design of the Earlham Word Online, I critically
reviewed over 200 online college newspapers, making note of the best
designs so I that I could incorporate those elements into the Word Online.
In an email message, Peter Suber commented, "It's the best-looking and
best-organized of all the official Earlham web pages."

The summer following my sophomore year, I worked as Circulation Manager
for the Kentucky Gazette (newspaper), where my duties included designing
solicitations to be sent out to potential subscribers.

Beginning my Junior year, I began to work as Layout Artist for the Earlham
Word. With Cheryl Gibbs as my advisor, I was able to greatly develop my
publication design skills. As I moved from Layout Artist to
Editor-In-Chief, I still kept a strong role in the design of the paper. I
functioned as art director, advising and assisting the layout editors in
the design of the each issue. In all, I worked three terms at the Word,
assisting in the design of more than three dozen issues. For the April
Fool's issue, I painstakingly researched the design of current tabloids to
produce a special insert. Some implementations of my design which can
still be seen in the paper include: a smaller nameplate, the trademark
gradient bars on the Opinion page, the Artist of the Week box, and the
Calendar of Events box. In addition to my work with the Word, I designed
both editions of the Earlham College Literary Magazine that year.

Also my Junior year, I entered and won the Air Guitar T-shirt design
contest, as well as the Earlham College Bookstore T-shirt design contest.
The latter design was based on a set of racing stripes I had designed for
the window shades in my dorm room, using colored tape and color inkjet
printouts. I designed a matching racing-themed nameplate for my door as
well. At the request of student government, I designed an 11" X 17" poster
to announce Earlham's official sesquicentennial party. At the request of
SAB, I designed a logo that they have now printed on diskette labels and
athletic shorts.

To promote the legalization of skateboarding on campus, I designed a
number of posters to hang around campus, as well as a full-color team
jersey for "The Earlham College Skateboarding Team". I also designed a
website to help skaters everywhere legalize skateboarding, which has now
received international attention from the skateboarding community (Today,
I got e-mail from skateboarding strangers in Calgery and New Zealand).  I
designed a flyer for a Mind & Body Wellness House event, and another for
an EEAC speaker. I designed two business cards for GRADUATING seniors. On
the side, I designed a website for Rant for the Literary Renaissance, a
non-profit publisher based out of Louisville, Kentucky.

That summer, I had a twelve week internship working as a web designer,
contributing to numerous websites. My boss was a Rhode Island School of
Design graduate and my co-workers were students from the University of
Cincinnati School of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning. Through my
experience there I gained a stronger understanding of the nuances of good
typography, the subtleties of graphic design and the frustrations of the
artistic process. I stayed after hours many evenings to design the Soft
Skull Press website as a freelance project.

By the end of the summer I had started my own web design firm
(Summersault) in partnership with fellow Earlham student Chris Hardie. I
worked carefully to construct the elements of our company identity. I have
now designed business cards and a full scale mockup of our website.
Eventually I'll design advertisements, when we run out of clients.

First term of my senior year, I continued to function as art director of
the Earlham Word, while also serving as primary designer for the Sargasso
'98 yearbook. I volunteered to design the literary magazine again, but the
editors delayed production until the spring. I began work on the design of
an official "Quaker Card" at the request of student government. I plan to
complete that design by the end of spring term. I designed two animations
as birthday cards for friends. I began juggling as a performance art
(juggling is a Fine Art, right?), juggling at several open mics, Earlham's
Fall festival, a head-start class, and an Antioch variety show.

Now in the spring term of my senior year, I am participating the New York
Arts Program. I have two internships. The first is with an established
multi-media design firm, primarily focusing on the design of interactive
CD-ROMS for children. I work with a designer and illustrator who each have
over 20 years of experience in their fields. Working with them, I have
learned particularities of illustrating and pre-press, and well as
practical Photoshop tips.  My second internship is with Link Magazine,
where I work one on one with the art director, assisting in the layout of
the magazine and the design of corporate identity materials for the modern
college magazine. Often we critique each others designs, helping me to
understand the thoughts behind the designs, and improve my skills at
communicating why I think a design works, or doesn't.  With my free time
here, I am functioning as art director and designer for the production of
the second book to be published by my small press. The galley proof has
been completed and the final edition will be published in April. Since we
changed our name, I am also redesigning the website entirely, as well as
our company identity materials. Additionally, I am assisting in the design
of promotional material surrounding the release of the book, including
press kits, flyers, and posters. I am also collaborating with my
Summersault partner on the design of the West End Savings Bank website (a
Richmond, Indiana bank) as well websites for the GLCA New York Arts
program and the GLCA Scotland program. I've also designed a digital
journal and made enhancements to my homepage.

Several of my projects can be reviewed through my online resume, available at:
http://www.summersault.com/mark/resume.html

My extra-curricular experiences during my college career have
contributed substantially to my understanding of the artistic
process and the important role of art, graphic design in particular,
in communication and life. I now have a wealth of applied art
experience as  well as an understanding of the theories of graphic
design. Looking at how the projects of  the firms I'm employed at
here in New York City have changed over the years has given me a
somewhat historical perspective on the field-- especially valuable
has been the ability to watch how artists of the print era are
moving into the new medias which will dominate my lifetime, or at
least the next few  years.

Certainly, my collective experiences in the field of art during my
college years, when compared to a General Education Fulfilling Fine
Arts requirement, at least equal it in value and substance. I
believe I have met or surpassed the spirit of the requirement.
Earlham College need not worry that it is sending forth a student
into the world that is lacking an artistic component to his well
rounded liberal arts education.

If you need clarification or verification from  third party sources
of any of my documentation, please contact me.

Thank you for your help and consideration.

Mark Stosberg
mark@summersault.com
xxx W. 29th St.
New York, NY 10001
http://www.summersault.com/mark