In the field of graphic design, creativity and expression are at the forefront. The Mohawk Student Design Club is dedicated to the production and sharing of all things related to graphic design. The club promotes creativity, techniques, industry information and communication within a community of students, mainly from the college’s Graphic Design program.
The club was formed over three years ago, but after the disruption caused by Covid-19, new president Mackenzie Martin worked to bring the community back to life with a collaborative environment. The club has grown drastically, from 20 members to over 100 in the past year. The club is a means of communicating with other graphic designers and seeking out knowledge for success while building student engagement in graphic design programs.
“Our goal is to fill gaps in knowledge so everyone has a more enriched educational experience with the program,” Martin explained. “The club is built around engagement in the graphic design community, allowing students to get as much out of it as they put in.”
“We have different briefs and little projects that are useful because we’re trying to convey knowledge from later years to first- and second-year students so that they can get a better handle on projects that they’ll be having in their final year,” he continued. “So, it’s to kind of give people a lot more confidence going through the program.”
The club mainly communicates through open discussions on Discord, sharing information, projects, and ideas to promote overall success and readiness to excel in their career.
“This club has given me an opportunity to try and fix a lot of the frustrations I’ve had throughout the program because my third-year group rolled through two years of online classes,” Martin stated. “(The club) is purely being used as a means for people to communicate projects, their interests in graphic design, work share, critiques, and other stuff like that.”
“It’s mainly a community and a collective of graphic designers there to offer something a bit better,” he added.
Marykate Sandajan is the vice-president and a stream leader of the club who is striving to grow the club’s outreach and help other students find their path within the program. She explained her role as a stream leader.
“The Graphic Design course has three streams: a print stream, illustration, and a UX UI stream,” she said. “So stream leaders are students who have taken that stream who want to give pointers to help other students who can’t decide what stream they want to take or people who are already in that stream who may need help.”
“We’re trying to make it so that the club is easier to maintain and to hand off to future generations,” she continued. “We had to rebuild it a bit. And we’re trying to get a solid foundation for it right now.”
Although the club is mainly geared toward Graphic Design students, Martin and Sandajan encourage any interested student to join and learn about the community.
“We love to share tips and tricks about how to design and provide information about how to use free programs or just general information on how to design well,” Sandajan said. “We give a lot of tip videos every single day and sometimes there are people sharing work and getting critiques.”
“There’s a lot of graphic design students, especially, asking if there is anything they can improve on and it’s a very friendly environment,” she added.
Eventually, club members hope to be recognized by other college clubs as a source for graphic design jobs including logo making, character design, and skills they possess.
If you have an eye for design, the Student Design Club may just be the right fit for you. For more information on how to join the club visit https://www.mohawkstudents.ca/get-involved/clubs-directory/.
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