New approach for graphic design center

Students looking for affordable, high-quality graphic design work have long taken advantage of the student-run Graphic Design Center on the Portland State campus.

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Regeena Jenkins, a post-baccalaureate graphic design student, works in the student-run Grapic Design Center.

This year, however, the center is looking to shake things up a bit.

In addition to lowering the hourly rate for students to $10 from $20, they are offering five free hours of work for any student group funded by Incidental (or Student) Fees.

It is, in part, an attempt to broaden the reach of the GDC on the Portland State campus, explained manager Savannah Julian.

“It can be difficult,” Julian said. “A lot of people don’t even know we exist.”

In addition to the GDC, PSU has various student design groups, such as the Friends of Graphic Design and Co-Creative, a firm made up mostly of graduate students producing work that expands into web design and videography.

But to Julian, it is also an effort to give design students real-world experience outside the program of study itself—experience that is vital to a designer’s career.

GDC designer Scott Murray echoed Julian’s comments.

“Client projects differ greatly from the kind of work we do in the design program. As a center, however, [our] purpose is to provide design work at a ridiculously reasonable price,” Murray said. “I think of it more as an opportunity to learn, kind of like a teaching hospital.”

Many student groups at PSU operate on a similar model. Because the campus is nestled in the center of the city, student groups such as the GDC have an opportunity to work with both students and the greater Portland community to obtain experience that reaches beyond a degree on a piece of paper.

And while Julian was quick to point out the difficulty and complexity of the actual graphic design degree, she also recognized the abstract nature of a designer’s career path—a path that relies more on portfolios and freelance gigs than the traditional nine-to-five job.

By lowering the student rate to $10 per hour, Julian hopes more students and student groups will at least become aware of the opportunity to purchase affordable design work.

The new approach has already started to work. This year, in addition to outside groups such as the American Marketing Association, the GDC has worked with the Japanese Student Society, the Taiwanese Student Association and the Entrepreneurship Club.

Julian, however, still hopes to expand their reach to more of the PSU student body throughout the school year.

“If you have an idea, please, come talk to us. We want to be a resource for students,” she said. “I just hope people will keep an open mind—we want to make sure we provide good principles with our responsibilities as designers.”

For interested students, the GDC maintains an office in Smith Memorial Student Union as well as a Twitter account (@psugdc) detailing their office hours. More info can be found at psugraphicdesigncenter.wordpress.com.