Polis Student Designer - Jennifer May
One of the exciting changes we made to Polis for the 2008-2009 edition was to seek a student designer for our journal. With the help of Donna Hobbs, we created a “contest” that involved creating a cover and design lay-out for Polis. The winner of this contest was Jennifer May.
Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Jennifer began her college career at VCU where she studied criminal justice for two years. However, her passion for art, which developed at a young age, refused to be ignored. “In high school, I was interested in art and spent many days skipping classes to play in the art studio. After those two years at VCU, I realized I was kidding myself and wasn’t really interested in criminal justice. I wanted to study art.”
It was about this time that Jennifer met her boyfriend who is from the Lynchburg area, and they decided a change of pace would benefit Jennifer. They moved to Lynchburg, and Jennifer started examining her educational options. “I saw that CVCC offered a Communication Design program, and that interested me. I decided to get my associate’s degree here. I’ve been here for two years, and I will graduate this May.”
Jennifer may decide to pursue her education further and return to VCU after taking a break. She has thought about becoming a teacher. “I’ve been toying around the idea of a teaching degree, but that will probably change as much as I change my mind.”
Jennifer found out about the Polis design contest through Donna Hobbs’s Communication Design 2 class. Initially, she said she did not know if she would enter, but an idea came to mind, and she pursued it. “I stumbled across the idea of a typewriter, and it just started to come together from there. I have been a fan of the American typewriter font and wanted to use it somewhere, and the fit worked well.”
When asked about advice for students interested in design, Jennifer emphasized the importance of loving what you do and sticking to your style. “I guess the best advice I can give is don’t conform your design style for anyone, do what you love, and eventually, there will be a niche available that fits you and what you love to design. Listen to good and bad criticism, and take away something from it all.” -Lana Velez