Lexi's Pre-Trip Answers

- What are you expectations for the trip and design appointments?
o In a word: inspiration.
o In more words: …To be perfectly honest, as a Freshman design student, to some extent, I am concerned that I might be going on the trip a bit soon to be able to take full advantage of any possible networking connections. However, I think I’m incredibly lucky to be a freshman on the trip at the same time. I think this class will surely help to guide me and help me to decide whether or not design is truly my passion and if so, push me to work even harder toward pursuing my passion for it in the years ahead. In general, going on the trip will help me to branch out and spend time with people that I feel I have a lot in common with as well.

- What companies are you most excited to visit?
o Wallace Church, Nickelodeon, C&G Partners…oh wow—they all are exciting! I went through the list and visited some of their websites, and I am really blown away. This trip now seems all the more unreal. I am so thrilled to be going to all of these appointments.

- How do your interests or skills fit with the firms that we are visiting?
o Creativity is what makes me tick. It’s the air I breathe! I am still learning how to be a successful designer—obviously—(and I don’t think I’ll ever stop learning so long as my passion for it stays with me), but I am so stimulated by designs and projects that I see everyday that I know for me that design work would be less of an occupation in the future, but rather, more of a passion, which I think is what is most important at the end of the day. I have a feeling that the companies we’ll be visiting look for designers who are resourceful and are imaginative—people who are able to apply a wide range of skills to more than one job. In this sense, the designers that I imagine in the companies that we’ll be visiting are flexible and make an effort to surround themselves with interesting and stimulating people, events, and projects. So therefore, the thought of meeting with designers in New York is incredibly exciting because that is the lifestyle I want to pursue in the future, but also in some ways feel I already am lucky enough to live now at USC.

- How would you define “West Coast” design? How does it differ from “East Coast” design?
o I think that design, being a component of culture, is dependent upon where it comes from—that is, among other things, what the weather is like there, the companies that are located in the area, and the age demographic, as well as all aspects of the target audience. Therefore, the differences between the West Coast and the East Coast are evident in their different design styles—from color scheme (brighter colors in the west, and bold, simple neutrals in the east) to typography to layout. Yet, I think the differences I immediately think of are just associations I have with the different sides of the country. I think that with that said, today there is more optimism in the design world than ever before because more designers now have the mentality that anything is possible and no design concept is limited by it’s target audience—almost anything could be considered appealing now, whether you’re on the west coast or the east coast.