Here's a quick update from one of GCOM's former star students. You may recognize her from her GCOM 330 tutoring days or when she was the GCOM Club's president. But Priscilla Garcia shares what she's doing now and how taking GCOM 490: The Graphic Communication Learning Studio helped her land a killer job at the Sacramento News & Review.
GCOM 490 will be offered this fall Mondays and Wednesdays from 1–3pm. Sign up today!
Name: Priscilla Garcia
Semesters enrolled in GCOM 490: Fall 2008 throught Fall 2009
Current professional status/occupation: Designer at the News & Review
Best thing about being a graphic designer: If you're going to spend 40 hours a week working, you might as well be doing what you love, and I love graphic design.
Lessons from GCOM 490: You don't get real-world experience in the other GCOM classes but GCOM 490 allowed me to experience the full process of working with a client, and also other designers and photographers. It's one thing to communicate graphically, but a professional designer must be able to communicate with their client, their photographer, and their collaborators. Plus, you can't turn in projects late like any other assignment. Working with clients helped me learn how to manage my time and set realistic deadlines.
I didn't feel confident with my portfolio. But taking GCOM 490 gave me to the opportunity to work on full-scale real-world projects and studio photography.
GCOM 490 taught me the importance of networking, it's not just what you know, its who you know! In my 3 semesters in 490 I met so many local professionals from different industries and through this class I was able to get an internship at SN&R. Before the summer was over, I was hired as an employee, not just because I was capable of the job, but because I was a motivated GCOM 490 student with professional references from my teachers.
Other GCOM classes/instructors that really propelled you: Missy's Graphic design production class helped me understand basic principals of design and the creative process
