News Story

The IU Graphic Design Club welcomed three professionals to talk about working in the design world at a special presentation April 23 at the Indiana Memorial Union.

Andrea Hickey, a Buzzfeed senior designer and illustrator; Helen Sanematsu, an IUPUI Herron School of Art and Design professor; and Omar Sosa-Tzec, a human computer interaction researcher and information designer and professor at IU formed a panel to share their advice and stories with students.

Sanematsu said she found her dream job at IUPUI in 2008, teaching and drawing on her experience in design. She links health and graphic design to promote healthier lifestyles, or as she puts it, “get science to the people.”

For example, she has partnered with the IU School of Medicine on projects such as Patient Engagement Core, which aims to add patient perspectives to health interventions; Health Talks, which helps serve needs of customers; and the Service Design for Health Capstone class, which she teaches.

She concluded her talk with tips for the future designers in the room. Her No. 1 tip is to always follow your nose, and stick to your guns.

“When the going gets tough, you find strength in the interest you brought to the project in the first place,” she said.

Omar Sosa-Tzec’s presented “Sometimes a Sign, Sometimes a Figure.” A native of  Mexico,  he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science. He said his goal was design, so he went back to school for a master’s in information design,  which was “the most challenging change, from computer science to information design.”

Later, Sosa-Tzec joined the committee to redesign the institutional seal of Universidad de las Americas Puebla, which became a turning point for him. The seal had been around since the beginning of the school, and his job was to create a new one.

The feedback on his design was terrible.

“It helped me see the implications of my work an how it affects people,” he said of the experience.

Sosa-Tzec then came to IU, where he teaches human computer interaction and design classes. He said he tells students that design is important in the technology field. One thing he implements in every class is “sketch-noting,” or taking notes and writing down ideas in a information architectural way.

He advised students to look for their strength and practice it, along with finding their personal style in sketch-noting and design.

After a raffle of Amazon and Buzzfeed goods, Andrea Hickey spoke about her start in design and her last four and a half years at Buzzfeed. After majoring in graphic design and minoring in illustration at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Hickey applied for an illustrator job with Buzzfeed, a fairly new company. Her first three years were spent in the business side of the company. She worked with clients and designed sponsored content for the site.

She said that when working with a client, there are always a lot of rounds of revisions.

“It can be frustrating, but in the end you learn a lot,” she said.

Hickey has designed sponsored content for companies such as Campbell’s, AT&T and Target. She moved from business creative to editorial creative on the illustration and design team. At the art desk, Hickey usually creates four posts a week through Photoshop, posts humorous anecdotes and personality quizzes, and recently started illustrating comics.

Hickey’s advice: Stay humble, be open to learning new things and don’t be afraid of  writer’s block.

Marlo Owezarzak, president of the Graphic Design Club, said putting together the event was a way to show students what they can do with graphic design degrees.

“I thought it would be a great idea to get people who are professionals in different areas like journalism, technology and healthcare,” she said. “It shows people that design applies everywhere, and you can do something with it and it’s awesome.”