Be a Designer For a Day

Designers are artists who create the things you use and see everyday. Our clothes, dishes, books, furniture, and even your toothbrush all had to be designed. What makes one pair of athletic shoes better than another pair? For starters, the way they look—and it’s designers who use their imagination to try and make their shoes look better than any other. Designers also create the boxes the shoes come in, the logo (like NIKE’s swoosh), and the advertisements that you see on TV and in magazines.

CCAD teaches college students how to become designers, and many of the same basic ideas are taught to younger students (grades one through 12) in the Saturday Morning Art Classes and Creative Summer Workshops.

Take a look at some of the things you may have in your house: a shampoo bottle, a cereal box, the chair you’re sitting in, a magazine, or perhaps the package for your favorite video game. A professional artist carefully designs everything, from the colors and the lettering, to the size and shape of the bottle or box.

You can try your hand at designing. Select something in your home, perhaps your athletic shoes, and try your own design ideas. First draw the basic shoe and then add some design decisions of your own. Will you change the shape of the shoe? What colors will the shoe (inside, outside, and the tongue) and the laces be? Will there be a pattern, name, or a logo on the shoe and the laces? If yes, where? How many eyelets will there be for the laces?

Now think about the packaging. What will the shoebox look like? Will you use the same colors and patterns that you used on the shoe? Don’t forget about the brand name on the box. Will the letters be large, small, patterned, colored? Will the box have tissue paper inside to protect the shoes? What will it look like? Will you design a matching shopping bag to place the shoebox in? A designer answers these questions and many more.

If you would like to learn more about design and art, you can attend Saturday Morning Art Classes. Whether you like to draw, paint, or design three-dimensional projects you’ll have fun while learning. For more information please call 614.222.3248 or e-mail.