“I tend to go back to the drawing board a lot too because generally, my first idea is definitely not my best,” says CSP graphic design student Ella Christenson when detailing her design process. She stresses the importance of keeping with it until it turns into something good, though. Receiving feedback from her instructors and peers helps that process for her, “I like having feedback from people. If I don’t, I don’t feel like I can get my work to where I’d like.”
Christenson is now in her senior year in the BFA Graphic Design program. Throughout the years, she has been able to experiment with her style and try new things, leading her to uncover the kind of work she wants to make. “I like print,” Christenson says. “I like packaging. I like posters. I like magazines. I like anything that you can see physically.” She explains herself further, “I feel like it’s an easier medium to be able to wow somebody with it. I guess because it’s so unique depending on how you take your style.”
With a self-described style of minimal, sophisticated, and full of rich, muted colors, Christenson says her internships have been integral in her process of not only refining her personal style but branching out into other styles of design work, too. “I thought that it’d probably be good to be able to show that you can do multiple styles and not just do the one you’re known for. I mean, everybody will tell me, like in my classes, that they look at my work, and they know I did it because of the style that it’s in.” Her current internship with Ostrom Creative has allowed her to experiment with these different styles while providing her with constructive feedback. “I asked my internship yesterday, is it better to stay in your style and be really good at it, or is it better to have multiple different styles? And they’re like, it’s totally better to have different things.”
Not all internships are created equal, though. At a previous design firm, Christenson lacked experience with variety and creativity, saying, “I wasn’t doing what I wanted to do, and it was like I had to self-entertain.” The importance of finding a job or internship that fits you and your skills is key to a successful and well-rounded learning experience.
Finding inspiration has never been a problem for Christenson. If you’re looking, you can find inspiration anywhere. “I like seeing inspiration out in the real world,” she says. “Just kind of walking through and seeing how different things are, and being like, oh, that’s cool. I wanna do that.”
Her close-knit family also inspires her and keeps her motivated in everything she does. Christenson shares a family motto from her childhood that her mom keeps taped to the fridge. “My mom likes to use this phrase from the book A Long Walk to Water that goes like this: Stay calm when things are hard or not going right for you. You will get through it when you persevere instead of quitting.”
When she’s not spending time with her family, she enjoys photography, trying new restaurants, going to concerts, and watching romcoms and the sunset, all of which fuel her design work.
You can find more of Ella’s work on her portfolio website here.