And that concludes my sophomore year! I can’t believe that I’m already halfway through college! A year ago I didn’t know anything about computer science. The only coding I knew was basic HTML and CSS I caught on from fiddling with my Tumblr and blog template. There are some close friends I have who I’ve really only just met (like, a few months ago!) but felt like I’ve known for years (like, for at least two or three!). Right now I’m at a stage where I definitely feel like I have a long way to go, but looking back to where I was, I’m proud of how far I’ve come.

I didn’t fully realize how exceptionally talented and skilled my high school friends were until I came to college. They were the first and second generations of quite a few art/design-related club/projects, most notably UNIT-E Magazine and Draxonic Design Studio. Unit-E Magazine is a student-run magazine distributed to 10~ international schools across Beijing. Everything from finding sponsors to fund printing to creating their own content, they do it themselves. They even have their own service project! Draxonic Design Studio is my high school’s design club, and they design posters, banners, tickets, brochures, logos, apparel, and more for our school’s clubs and events. I was mostly in the periphery of all of that, instead focusing on my niches of Habitat for Humanity, Impromptune (honor choir), and Varsity Swimming, but I’ve always been involved in graphic design to some degree.

I had planned to further explore my interest in graphic design in college, thinking that a liberal arts college must have an abundance of artistic opportunities, but no. There’s a niche for poetry, crafts, creative writing, and more, but not one for graphic design. I thought about starting my own design club like my friends did with Draxonic, but I didn’t believe I was experienced or capable enough. Compared to my friends, I’m an amateur (at least in this respect; we each have our own specialities).

If it’s still in your mind, it is worth taking the risk. -Paul Coelho

But a year later, I’m still thinking about it. Its reach has been permeating into my everyday conversations, and I’ve discovered that yes, there are other people who have also noticed this creative gap and are interested in filling it too. We’ve talked the talk, and now it’s time to walk the walk.

We knocked it out in one day. Today I’m so happy to introduce… *drumroll please* *even though there is no surprise in this because of the title of this post* Neue Design Collective!

Co-founded by me and Miranda, Neue Design Collective is a Bryn Mawr local collective of graphic designers, here to satisfy your #aesthetic needs and design your apparel, banners, logos, and posters! (We don’t do photography, although you could hire me personally for that ;)) We want to keep our design service accessible and affordable, so you can expect the pricing to be at the low range of $5-$10, but as a special startup promotion, we are offering our services for free until the end of May.

Though we are made up of members from the Bryn Mawr College community, we are not a campus club but a local business that serves as a hub for customers (both clubs and individuals) to refer to if they are looking for a designer, and for designers to find and take on projects with customers.

As this is a local business, we would probably better reach our target audience on Facebook, as there are more Bryn Mawr students I’m friends with on Facebook than that read my blog, but I just wanted to share this here to document my creative journey, so thank you for being here for it!
Need a design? We gotchu.
Want to be a designer? Contact us!

tl;dr– Introducing Neue Design Collective, a Bryn Mawr local collective of graphic designers. Free service until end of May.

I have high expectations for autumn. I won’t be appeased until I’m wrapped in a scarf, crunching through a bed of multicoloured leaves, a rich steaming beverage in hand, the breeze nipping my flushed cheeks, the trees glowing as they catch the soft light dripping from the sun on a clear day.