AIGA Graphic Design Workshop

Workshop held for aspiring student designers
By Ben Dumond, Trojan Times


Sponsored by HMSA, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) held their fifth annual student workshop at Mililani High School on April 21 and 22.
Twenty-nine students from four different schools across the state, Campbell High School, Kaimuki High School, Mililani High School and Radford High School, participated this year and with the help of the 16 professional gralphic designers, the students were able to create posters to reflect this year's HMSA theme of "Mental Wellness."
The workshop cost participants $20 (covering food and an AIGA T-shirt) and lasted 14 hours in total, testing students on both their graphic capabilities and ability to construct and execute original concepts. Students were instructed to create a poster to discuss one of four mental illnesses in a positive light. Aside from having a main theme handed down from HMSA, the AIGA Workshop also incorporates a theme for the workshop itself each year. This year's theme was "Brainstorming" and through an array of various exercises, students were able to attain new methods on formulating ideas.
"We definitely want them to learn from what the overall theme is... so we'd really like them to incorporate that into their other projects that they do and really put more emphasis into brainstorming," said Leslie Tamonte, one of the 16 facilitatoras present at the workshop. Tamonte headed and ran the event with the help of Ryan Hirata, a former graduate of MHS.
When questioned about the planning for the workshop, Hirata stated, "It's all about execution. That's what we get worried about. executing the workshop so that students get the most out of it. We put a lot more pressure on ourselves just so that (the students) get a better product."
Throughout the workshop, facilitators spent their time helping students come up with ideas and improve their poster ddesigns using their expertise and the elements of design as guides. After the posters were completed, a critique session was held between students and designers.
Tamonte also shared her thoughts about the workshop as a whole, "It's really enjoyable to see the end result... It's really amazing that you guys can do it in the short amount of time given because even us, as designers, we see it as a somewhat of a difficult task..."
Many students found the workshop enjoyable as well as beneficial. Senior Vidushi Jetley said, "(The workshop) was a lot of fun and it was really helpful for people who want to go into graphic design as a career. I think the most important thing (I learned was) time management because you're constantly given projects that are due in a couple of hours..."