On September 23, 2021, I attended a networking event by AGIA. This event was hosted by Xiomara and her guest speaker Genaro Solis Rivero. The name of this event was The Intersection of Teaching and Design, a webinar where Genaro spoke and demonstrated how he teaches communication design at Texas State University.
Genaro has been teaching graphic design at Texas State University since the Fall of 2018. His teaching approach to graphic design – teach the students as if he’s running a design studio or advertising agency. The students are set for success by learning about the design process, theory, briefs, trademarks, and expanding deliverables into a complete system. His courses are taught as a continuation of the previous one, so in the end, the students have a solid brand identity for their portfolios. Throughout the presentation, Genaro showed us some projects completed by his students.
The host of this webinar had the microphone and camera options turned off for attendees, but the chat was opened, and a link for asking questions was provided. I could not connect with the attendees for the meeting because it was kept private, so instead, I chose to connect with the host Xiomara and Genaro on Linkedin. My takeaways from this event were that it is essential to show your process, not get too attached to your work, keep moving forward, and embrace failure. I believe there was an intention for a follow-up email with the webinar recording, but I have not received one yet.
Genaro is a Master Ideator for Legacy79, where “building great brands is about emotional appeal.” Legacy79 has provided service for H.E.B, Hyatt, Methodist Health Ministries, Rackspace, Xpel, and many more. Since being in the industry, he mentioned being too involved with teaching and working at the agency has cost him time away from side projects.
