Samson Charles is a creative minded person whose artistic point of view shapes his academic interests in graphic design and can lead him on his path to a career in the design field. He now studies Advertising Design which is a COMD major at New York City College of Technology, in hopes of broadening his knowledge on design.
My avatar is actually a piece i created on Adobe Photoshop. One day i was just scrolling through my social media and saw these three words, “Real eyes, Realize, Real lies.” Once i saw those three words, an immediate thought was, how can i make those three words look visually appealing. First off i wanted to make those words stand out, and i wanted to make the colors very warm, and tried not to put any cold colors in it. I wanted to make the words go through the paper as if it blends in with the background(finding the right colors were tough). I believe i have a keen eye to detail, and it shows it in this picture. My avatar describes me because it shows that i’m a very artistic person.
Q: How do you intend to grow as a designer with this program ?
A: I intend to grow by taking as many classes i can to better grasp my knowledge of design. There are so many professors in this program that either worked in this field for so many years, or studied in this field for so many years. So me as a learner i want to take advantage of that as much as i can by showing them my work, getting their professional feedback from it, learn from my mistakes to better myself. And there are so many workshops, clubs, or events that i’ll definitely go to, to gain more knowledge about design, know the in’s and out’s of it. There are so many peers i can talk to, to get their input on a certain design, just to see how other creative minds like myself think.
Q: How do you intend to use the skill set you learn to influence your community ?
A: I intend to do that by being a voice, or a bigger voice for people who don’t have it. To me design are two things, one of which is the obvious, it’s about expressing your creative ideas and/or thoughts for other people to see. And two, design is about being that voice for people when the time calls for it. Being a designer, you have the opportunity to uplift a community and be that voice. There are so many designers who make artwork to help out a group of people, or to represent a social issue. There are so many aspects to designing, me as a designer i want to use my skill set to help other people, to inspire people, or just to create new innovative art as the years go on.
Q: Can you see yourself doing anything else ?
A: To be honest with you, designing is the one and only thing i can see myself doing for years to come. I just view myself as a creative person, I’ve been drawing since i was 13 years old. Being so connected to designing really disconnects me from doing other things, it’s like being in a committed relationship. And i’m in school studying design, to learn as many skills i can to perfect my craft. So to be clear, i don’t see myself doing anything else but designing.
Q: What are your expectations of being a COMD major in your first year ?
A: I have very expectations because i’m dedicated to becoming the best designer i can be. I want to learn everything i can so i can apply it to my craft. I’m taking classes for my major, and so far i’m learning a lot of stuff i never knew before, and i’m very confident that new knowledge like this will help me succeed in the design industry once i’m done with school. So far my first year in the COMD major has been great, i met great professors, new friends, gaining so much new knowledge, and i’m adapting very well to everything.
