Seven young women who graduated from UofL with fine arts degrees lost no time in generously designing a way to help others like them.
Not long after graduating in 2017 and 2018, the group founded and funded a women鈥檚 scholarship to be awarded annually to an outstanding rising senior in the graphic design program.
Benefiting from taking classes together in a tightknit cohort, the graduates developed strong friendships and wanted to keep in touch after earning their degrees while also staying connected intellectually. Most remained in Louisville initially, so they started monthly gatherings called the Dezine Book Club, named after an inside joke based on their graphic design experience.
Later, as some were moving away to other jobs, they decided to establish a scholarship, which they branded Dezine for that sense of fun and camaraderie and which they intended to encourage other female students to benefit from a collaborative experience like theirs. That sense of the design community hearkened back in part to Leslie Friesen, the Power Agency designer-in-residence at UofL鈥檚 Hite Art Institute, according to Deryn Greer Walker 鈥18.
鈥淪he encouraged collaboration and critique, in the sense of 鈥業 want to do well and help others to do better,鈥欌 said Walker, now an experience designer for Humana in the Boston area. 鈥淲e were all constantly working together.鈥
The women crafted the criteria for the scholarship to specifically speak to that, seeking a recipient who is 鈥減reeminently collaborative, perpetuates constructive feedback and transcends design by 鈥 fostering an attitude of fearless idea-sharing, not afraid to risk their personal advantage, and 鈥. by investing in cross-disciplinary skills and interests to improve themselves and the communities they move in.鈥
鈥淧articularly in the creative field, it鈥檚 typical to hold onto your idea,鈥 Walker said, but added that it can be more valuable to take risk, move out of a 鈥渟ilo,鈥 gain other perspectives and build on ideas with others. 鈥淲hen you make your idea available to other people, you invite the good.鈥
The seven alumnae cooperate on the selection process, dividing up the interviews with applicants, using an evaluation rubric and discussing the conversations with the candidates. The first recipient was Arry Schofield 鈥21; a second recipient of the $1,000-$1,500 scholarship will to be chosen this summer for the fall semester.
鈥淭hey were great,鈥 Schofield said. The freelance design contractor said she enjoyed the interview process and the opportunity to talk to women who had gone through her same experiences. Like them, Schofield said, she appreciated the bonding with other graphic design students that results from the cohort approach of taking all the same classes and working together.
鈥淎nother huge plus of the graphic design program is all of the alums are really empathetic toward people going through the program,鈥 Schofield said. 鈥淚 really hope I can pay that forward.鈥
Four Dezine founders have kept the Louisville area as home: Emi Johnson Jones 鈥18 with GE Appliances鈥 Giddy online startup program, Cait Bender 鈥18 with INgrid Design, Amber Kleitz Cox 鈥18 with Humana and Kylar Ware 鈥18, a freelance illustrator and designer whose 鈥淥ur Home鈥 and 鈥淩aise Your L鈥 murals adorn UofL鈥檚 Swain Student Activities Center.
Ann Wood 鈥17 is a brand designer for Pharma at Johnson & Johnson in New York, while Rachel Suding 鈥18 is a graphic designer for the Miami Marlins.
Through the graphic design program the sports-minded Suding was able to find a school internship with the Louisville Bats baseball team and accept a full-time job there after graduation.
鈥淭hat paved the way for me to major league baseball,鈥 Suding said. 鈥淣ow I鈥檓 in my dream career. I think our design program gave me a really strong foundation.鈥
Even though the seven designers have pursued somewhat different career paths, they still share ideas and realize they are fortunate to sustain their UofL-born connection though scattered geographically.
鈥淲e were looking to give back to the program that gave us so much,鈥 Suding said.
