The showcase will feature a variety of projects, highlighting students’ skills in branding, typography, illustration and other areas. Portfolio Day provides a platform for students to present their work to potential employers, industry professionals and the public.

Senior Roann Carter emphasized the event’s importance, calling it “more important than a graduation ceremony” for students to display their work and network. Carter is particularly excited to present a packaging project created for a Japanese root vegetable company.

“The journey for this project was a long one and its evolution is probably the most satisfying of all my projects as it all came together beautifully in the end,” Carter said. “I’m also particularly proud of the way I used Illustrator to create the effects I was looking for.”

Canon, a valued UofL partner since 2018, is sponsoring the event. The company’s ongoing support provides mentorship, workshops and learning experiences for students. Canon also provided funding to enhance the graphic design program’s Digital Print Lab.

Peter P. Kowalczuk, Canon U.S.A., Inc.’s executive vice president and Client Services Group president, said the support for the program remains an important way for the next generation of designers to learn from – and connect with – members of the creative industry.

“We are pleased to again be part of Portfolio Day with the University of Louisville and its wonderful program that helps to inspire young artists and designers,” Kowalczuk said. “Providing talented students with the means to succeed in the world of design remains a worthy goal, and we appreciate all the hard work the team at the Hite Institute continues to put in to make this event so successful.”

Portfolio Day will be held at the UofL Belknap Campus, Miller IT Building, Bigelow Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.

Learn more about Portfolio Day and Canon’s involvement by reading UofL News’ recap of the 2024 event.

“Welcome to the design world,” Michael Di Tizio, a senior graphic design specialist with Canon U.S.A., replied with an affirming chuckle. “If your brain isn’t hurting, you’re not designing.”

On March 22, University of Louisville senior graphic design students experienced direct personal mentorship from professionals at , a wholly owned subsidiary of , in preparation for , the capstone project for the bachelor of fine arts in graphic design program. The Canon designers provided expert feedback as students presented their past and current projects in groups, over a multi-session virtual meeting.

“I am always eager to see what the new generation of artists will bring to the table in this industry,” said Veronika Levin, senior manager of creative services at Canon U.S.A. “I believe the group of students I met has a great foundation and strong pieces to showcase for their Portfolio Day.”

During UofL’s Portfolio Day on April 26, seniors showcased their culminating work to community professionals, network with potential employers, celebrate with friends and family, and are awarded their red berets—a symbol of completing their degrees and entering the professional design world. The mentorship sessions were part of Canon Solutions America’s extensive support of UofL activities, including its flagship sponsorship of Portfolio Day.

Suzanne Oddsen, senior graphic designer for Canon U.S.A., felt inspired by the fresh ideas she saw in the students. “They all had unique takes on the same project and professionally conducted them. I provided feedback about how we work in the corporate world, and what we want to see when interviewing,” she said.

In addition to the portfolio review sessions, Canon provided other engaged learning experiences for the graphic design students, including a virtual workshop to help hone their video and still photography skills using Canon cameras, and hands-on sessions at the university’s Canon Solutions America print shop to teach students how to use large-format printers, prepare files and select papers and finishing options for their portfolio projects. In total, Canon Solutions America provided more than eight hours of instruction, helping students bring their projects to the next level with newly gained insights. The organization, which has partnered with UofL since 2018, also offered the graphic design seniors complimentary printing of their portfolio materials and provided the department with a printer, benefitting students for years to come.

Trysh Wahlig, assistant professor and head of graphic design at UofL, lauded the partnership as “truly a win/win.” Not only can instructors create class assignments that take full advantage of the technology and expertise Canon provides, but “the work our students create allows Canon to showcase its printing and imaging technologies in a practical educational setting,” Wahlig said.

“Canon is able to see the next generation of creativity as well as what students are looking for in the workforce, so that we can stay up-to-date,” said Oddsen. “For the students, it is a great way to gather insight of the real-world tools they need to prepare for working with clients or interviews.”

Corporate partnerships such as these lead to student success and offer an advantage in the professional world. They also demonstrate UofL’s role as a premier metropolitan university striving to better serve its students and the community.

This was the case recently when the two gathered in the “red chair room” in the basement of Schneider Hall to talk about UofL’s graphic design program. They talked about what defines a visual object and semiotics and other granularities unfamiliar to those not actually in the world of graphic design. 

They also talked about the history of the program – its ups and downs – and how each other’s strengths ushered the department into a modern era. 

This friendly, thoughtful dialogue has been happening between them for over 20 years now, sometimes in the red chair room, sometimes over a cup of coffee at McDonald’s. But these conversations will soon become less frequent as both faculty members recently announced their retirement.

Professor Skaggs is the head of the graphic design BFA track. He earned his degree from UofL in 1973, then worked in design in Atlanta before heading off to grad school at the Pratt Institute in New York. He then spent three years as an assistant professor at the University of Kansas before taking over the UofL program in 1983.  

Skaggs followed a pretty deep bench. In fact, the first graphic design professor hired at UofL was Malcolm Grear in 1950 (if that name sounds familiar, it’s because Grear designed the look for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta). Grear was followed by Robert Doherty, under whom Skaggs studied, and Daniel Boyarski.

By the time Skaggs took over, he immediately identified changes he wanted to make and was able to conceptualize how he wanted the program to grow.

“There weren’t a lot of changes made to the curriculum before then and graphic design was boxed together with media,” he said. “It wasn’t meant to be a graphic design program but rather a design thinking series of courses.” 

Skaggs spent years scribbling down his ideas and was finally able to articulate them to then-President John Shumaker. He wrote his first vision statement in 1984. 

“I didn’t think our students were fully prepared and I wanted to guide them to do more than just think and figure life out on their own,” Skaggs said. “I knew if we were going to do this right, the minimum we needed was curriculum that required either four or five adjuncts or a second full-time person.”

The vision statement finally becomes a reality

His vision, however, didn’t become a reality until nearly 18 years later. Enter Friesen, who joined the department in 2002 as the Power Agency Designer-in-Residence. Skaggs calls her hire the “big turning point of the program.”

Friesen, also a UofL graduate, said her role was specifically focused on three objectives – teaching, facilitating internships and serving as a professional liaison. That latter directive was the catalyst for Portfolio Day, an annual event for graduating students to showcase their design portfolios to local and regional professionals.

“The first Portfolio Day was in 2003. Suddenly it’s a big event now, with agencies and professionals coming from all over. Now people are coming to us and they’re hiring our students,” Friesen said.

Indeed, Portfolio Day has heightened the profile of the program. According to Skaggs, it also enables our students to better connect with the city.

“Louisville is a vibrant city. I felt that we needed to put more horsepower into that piece and Leslie has done just that with Portfolio Day,” he said.

Together, Skaggs and Friesen have also shifted the program’s curriculum to better suit individual students’ development and specialized areas. These changes are necessary to keep pace with the industry at large.

“As a result, our students are better able to compete against huge art school programs that have four times as many design courses we have. We’re able to punch above our weight and our students are more prepared because we’re now able to customize the program to them,” Skaggs said.

Where the program goes from here

Notably, Skaggs’ vision statement expanded beyond just two full-time faculty and, for a brief moment, there were three professors bouncing ideas off of each other and complementing each other’s strengths. Meena Khalili was brought on board in 2016, however, moved in December 2019 just before Covid-19 grinded any potential for a replacement to a halt.

Skaggs would like to get back to at least three full-time faculty members to keep the program moving forward. For now, however, with Skaggs and Friesen phasing into retirement, the department has brought on Trysh Wahlig, assistant professor in graphic design and program head, and Sheri Squires, designer-in-residence. They’ve got the chops, as Skaggs says. Wahlig is a graduate of the prestigious Illinois Institute of Technology and was most recently employed by Humana.

Squires has been an adjunct for several years and is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s Design, Art, Architecture and Planning program. She has publication and agency experience and has served as president of the Louisville Graphic Design Association.

Although Skaggs will stay on another year to help them transition, and Friesen may be called up to adjunct, both are full of retirement-induced reflection on how their work has made an impact for their students, for the department, for UofL and for the city.

Friesen effortlessly ticks off an extensive list of alums from the program who have gone on to accomplish big things, for instance, working for companies like PepsiCo, LinkedIn and the University of Chicago Press.

“I could go on and on and on. I take great pride in our students. They have proven they can really go far,” she said.

Skaggs admits he’s not necessarily an excitable person, but that changes on a dime when he talks about his students, particularly their ambitions and ideas.

“It’s not enough for students just to be making something pretty. What gets me charged about the program is to have students with a dream and try to make it and to have those dreams be realistic – they can make it successfully as a designer,” he said. “Ideas is the other part. The world of design is about ideas and that exchange of ideas between students and faculty excites me.”

No doubt that exchange of ideas will continue between the students, Wahlig and Squires. Asked what else he’d like to see from the program after his retirement, Skaggs simply says “it’s not my call anymore. The program is in good hands.”

That’s not to say he doesn’t take pride in where the program is now, all thanks to his vision scribbled on a piece of paper in the 1980s and a strong working relationship with someone who shared that vision.

“If this program is an animal, it was in kind of a nymph stage for a generation and then it suddenly became a butterfly,” he said. “Once it became a butterfly, it wasn’t the biggest butterfly. But it was a really beautiful butterfly.”

This year’s rite of passage will be a little different.

Graduating graphic design students of the Hite Art Institute collaborated with their program administrators to determine how to virtually celebrate their long awaited celebration. 

“It’s the chance for students to have their moment in the sun, shining the light on the impressive work they have done throughout the graphic design program, culminating in their senior portfolio,” said Leslie Friesen, Power Agency Designer-in-Residence, who teaches the Portfolio class.

With all university events being suspended until further notice due to COVID-19, the program decided to transform Portfolio Day into a set of virtual experiences.

First, they launched a web portal, , where each graduate’s picture and portfolio card are shown. Additionally, they scheduled, “Virtual Portfolio Days,” to take place May 6-8. These three designated weekdays are when graduates will connect one-on-one with graphic design alumni and professionals through the Zoom videoconference platform.

“Like everyone in my class, I wish we could have had our portfolio day as usual, but this is a great alternative. With this virtual solution, we’ll be able to reach professionals and alums from all over the country, not just the Louisville area, and that’s super exciting,” said Logan Wells, 2020 graphic design graduate.

In the 15-minute video sessions with alumni and professionals, graduates will receive feedback on their work, along with ideas for how to start building their professional network.

“I’m looking forward to getting feedback on the work in my portfolio,” said Susan Pallmann. “I am also looking forward to meeting potential employers and getting a better sense, based on the people I meet and talk to, of what kind of place I want to work in going forward.”

The program invites all willing alumni and community professionals to sign up now for one or more virtual meetings with graduates. The allows professionals to select the specific students that they’d like to meet with on May 6-8.

“This year, more than ever, we want great participation by our amazing, supportive professional community to help make this a special experience for our grads,” said Friesen.