SCCA 75th Anniversary

Project type: Poster Design, Image Compositing
Timeframe: May 2025
Tools: Illustrator, Photoshop

The Ask

In 2025, Seattle Central Creative Academy, my design school, celebrated its 75th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, they invited alumni to create posters that would be shown alongside the work of the graduating class of 2025 during their portfolio show. The brief was simple but challenging: design a piece that captures the single biggest takeaway from our time in the program.

Solution

When I first sat down to brainstorm, I had dozens of ideas... little lessons, big moments, and inside jokes only classmates would understand. But one memory kept pushing its way to the front: something my instructor said during a critique that completely shifted how I see design. It was a simple statement that related so deeply to me that quietly but permanently changed the way I work. And I created this poster, a visual love letter to that moment.

My Biggest Takeaway

Early in my design journey, I became deeply invested in the creative software. It’s easy to get holed up at your computer, thinking digitally and trying to recreate natural things, especially when you’re learning new programs. But whenever I return to the basics and work physically, the experience sticks in my brain much better. There’s something innately human and tactile about starting in the real world. Several teachers, whether intentionally or not, drilled into us that returning to physical creation can only have positive effects and will strengthen you as a designer. I took that to heart: design works best when you can relate it to your five basic senses.