These are real projects my first-year students did for area non-profits, organizations, and businesses. These students are in their very first graphic design class and most have never designed anything before.

The logos at the bottom of each example represent all the logos that were submitted to the client. The top logo is the final chosen by the client. As you can see below, many clients choose to combine multiple concepts into one. This allows students to further collaborate when merging their logos.

As my students’ teacher/art director I task myself with helping them grow and nurture their ideas while keeping their work their own. I help, but not too much. I feel strongly that their portfolio pieces should show the true work they can do. Most of my communication with students is to make sure they are communicating the client’s message to the correct audience. I also give them prompts like, “What if you tried this over here,” or, “Do you think this really communicates what you want to the viewer?” With that said, there are still times when I have to be ‘the heavy’ and politely tell them, “Uh . . . new screen. Let’s start over.” It’s better that I tell them than a potential employer in a job interview.