Pre-trip questions

Here are my thoughts on the questions posed earlier in this blog.

1) What are your expectations for the trip? What companies are you most excited to visit?

I fully expect to have an amazing, all-encompassing trip to New York City. I’ve been excited about this trip since I heard about it last year and after hearing about all the distinguished companies we are visiting I’m even more excited. After browsing all the companies’ websites, I think the companies I am most excited to see are Paper Magazine, AIGA headquarters, C & G Partners, and Wallace Church. The kinds of design I am most interested in are print, packaging, and motion graphics. Paper Magazine looks like it has a really fun, young atmosphere. Wallace Church has created so many of the product packages that I notice in the store and wondered who had designed them. C & G Partners offers not only print design but also does motion graphics for many educational and public outlets, so I’m especially excited to see them. And finally, after working with the AIGA student organization all year, I have a lot of respect and interest in AIGA’s national organizational structure and can’t wait to tour. This entire trip will be a great learning experience and allow me to gain firsthand knowledge of the structures of successful graphic design agencies.

2) Short statement on what is west coast design.

One of the main reasons I’m interested in this trip is so that I can get a better sense of what design is all about in New York and then have more of a basis for comparison. As is, I’ve lived in Los Angeles for all of my adult life and may have projected “West coast California design” as being similar to all design worldwide. If I had to define west coast design at this moment, I would point out that a huge sector of the graphic design industry here is based around the entertainment industry. Film is California’s domain and as such, designers who are interested in working hand in hand with filmmakers and want to create print, trailers, or motion graphics for film flock to California. Music is also a largely California industry and many Roski USC students have had the opportunity to participate in it by partnering with the Grammy Awards the last few years. My impression now is that New York has tradition on their side. Their companies are well established and work for large national companies creating brand identity and publishing materials. Their companies have been creating well-known symbols of our culture for years. They also have the benefit of being one of the center of the fine art world and being influenced by all the New York schools of art. The west coast, however, is much newer in terms of design and more open to fledgling companies and experimentation.


Sarah (USC Senior)