"Graphic design is often misunderstood for art. Graphic design is not art, although graphic designers are artists. Art and design do have similarities—they both trade hard edges for subjective decisions based on gut feelings and personal experiences. It’s messy, unpredictable and notoriously hard to measure. The ostensible erratic behavior of artists drives the common public nuts. Their decisions seem frivolous and risk everything with no guaranteed benefit.

"While I have been studying and practicing graphic design as a student for four plus years, I have been asked countless times "what can you do with graphic design?" I have also been told on more than one occassion that my major is easy, because all I do is make things look pretty. While this is a pretty ignorant statement by someone who probably knows nothing about the profession, it is partly true. I don’t consider what I do "making things pretty." I believe I design for a purpose.

"So instead of vomiting more words onto the page that no one will end up remembering after tossing this newspaper out, I have decided to include a "pretty picture" that I drew using Adobe Illustrator (since that’s basically all I do within my major). I have left it as just an outline because it’s meant to be cut out and colored in by you, the reader and put onto your fridge. Or given as a gift.

"This may be considered a risk, since this section is normally dedicated to roughly four-hundred words. But as an artist, I’m willing to go this route. People may not like it… but I don’t really care. I also dare you to open up the paper and not feel a little adoration from the warm and fuzzies a baby kitten gives most humans.