old stomping grounds

Yesterday I took a field trip with a couple coworkers to check out the student interactive show at my old art school. It had been years since I set foot on campus and not much had changed. It felt like a time machine had transported me back in time. Raver pants may have been replaced by punkrock nuthuggers but overall slacker chic was still in effect. Scraggly art students lazily littered the lawn in the same locations sketching earnestly in their books. Painters slouched and smoked outside the studios. Freshmen lugged plus-sized portfolios bursting at its zippers with newsprint and sketchpads. And you can always pick out the design students from the rest. They walk faster in sleeker clothes carrying a more driven demeanor.

When I was in school, professors reminisced about handmade comps and reminded us that we had it easy with our slick computers. I was compelled to tell students at the show about how the advancement of multimedia software has made things easier for them. Automated code handling and designing with little concern of bandwidth was a pipe dream back in the day. But I didn't want to sound like an old fart. The kids are talented. Some of the entries were clunky and choppy but we came away with one Monty Python flash trailer that wowed us.

I chatted with a couple of old professors. One told me that she still shows my logos to students in her corporate id class. She encouraged me to keep in touch and I gave her my card knowing that I'll be expecting more alumni fund raising requests in the mail.