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New student exhibition showcases creative problem solving, design thinking, and human-centered design

Exhibition includes works produced by 28 students studying in a range of degree programs from Art + Design to Game Development, Media + Communications, Business, and Computer Science

“Being in the animation classes was a wonderful experience for me as I have been interested in motion graphics and animation...Letting my characters come alive (moving) was such an exciting experience."
 

—Bella (HyeonJeong) Choi, Art + Design major


With words by Alysha Creighton, SAMC Sessional Assistant Professor of Art + Design

A new student exhibition, titled By Design, is on display now at the SAMC Gallery (Norma Marion Alloway Library, TWU Langley).

Joshua Hale, Assistant Professor and Chair of the Department of Art + Design, remarks, "The By Design exhibition showcases some of the top projects created in the design courses at TWU over the past two semesters. While much of the work is created by Art + Design majors and minors, this exhibition also includes work created by students majoring in other areas across the university."

"With that in mind, this exhibition is a celebration of the rich interdisciplinarity that informs the unique character our design and animation courses," he continues. 

"In our growing stream of design and animation courses, students of all majors have felt empowered to unlock their creative potential while developing highly practical skills—skills that would bring value to virtually any career."
 

Interdisciplinary, creative and challenging

The work presented in this exhibition was produced during the Spring 2022 and Fall 2021 semesters by students taking design and animation courses at TWU. Included in this exhibition are 28 students from all years, studying in a range of programs, from Art + Design to Game Development, Media + Communications, Business, and Computer Science

The design and animation projects presented here were selected by faculty members to highlight the dedication, skill, growth and creativity of their students. In their design and animation courses students responded to challenges designed to hone their understanding of the elements and principles of design, creative problem solving, design thinking, and human-centered design. 


"In our growing stream of design and animation courses, students of all majors have felt empowered to unlock their creative potential while developing highly practical skills—skills that would bring value to virtually any career."

— Joshua Hale, Assistant Professor and Chair of the Department of Art + Design


 
For Zaeya Winter, although this was her first time in a design class, she found that she was able to integrate her illustration and portraiture experience into her projects. The Art + Design major felt that her class this semester provided her a greater sense of “how to integrate text, colour, and space arrangement for a more professional product” all the while maintaining her authentic “playful style.”
 

Bella (HyeonJeong) Choi is excited that she and her classmates can showcase their work to the wider community. New to this year’s exhibition, Bella notes, is the addition of works from 3D modeling and advanced animation. “Being in the animation classes was a wonderful experience for me as I have been interested in motion graphics and animations,” she said.

Although creating animation and learning the related software is a new experience for most students, as Bella notes, her professor John Wang “teaches it step by step, so it was not that hard to learn.”

“…Letting my characters come alive (moving) was such an exciting experience, so I really enjoyed working on that,” Bella enthused. “Animation can express our imagination and creativity in a more dynamic way, so I think that is a fascinating point.”
 

Kieran Clarke reflected that taking Art + Design classes at TWU—including design, animation, 3D modeling, and video game—has really helped him find where his passion lies.

As a Computing Science major, Kieran found that minoring in Art + Design really helped him “find that visual creativity [lacking] in programming.” 

Although working on design projects can be time-consuming, and the learning curve for some programs particularly challenging, Kieran reflected that “after working so hard, the satisfaction I feel when finishing these projects makes it all so worth it.”

He adds, “It has been such an amazing experience being a part of this Art + Design program, and the professors have been extremely helpful. They give tons of insightful feedback and useful tutorials to help me through the process of learning new software and techniques. It is clear that the professors really want to see you succeed.” 


See past SAMC exhibitions on the SAMC Gallery Exhibitions webpage


Work featured in this exhibition was produced in the following courses: 

  • ART 231 Foundations of Animation
  • ART 232 Foundations of 3D Graphics
  • ART 332 Advanced Animation Projects
  • ART 250 Foundations of Digital Design
  • ART 361 Imaging and Illustration Design
  • ART 362 Symbol & Typography Design 
  • ART 363 Format & Layout Design, 
  • ART 364 Interaction Design

Creative works by TWU Animation and Design Students

Calvin Bergen

Andrew Bouchard

Amy Bowler

Grace Burns

Leif Carbol

Bella Choi

Kieran Clark

Kaelyn Cline

Dominika Detweiler

Darren Eddings

Erin Elgersma

Graeme Folkerts

Andrea Franks

Emily Goodbrand

Maizie Hanschke

Georgia Henkle

Alix Johnson

Haram Kang

Madeline Li

Juanita Luque

Christa Lyford

Cecilia Nguyen

Jessika Nickel

Jeffrey Paczynski

Sefa Tese

Zaeya Winter

Logan Yamamoto

Arianna Zylstra


See also—TWU Art + Design students exhibit artwork at the Fort Gallery in Fort Langley:
 
TWU News


About Trinity Western University

Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier global Christian liberal arts university. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.

For media inquiries, please contact: media@twu.ca.