In a world dominated by pixels and technology, today’s teens are not just average consumers, but many have taken on the role of becoming visual architects, utilizing the wide assortment of electronic devices at their disposal to develop a contemporary form of visual expression. Graphic design has become an increasingly popular form of design among students as society shifts art to a more digital perspective in today’s day and age. To harness this creativity among students, sophomores Aanya Mazumdar and Abby Tang decided to implement their passions into a community, the OTHS Design Club.
“I started this club with two other people, with the idea of wanting to encourage people to learn how to create graphic designs,” said Mazumdar. “Abby Tang had been interested in designing graphics for school and for fun, so we decided to start a club where others could also showcase their creativity.”
Tang and Mazumdar enjoyed the way their collaboration on designs allowed them to share their ideas with each other, stimulating creative flow in their works. They were determined to share that bond with their fellow students, thus sparking the idea to formulate the OTHS Design Club. The pair hope the club will allow their peers to showcase their skills, develop an interest for design, and provide back to the community through custom design requests for Katy residents.
“OTHS Design Club is an amazing way Tompkins students can practice and hone their graphic design skills while also giving back to the local community,” said Tang. “We have expanded the aim of our club to a bigger picture; we hope to provide free design services for other school clubs as well as all the abundance of businesses in our area.”
Tang first developed her passion for design when she signed up for a graphic design program over the summer. She was immediately drawn to the subject, choosing to spend more time coming up with designs of her own. She loves how graphic design has no boundaries; the opportunities are limitless with the endless amount of combinations of elements and colors. Likewise, Mazumdar enjoyed seeing how people utilized their creativity differently for similar design ideas.
“My favorite memory in this club is when we had an activity where we got to design a logo or a menu for a fake coffee shop,” said Mazumdar. “It really showed everyone’s different styles of design and how differently people made graphics for the same brand.”
As the pair aim to continue their goal of developing a graphic designing team for the community, Mazumdar and Tang hope to gain at least a strong community of students passionate about graphic designs. They are determined to share the love they felt for the subject through each meeting as they continue to run the club for the rest of their high school career.
“OTHS Design Club is at its core a community where students can grow their skills through collaboration and projects and express themselves through their digital art,”said Mazumdar. “We
hope this club will encourage students to pursue an interest in graphic design if they have not before.”
Check out the OTHS Design Club on Instagram at @othsdesignclub to learn more about the organization and meeting dates.
