By Becky Higgins

A graphic design major focuses on art and the way it is used in communications and today’s media. As a part of an occasional series showcasing student art portfolios, The News spoke to middler graphic design and philosophy double major Arielle Blattner, who shared her art and inspirations.

What is your specific major, and what led you to it? I am a double major, graphic design and philosophy. I was a GD [graphic design] major for two years and then last spring I took a philosophy class and loved it and decided that it was really something I was interested in. I’m doing a sort of “independent study” through a scholarship I have with the university and I am working with a philosophy professor so I got more into it. I read a lot of Emerson, Sartre, Buber, Thoreau, Nietzsche, and got really interested in philosophy. So I decided to double major – why not?

What typically inspires your art? Well, I do a lot of fine art as well as design, so they both have different inspirations … Fine art is definitely my own process of figuring out my place in the world, how to find meaning in life, the human situation, etc.

What about the design aspect? My design is more communicating directly to the viewer; less personal struggle, more communication. Some of them are about human dichotomy, etc. But it’s more informative rather than emotional.

What sort of process do you use for your projects? When I have a specific message I’m trying to portray. In design, it’s easier because the art is more emotional, theoretical; I am trying to figure it out through my art. In design, I’ve already figured it out.

Have you done a co-op cycle yet? I’m on co-op right now at the Mac lab in Ryder [Hall]. It’s good because I’m getting more comfortable with the programs. I’m not really getting business experience, but I figure I have my whole life for that.

What ideas do you have for your future? I think I want to go to grad school in art history and get a Ph.D., and then I don’t know. I’d love to be an art critic; that would be my career dream, but I wouldn’t get into that for a while, I’d need a career first. So maybe work at a museum, a design firm, teaching, who knows? But I think if I go to school for art history next it would keep my options open. The truth is I know the options but I have no clue which one I’ll pick. That’s why I’m going to stay in school as long as I can.