Emma McGillis is a senior graphic design major at Lehigh University, where she is also a member of the women's lacrosse team. Over her years at Lehigh, Emma has pursued her passion for creativity in her design classes, where she utilizes her skills in solving problems within projects. In her designs she values clear messages that can be universally understood, and believes that the most impactful part of design is its ability to speak to all people in ways that words alone cannot. She hopes to continue to create successful designs and pursue advanced studies in branding in a graduate program in design, specifically in the field of design and sustainability. In both her academic and professional work, Emma aspires to use design and branding to work towards sustainability and helping the environment.
I am a graphic designer, and create art to convey a message. My design work includes logos and branded content that communicates the identity of brands and companies, as well as my own ideas. Through my work I aim to answer various questions regarding the visual content we consume. What do we feel when we look at a brand, or what does it want us to feel? Our world is so influenced by the content that we take in every day, even if you do not realize it. Art plays a forceful role in this and I believe that can be utilized for good. Brands that strive to make positive change in the world can accomplish so much more with design that everyone can relate to and I want to be a part of that.
I am a very visual person and I feel the need to see things in front of me. I have always been drawn to creating art, and to the act of taking a blank page and transforming it into something that is totally new. The creative space is without boundaries and I appreciate the freedom to endlessly explore my own ideas. Upon beginning a new project I gather inspiration in order to translate an abstract idea into a collection of images and words that more concretely represent the concept. Through this process, I can gain more clear visualization of my ideas that I can then sketch out. While they are rough and often quickly laid out these quick drawings help me sort out the ideas in my head. Using Adobe Illustrator, I transfer my sketches to the computer and move on from there to using Indesign or another platform to further refine and format my work. My artistic process involves a lot of rethinking and correcting as I go, utilizing digital means to develop and evolve my ideas.
During my third year at Lehigh University, while in a graphic design class focused on brand thinking, we were asked to create a shoe brand that reflected our own personal identity and to design the logos, packaging, and company advertisements. Along with the visuals we were tasked with creating a “unique selling proposition”. I chose to create a brand surrounding an outdoor travel boot that is versatile and comfortable and could transition between different environments. The shoe represented freedom and comfort, and a respect for the outdoors. I also chose to make the shoe sustainable, and created a program within the brand that repairs and recycles shoes to reduce waste. The identity of the brand was inspired by the ways I like to live my own life. My designs were inspired by this brand identity. I kept the color palette to earth tones and created a name, “Travelancer Boot,” that I felt embodied the sense of freedom that I was trying to capture. The entirety of the brand consisted of a company name and shoe name along with logos for each, a design for the shoe box, an insert to go into the shoebox, and an ad campaign of three different advertisements. All of these aspects worked together to create a holistic brand and design package that would resonate with people who strive to live a simple and sustainable lifestyle of exploring the earth and all it has to offer.