Seven Design Grads Showcase Career-Ready Work at Baldwin Wallace

When Baldwin Wallace University's art department closed and design students lost their dedicated gallery space, seven graduating seniors turned limitation into motivation.

On March 6, these graphic design students hosted their 10th annual senior exhibition in Kamm Hall, the business building. They called it "Threshold," a fitting name for students standing at the doorway between college life and professional careers.

The venue change meant presenting their work to business students unfamiliar with graphic design. Marzena Krulik, who suggested the exhibition's theme, saw this as a teaching moment. "They're like, 'Who are you? We're business, what's graphic design?' And I'm like, 'Everything is graphic design,'" Krulik said. The business students got to see firsthand the hours of work behind every design.

Each of the seven students designed their own booth complete with business cards, logos, websites, and portfolios. Krulik displayed custom art supply boxes and a labeled ramen cooking kit, while managing the event's social media presence and creating promotional postcards.

The exhibition marked a milestone for the visual communication design department. This year, students participated in a new senior preparatory course alongside their portfolio review class. Over eight weeks, they refined previous designs and prepared materials for job interviews.

Digital Media Design Coordinator Erica Lull acknowledged the challenges her students faced. "The closing of the art department, which is what VCD was a part of, was really harsh for our students," she said. But she praised their resilience and final results.

The Ripple Effect

The business students in Kamm Hall gained unexpected appreciation for design work happening across campus. By hosting the exhibition in unfamiliar territory, the graphic design seniors bridged two departments and educated their peers about the intensive research, rendering, and revision behind every finished piece.

Lull wants people to understand the dedication her students bring to every project. "Do not underestimate them," she said. "What you see in the end took hours and hours and hours of research, steps, rendering, and work to get to."

These seven graduates are now walking through that threshold with portfolios that prove they're ready for professional work.