During high school, Laurel Gieszelmann discovered her passion — design.
“I’ve always loved science, but I wasn’t the greatest at math. Art was always my side thing. I always doodled and I was always artistic, but I never thought I would actually get into it. I’m not sure what happened,” she said. “(After taking four computer skills in a semester), I decided I’m going to do graphic design.”
Now a senior in the University of Idaho studio art and design program, Gieszelmann continues to foster that love she found years ago by creating various projects in and out of classroom.
Apart from her coursework, she works with the UI Sustainability Center as its marketing coordinator.
In the two years she has worked there, Gieszelmann has designed many projects for the Sustainability Center. But her favorite was Beyond the Book.
“Beyond the Book was the most fun. I am geometric in my style, and in high school, I was very into hand drawing. This was an awesome project where I could get into my high school days and into the organic feel of a hand drawn art and bring it into a computer that is very rigid. I really go to play around with color, as well,” Gieszelmann said.
She said one the most challenging — albeit still enjoyable — aspects of the project was getting people to notice the specific posters.
Gieszelmann credits her success in the art program to the skills and resources professors have given her during her time at UI.
Nicole Hindberg | Argonaut
Laurel Gieszelmann, UI senior art student, in her studio located in the Art and Architecture South building.
“We have a lot of awesome professors that have been a big part of my career here. Dave Gottwald is one that is really good at pushing you. I’ve had him for a lot of classes, so he knows what you’ve d
one and when you’re performing at your best. He also helps you think outside the box which has been really helpful,” said Gieszelmann. “We are able to play with lots of fun programs like X-D and Live Prototype, where you can watch your changes as you go on the computer. I love that we get to play around with a lot of really cool apps.”
In this program, Gieszelmann also gets to work out real-world problems. When the Campus Co-op moved in the building with the Campus Christian Center, the latter wanted help designing a new logo, so students could recognize the space was still there.
For this project, Gieszelmann worked with another design student — Abigail Spence — as well as an interior design student and an architecture student to figure out a way to redesign the logo, marketing and the space.
“We split up the project 50/50, and we both worked really hard. She is very much a team player,” said Spence.
Although, their group did not get chosen for the redesign plans, they were still proud of the work they did.
“She is always looking for ways that she can do more. No matter how much she’s doing she doesn’t think she’s doing enough. She’s just one of those people,” said Spence.
Spence has known Gieszelmann and her work for about three years. The two of them help each other with critiquing their designs and work.
Currently, Gieszelmann is looking for jobs in the Coeur d’Alene area. But she said she isn’t sure where she wants to go with her career quite yet.
“My dream job would be something to do with nature and traveling. Traveling is a huge part of my life. I just want a job where I’m happy and contributing to others, where I’m making other’s days. I love seeing people get excited about the designs for their event that they’re doing, or their brand. I love that aspect of design,” Gieszelmann said.
Nicole Hindberg can be reached at [email protected]