My name is Paige Swanson. I am currently a Sophomore at College of Lake County. I am one and a half semesters away from completing my Associates in Arts Degree. Following the completion of my AA Degree, I hope to continue on to a four year university to earn my Bachelors Degree in Graphic Design. Design and art has always been apart of me. It provides me an outlet to express my creativity while providing a service that can help others see their vision come to life.

I am blessed enough to have had the opportunity to take an abundant amount of graphic design classes while in high school. My Freshman year, I took Graphic Design I/II. My sophomore and junior year I took Advanced Graphic Design III/IV. Finally, my senior year, I did an Independent Study course centered around graphic design. This gave me the chance to make my own curriculum and complete projects at an accelerated pace.

In class we had the opportunity to focus on Graphic Design, Hand Drawn and Digital Art, and mixed medium. I have done many projects including rotoscoping, typography, package design (CD, DVD, advertising, ect.), logo design, Photoshop painting, poster design, advertising, and many others.

Furthermore, I participated on the creation of my high school yearbook. My junior year, I was editor of the senior tributes section. And my senior year, I was editor-in-chief of the yearbook. This experience gave me the chance to understand new concepts of Graphic Design that I had yet to explore. I also was able to learn how to work with different types of people, lead them in a common goal, and help them express their ideas in a digital manner. The completion of the yearbook is one of my greatest prides. I truly feel that the project was cohesive and brilliantly well done.

Not only have I worked on developing my Graphic art and design skills in school, but also outside of school. Throughout the years, I work with my Dad, Kurt Swanson of Soulful Impressions Photography, on learning some new skills in the graphic art and design field. My Dad taught me how to take the tools in Photoshop and apply them to photography. I get to work many of his photo's (i.e. raising levels and altering saturation and hues) as well as learning how to crop, re size, and use filters in Photoshop. These opportunities have opened many doors for me. I have been asked to create flyers, t-shirts, and CD covers. All of these experiences, both in and out of class, have raised my awareness of design in the world, as well as teach me all that I know today. You can check out his website at http://www.pbase.com/soulfulimpressions

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Design is knowing which ones to keep.” –Scott Adams

**UPDATED** 10/10/2012

E-Mail: paigeeswanson@aol.com@aol.com
click on link below