Art + Design Students Gain Professional Experience with New Mind Design

For Cameron Maher being a part of New Mind Design (NMD) is like riding a bike with the training wheels on it.

“It really let me get a feel for what a design job is in the real world.” he said.

NMD is an in-house design agency that works with businesses throughout Northeast Pennsylvania. It is made up of East Stroudsburg University art + design students and is housed in the Innovation Center. The agency began in spring 2014 through a collaboration by Joni Oye-Benintende, chair and associate professor of art + design, Darlene Farris-LaBar, associate professor of art + design, and David Mazure associate professor of art + design, on an FDR Innovation in Teaching and Improvement of Student Learning Outcomes grant. The faculty team started NMD as a pilot run by integrating the agency in the classroom during spring 2014. The official doors for the agency opened in fall of 2014.

“New Mind Design gives students the real-world professional experience that future employers require of job applicants,” Mazure said. “It sets them apart from almost any design program in the country and also gives them the confidence to succeed immediately upon graduation.”

A senior at ESU and art director of NMD, Maher can attest to the success of the agency. He spent the past year working with clients on designs varying from posters to t-shirts. Recently, Maher and the students involved in NMD worked with David Newcomb and Dawn Linden, owners of Singer & Company, an organization that retails regionally inspired attire for the Pocono Mountains. Maher created four different designs that were featured on the t-shirts for the company.

“I was impressed with the professionalism of the students,” Newcomb said. “It was a fun process — it’s great to see those designs come to life.”

Designing the t-shirts took Maher about an entire semester’s worth of time. Before creating anything, Maher spent hours researching the specific styles Newcomb wanted for his designs.

“David had a clear style he wanted his shirts to convey,” said Maher. “We needed to do some research on those styles before even touching pencil to paper to sketch out ideas.” As he began to create designs, Maher met with Newcomb once a week to present him with his ideas and often wound up going back to the drawing board to incorporate all of the edits.

“Good design can’t be rushed,” he said.

The time spent paid off for Maher, who can now walk into Elevated Earth, an apparel store on Main Street in Stroudsburg, Pa., and see his designs hanging up and ready to be purchased.

NMD has also worked with Habitat for Humanity Monroe County, East Stroudsburg University, Pocono Cinema and Cultural Center, Iron Warriors Foundation, Pocono Mountain Angel Network, and the East Stroudsburg Community Alliance.

But art experience is not the only thing Maher learned working with NMD. As art director, he is responsible for managing the hours of the student design team, booking clients, managing the overall projects and overseeing the creative output.

“I became a better leader from being a part of New Mind Design,” he said. “It’s an opportunity offered here that really allows students to gain experience while earning their degree.”

Set to graduate from ESU in May, Maher is ready to take those training wheels off and take his NMD experience and see what he can do beyond ESU.

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