Four students from Southern Miss majoring in the Graphic Design program have been nationally recognized for their creativity this year. The students who were recognized are Lindsey Mills, Laura Patino, Dakota Owens and Xavier Daley. The students were recognized in national championships and featured in globally recognized journals.
Lindsey Mills, who is a current senior at Southern Miss, won Best of Illustration at this spring’s National Student Show & Conference (NSSC). Mills originally created her project for her Graphic Communication course. Laura Patino, a recent graduate, also gained recognition at the same event, winning Best of Publication Design and Best of Motion Graphics. Patino originally created the project for her Illustration course. Dakota Owens, who also graduated recently, had his board game concept, Patriot’s Passage, selected for the Graphic Design News (GDUSA) Packaging Design Annual, which is a showcase of the best packaging designs from across the country. Xavier Daley’s skateboard design was accepted into Creative Quarterly Issue #79, a journal that spotlights emerging talents and established professionals from around the world.
“This was my second time going to the conference so I was very excited to go,” Mills shares her experience. “Being featured in the competition is something that I hoped to achieve but I did not think that I would win so it was a very happy moment.”
Mills explains that her project featured Hattiesburg and places to visit in Hattiesburg. She made an illustrative poster series, which featured an advertisement to visit Hattiesburg. She showcased more nature-based aspects of Hattiesburg, like the Red Bluffs and the river. She was inspired by children’s illustration books. She thought that having an art that reminded people of children’s illustrations would impact people better. She explained that she noticed people with families enjoying more nature-based aspects of Hattiesburg, which inspired her for her project.
Mills thanked Southern Miss for helping develop her work ethic. She explained that she had to work a lot harder in Southern Miss than she did in her junior college, which helped her prepare for her career.
Jacob Cotton, a professor in the Graphic Design program, explains what made each student stand out. He reckons that it was her work ethic and raw talent that helped Mills win her achievement. He applauds Patino’s leadership, curiosity, and creative voice, which he believes led her to her achievement. He praises Owens’s strong concept, visual impact, and craftmanship. He regards Daley’s design as expressive and unconventional, which stood out for its personal voice and bold execution.
Cotton explains that students participating in nationally competitive events is not only important for the students, but also for the school.
“We encourage a lot of designers to enter the competitions,” Cotton said. “It is so that it builds their confidence, gets their name out there, and helps raise the school’s reputation.”
Cotton further explains that the school benefiting from the students participating in and winning such competitions, in return, benefits the students. He explains that when the school is perceived better, it raises the students’ odds of finding jobs after they graduate.
The graphic design program has only been a major at Southern Miss since this semester, after the recent degree program review. The program, which was initially only an emphasis in a larger art degree, is now its own program, and students can now join Southern Miss as a graphic design major. Cotton thinks that students participating in and winning nationally recognized programs have helped cement graphic design as its own program. Southern Miss has also been recognized as one of the top 50 design schools nationally multiple times, which likely helped the process.
