Claire Loes

Describe the work you submitted for merits.

I submitted a range of work to best represent my interdisciplinary practice. My merits exhibition included a few websites, illustration, publication design, video, a writing project, and a data visualization piece. Each of these projects were created during the 2019–20 school year with attention overall to creating strong, graphically interesting pieces of work.

Why did you decide to come to MCAD?

I came to MCAD on a whim; I'd been on leave from the New School for two years and had settled into living in Minnesota comfortably. A coworker at the time who also attended MCAD had told me good things about their experience there, so I sent an email to admissions at the beginning of the summer in 2018. I received an encouraging response fifteen minutes later and decided to apply for the fall. I like going to school in Minneapolis because I've found it much easier to live a balanced life here, close to nature while being able to access some truly excellent resources necessary to a design education. I think that this has been essential to my success as a student during my time at MCAD.

What are your plans for your senior year? And beyond?

Everything has changed with shelter in place. For anyone who is privileged to work from home, like myself, finding ways to adjust to these conditions is crucial— with that, I simply wanted to keep making work that was interesting and meaningful to me. Once I finish my BFA in the fall I would like to take some time working as well as practicing music. If I can travel I will, I'd like to scope out places to go to grad school, hopefully abroad.

Favorite thing about college life (so far)?

Learning to code.

What's the best thing you've got from MCAD's free shelf?

A Debussy record with a single track Clair de Lune.

What inspires you?

Something I've been studying this summer that has also inspired me in the past are intersections between music, technology, and art. There's a natural rhythm and order I can feel in each; I like finding connections between things in my head, while I'm writing, or when I'm practicing music. Somehow in this, I arrive at ideas that feel meaningful and inspiring to me.

Do you have a favorite piece you've made? Describe it!

I've been playing with sound responsive code in p5js. Through the program you can create and assign variables that respond to basic levels, or specific ranges in pitch (treble, bass, low–magnitude, etc.). It's a lot of numbers and experimenting with adding values together in different ways; you can create some really cool visuals both in 2D and 3D (webGL) planes.

Anything you're obsessed with at the moment?

Some John Cage pieces I've been studying, my typewriter, and this GameCube game from 2002 called Super Mario Sunshine.

Favorite emojis right now?

★~(◡‿◡✿).

2025 Cut/Paste Publication Feature

Transferring from Parsons to MCAD was life-changing for Claire Loes ’20—no more juggling gig work to afford college in New York while trying to find time for creativity. “At MCAD, I finally had the space and freedom to find my own voice and be more intentional in my pursuits,” Loes says.

Loes’s time at MCAD was formative, particularly during their final year spent fully remote due to COVID. When it was time to graduate, Loes felt as though they were stepping into a new, “dystopian” world and uncertain of next steps. But through persistence and skills honed at MCAD, like self-promotion and learning to say “yes” to every opportunity, they built a strong portfolio that led to a range of freelance work. Early projects included designing an identity for a vintage clothing store, creating graphics for 3M’s highly technical instructional videos, and building pitch decks for new TV shows.

Today, as the Creative Manager at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Loes’s responsibilities run the gamut of creative projects. Being the only designer on staff, they have to stay current with technology and design trends, taking time to research “how to … ”, and then putting that new knowledge into practice.

On top of a full-time job, Loes founded Sheepy World, a small knitting business that blends creativity, joy, craftsmanship, and community. Discovering the pleasure of knitting at an early age, they would frequently get the question “Where did you get that?” Loes designed an identity, created a website, set up pop-up shops here and there, sold goods to small retailers, and took online orders—all for these one-of-a-kind creations. They see knitting as the perfect tactile yin to the screen-heavy yang of graphic design, and notice plenty of parallels between the two: both start with grids and require an eye for weaving patterns within
a structure.

Loes gets high praise (“Need!”, “Love!”, and “Omggggg!”) from Sheepy World followers who share a unique style, but says approval isn’t everything. Their advice for others: “You are not for everybody, and that’s okay. It means you have a point of view.”