Fern Meadow

Personal Pronouns

they/them

Describe what you do for work and how your experience with it has been.

As co-founder of Swan Meadow, I spend my days working on freelance graphic and web design projects, coordinating community events, illustrating for clients, and Risograph printing. Working with artists, small businesses, and Queer creatives in my city has been a lovely and difficult experience.

How did you get your job?

Throughout and after my time at MCAD I was freelancing illustration and design. My partner and I saw a need for a creative third space in our city and started a kickstarter for our idea. Being community-funded has really helped give people a sense of stake Swan Meadow and its future.

What inspires you/your work?

Nature, biological processes and small worlds around me; identity and sense of self in community

How do you network yourself and your art?

Social media (as much as I hate it), local events, print communities, remote conferences, fine art and zine fairs

Where did you earn your undergraduate degree, and what was it in?

Beloit College; Studio Art & Environmental Studies

How did you hear about MCAD?

Scouring the internet for MA in Design programs!

Why did you choose to earn an MA at MCAD?

Accessibility; Reputation; Community

What was your biggest takeaway from the program?

Breadth of knowledge -- being able to learn about so many parts of Graphic and Web Design on some level makes you able to communicate very effectively with other designers. I was able to dive deeply into everything that was really interesting to me.

Where were you located when you completed the program?

St. Louis, MO

What was the online education like?

It was a great balance of synchronous and asynchronous, and a good amount of communication with other students.

How has the MA impacted your career/your life?

I was able to make some great connections, flesh out areas of Design I was interested and not interested in, and really carve out my identity as a Designer.

What would you tell students considering pursuing an MA degree in Graphic and Web Design?

If it's accessible to you, I absolutely recommend it. Having some guidance and structure to understand a wide breadth of facets of Design really helped me find my voice. Feedback from profs and other students (frequently from many different backgrounds) was invaluable.