Yesterday we briefly introduced the three winners of the HubSpot/Dribbble Analog Playoff, all students at/recent graduates of Boston’s Northeastern University. We placed Playoff champ Aaron Tenbuuren in the Timeout seat, where he shared his design aesthetic, his favorite shot, and good news of his new job at Intrepid.
Next up: Graphic design major Sophie Greenspan, who won second place in the Playoff with a lovely hand-lettered “Boston.”
Who are you? How did you end up at Northeastern, and what is your focus there?
My name is Sophie Greenspan and I’m a soon-to-be graduating senior at Northeastern University in Boston, majoring in graphic design with a minor in environmental studies. I ended up here because while design is my passion, I’m also interested in other fields that art schools might not have to offer. And although Northeastern isn’t normally thought of as an art school, we do have a tight-knit artistic community and a great design faculty as well as our experiential co-op program.
Write a professional description of yourself. In other words, describe yourself as a designer/artist — influences, styles, mediums, favorite subjects or type of work.
My favorite projects to work on always involve lettering, which I’ve been doodling forever but only recently started taking seriously. My professors got me obsessed with typography early on in school, and this year I’ve also begun taking on interactive design projects.
I like to incorporate hand-drawn elements into my designs to give the computer a break once in a while. My sketchbooks are a huge influence on my design work, and during the semester I spent studying abroad in Madrid I challenged myself to keep a daily visual diary of my experiences. These sketches gave me a chance to explore new lettering and illustration styles and to develop a personal voice. Other influences include learning about art history, especially surrealism and Dada, and design studios like Post Typography, Anagrama, and Oat Creative.
What are your post-graduation goals?
Goal No. 1 is to travel through Berlin and Amsterdam for a few weeks. After that, I’d love to take the skills I’ve learned and work with one of the many Boston design studios that are putting out great projects. The dream would be to work somewhere that also values travel or social justice causes, to make work even more meaningful.
How do students use Dribbble? How did you discover Dribbble?
I guess I’ll find out soon! I was just invited this week after winning a prize in the HubSpot/Dribbble meetup Analog Playoff, so I don’t have a good feel for the site yet but I’m looking forward to exploring it some more and checking out other designers’ work. [Ed. Note: Welcome Sophie!]
Finally, choose a favorite shot. Tell us why it’s a favorite.
I’m still new so I’ll have to pick my debut shot [Think Globally Bike Locally] as my favorite. For this project I used masking fluid and watercolor to paint letters which resulted in a pretty cool texture. I made this piece for an art auction at Bikes Not Bombs, an organization that is doing great work in Boston and the developing world. Soon though, I’ll have many more shots to choose from!
Find Sophie at Dribbble and at sophiegreenspan.com.
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