Hi. I'm Lauren Carlton – a newlywed, a new resident of Nashville, and the newest member of the JLB family. As the graphic design intern, my role is to tackle design jobs, work through problems, and basically do what I am told.
While working towards my bachelor degree in graphic design, I fell in love with print design and everything about it. As weird as it may be, I love creating page layouts! So what am I doing working for a company that does mostly web based design? Believe it or not, print and web design go hand in hand. I know, I was skeptical at first too, but after I had tackled my first website design for JLB, my eyes were opened to a world of possibilities. I began looking at the computer screen the same way I look at a magazine layout.
Though there are certain parameters and limitations when working with the web verses print, many principles are the same. As a designer I can still apply my knowledge of line, shape, color, and texture. The page should be balanced, have a visual hierarchy and be unified with its secondary pages. And unlike print design, web design creates an environment where the viewer can be an active participant through choosing what information they want to see. It's up to me to create a web page that draws the viewer in and to predict what he/she wants to see. Web design is still fairly young, but graphic design principles are constant.
They say that you learn more your first year out of college than you did the past four years in the classroom. In the few short weeks that I have been here, I have learned about business, about print and web design, and have discovered countless Mac keyboard shortcuts. Most importantly I have discovered a new area of design I enjoy creating. Though page layout is still my first love, I have actually developed a little crush on web design.