Ole Miss prepares Lauren Taylor to embark on graphic design career.
Out of all her class projects at the University of Mississippi, Lauren Taylor can pinpoint the most memorable one.
It was an assignment in a packaging design class to rethink the cover of a favorite book, said Taylor, who receives her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design at this year’s Commencement.
As a sophomore, Taylor created a cover for “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett, incorporating custom illustration, staged photos of a made-from-scratch chocolate pie that she took and hand-lettered typography, so the title of the book appears as if it is sprinkled on the pie in powdered sugar.
Tyler Barnes, assistant professor of graphic design and Taylor’s academic adviser, encouraged her to enter the cover into the 2021 National Student Show and Conference, a professionally judged creative competition open to college students across the country.
“That project and its entry into the National Student Show and Conference sparked my passion for package design and gave me confidence in my own design abilities,” Taylor said. “That experience inspired me to get involved with GRID, the Ole Miss Graphic Design Club, for which I have been the president for two years and on the executive board for three years.”
Taylor also lent her design expertise to the yearbook staff and the Ole Miss chapter of Delight Ministries, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA all four years.
During a summer internship in 2021 in Naples, Florida at Arthrex Inc., she collaborated with the other designers to create and propose new packaging designs that the medical device company plans to use as the brand standard for the company.
“It was cool to get professional experience, seeing what working on a graphic design team in the corporate world would be like,” said Taylor, who also created graphics for Arthrex’s social media and an icon for the company’s human resources app.
Now from Naples, Florida, Taylor grew up in Denver, where she was fortunate to take classes as a high school student in photography and graphic design.
A member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College who received the university’s top academic award, a Taylor Medal, Graphic Design Student of the Year by the Art Department, and the Outstanding Studio Art Student Award, Taylor said two professors have been especially helpful.
Barnes, who is a practicing graphic designer, assisted her with establishing her freelance graphic design business, and Lauren Cardenas, assistant professor of printmaking, played a role in shaping her thesis, which is a requirement for a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design.
Taylor chose for her thesis to showcase her graphic design and artistic ability by constructing a book.
She poured her heart and soul into the project, creating a book titled “Ipseity,” which showcases poems written by friends on the topic of ipseity, which means identity. She then used digital media, an old-fashioned letter press, embroidery, gold foil and embossing to illuminate it all and stitched the pages together by hand.
The project required “countless hours” of critical thinking as well as hands-on execution, she said.
“There are creative limitations as you work with color and shape to communicate visually rather than just with words,” she said. “There is a different level of communication with art. It can communicate with your soul.”
Barnes said it has been a pleasure to watch Taylor gain confidence in her abilities and grow into a leader respected by her peer group.
“I have been especially impressed with Lauren’s character and personality; her enthusiasm is infectious and her positive presence elevates the classroom,” he said. “Lauren is a hardworking, personable and very responsible young woman.
“I feel with her motivation and focus, she will truly be a force within the design industry.”
“Ole Miss has prepared me well.”
Lauren Taylor
Because of her experiences inside and outside the classroom, Taylor said she feels ready to seek a career as a graphic designer, perhaps with an advertising agency, and later entirely on her own as a freelance designer.
By Nell Floyd, College of Liberal Arts
