Peter Panciera spoke to Graphic Design students on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 6 p.m. in the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery Conference Room via Zoom.
Panciera is the lead designer for Specialized Bicycles. Previously, he worked for the Zoo York skateboard company, and also created his own home goods company, Norden.
Panciera is also a former student of KSC Graphic Design Professor Randall Hoyt at the University of Connecticut.
“He was a bright, talented, spirited student,” Hoyt said. “He was the standout. He’s one of those students I would call a natural.”
Hoyt added, “He was very relaxed about it. He didn’t have a big ego. He just did the work and he nailed it.”
Hoyt arranged the meeting between Panciera and his students to educate them about the future in graphic design.
“It gives me an opportunity to connect with them [current students], but also bring some of their [former students] experience back into the classroom,” Hoyt said.
Additionally, Hoyt shared his pride in Panciera for his achievements after college.
“I feel like I’m doing my job if my students exceed my career aspirations,” Hoyt said. “If they just go further than I ever have, then I feel like I’ve done something right.”
During his hour-long presentation, Panciera talked about a range of topics, starting with his early career.
Panciera listed four things students should think about as they enter the workforce: work ethic, mindset, presenting yourself and finding your skillset.
“You probably won’t know what you’re doing when you’re at your first job,” Panciera said. “When you’re in school, you have a lot of book knowledge, you have all the time in the world to work on projects. When you go to a job, you have expectations, you need to clock in and out at certain times.”
Panciera added, “It’s [your first job] foundational, it helps teach you how to jump into the professional world, and it’s okay to feel uncomfortable at first. You don’t need to be a rockstar. Just be humble and open to learning.”
Panciera also stressed to students the importance of a resume when applying for a job in the field.
“Think about your resume as a design piece first,” he said. “Type properly, make it look organized, easy to read … How you represent your work, I think, is extremely important … That’s how I’m judging people, their work, it’s just based off of their resume.”
Panciera advised students to care about their craft and “care about type, care about how you set up your files, keep your layers clean,” he said.
Hoyt said he plans to invite more of his former students to speak with his current ones. The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, March 6 with Mary Kim Harmon, the lead designer of the Amazon Innovation Lab in Los Angeles.
“She is at the top of her field doing amazing work,” Hoyt said.
Junior Sierra Winand, who attended the event, was not available for an interview with The Equinox.
Emily Sloane can be contacted at
esloane@kscequinox.com
