By Tiffany Cullen
Students and locals alike filed into the sunlit room of the second floor in the Student Center for another day of great lectures.
Jaithan Kocher, sporting a pink seersucker jacket, diamond plaid tie and dark wash jeans strode into the room smiling at everyone in the crowd. Next came Eddie Ross, co-founder of edieross.com, in his light beige sports coat and a bright, candy pink stripped necktie.
As the student announcer introduced the guests and reminded the audience to silence their cell phone, Nick Olsen, with his flipped back black hair, checked his personal cell phone to light laughter from the audience.
Rita Konig started the personal introductions by speaking about her job at Domino, about her blog T: The New York Times Magazine, her design business, and her work for British Vogue and The Telegraph.
Olsen, raised in Pensacola, Fla., went to college for architecture and four years into the program decided to switch tracks to interior design. After getting in touch with some writers at Domino Magazine, Olsen’s first apartment was featured on the cover for its immaculate design.
Ross began his career in the culinary arts at the Culinary Institute of America. As a dishwasher in high school, Ross discovered his love of food and decided to venture into the world of epicureans. He then graduated and began working as a food writer before landing a job at Martha Stewart and Food Network as an in-house designer, food stylist and set designer.
He bounced from the publication Classic America as an assistant Editor, to opening his own catering company and back to Martha Stewart as a senior style editor designing sets blending art and food. There he learned that food design was “not about putting food on a plate but mixing food with design.”
Kocher attended Stanford University graduating with a degree in psychology. Like Olsen, Kocher chose diverting career paths into interior design. For years, Kocher worked designing the interiors of exclusive hotels and multi-star restaurants.
The lecture panel session functioned more like an open discussion between the audience and the panel and less like a traditional lecture. The topics covered everything from the death of print, to the progression of technology in the design world.
The consensus of the panel agreed that the print “most likely” would not go out of style. Konig suggested that magazines and other print sources “get involve with the web more. Although they are two different things, the two need to co-mingle to bridge the gap of missing information between print and the Web. Print and Web combine to create a complete circle.”
When asked about blogs and their popularity, Ross said, “I love blogs. There is an instant gratification that makes you feel good. In print, you could be working on, say, a Christmas article for months and by the time it’s ready for publication, it’s old news.”
Olsen sees the effects of blogs and the web having an increased mortality for trends. With the web, people see trends much quicker than they ever did with print.
All of the members of the panel gave tips for the self promotion telling the mix of students and local professionals how to use social media as a prime source of advertising. “Create something that inspires. Create a brand beyond the net,” Kocher said.
All agreed that students should have a blog based on their area of focus. Nowadays, blogs function alongside portfolios for designers and writers in creative industries. Parting words of advice from the panel included being a stalker for companies that you want to work for, intern and go the extra mile by arriving early and staying late, as well as not being irritating.
“Relax,” Konig said before leaving. “Have respect for people, but don’t hold them up on a pedestal.”
Kocher said, “Collaborate and pool your strengths. Create something with someone else that is greater than yourself.”
