One of the strongest contributions to my experience in Graphic Design came while attending school at the University of Washington in Seattle. As a Graphic Design major at UW we were taught the rules of design. We were praised for safe clear and conformed styles of visual communication.

That is why working for the student run newspaper, The Daily of the University of Washington, was such a valuable experience. It was recess between classes, it was the playground after school. It was an escape from the immovable walls of the firmly grounded Graphic Design program.

That's not to say it was easy. The experience was defined by tight deadlines, supporting your fellow workers, communicating with other departments, and breaking all the other rules.

The Daily, true to its name, comes out every day on campus and in the University District community. It's a simple and straight forward paper with good intentions. Once a week on Thursdays the Arts and Entertainment group delivered to the student body and intillectual wet-willie. It was our goal to challenge our readers, to reinvent our image, and to challenge our own boundaries within the rubric of visual communication.

With occasionaly great photography supplied by the students, and sometimes not, with great articles written by the students, and sometimes less than great, we worked with what we had, and invented the rest when it wasn't there. The deadline was often down to the wire, editors yelling, the energy high. The office usually a mess of shuffled paper, dancing around buzzing workers. Last minute corrections, and no second chances, this is the way we lived. This is the way we thrived.