I’m in college now and I would like to transfer to Parsons but I wanted to know… how heavily they will weigh my GPA? Do you think it will have an affect on their decision?

This was one of the biggest questions I had when I applied to Parsons, too. I wasn’t a terrible student in high school, but I wasn’t a star-student either. I’m not an admissions counselor, but if you are worried about your GPA, I think you should focus on what other aspects balance out that weakness. Obviously you can make a really excellent portfolio or home test (I’m not even sure if that is required for transfer, is it?) but have you thought about how some of your extracurricular activites or other interests make you a well rounded student that is qualified to transfer into Parsons? For the record, I had a 2.65 GPA when I graduated high school but I balanced that out with starting a music magazine at my school, helping out the art department, and doing a French exchange program. Also you might be able to say that the reason why you aren’t doing up to your personal standards is because you aren’t being pushed by the curriculum at your current school (and that you think Parsons will challenge you to be a better student and designer.) Good luck!

Do you have any advice on what major should I take if I want to work in magazines?

In order to answer your question, I need a few answers first. What type of magazine are you interested in working for; fashion, art, technology? Even still, there are many subgroups to these broad content ideas; circulation size, demographic, and niche market. For example, I intern at W magazine, which is a rather large fashion publication under the umbrella of Conde Nast. The target audience is wealthy, established, older women who can afford the crystal-encrusted dresses and Michael Kors’ mink jackets housed within its pages. However, W’s target audience couldn’t be further from my actual lifestyle; a broke college student who can barely afford the $34 nylon tricot leggings from American Apparel. Regardless, I still find inspiration for my illustrations, design, and dream wardrobe from the pages of W magazine.

It also is important to note what type of responsibilities you want to hold at that magazine. Do you want to book the models for the editorials? Design the layout? Price out the cost of rights to all the images used in the pages? Be the photographer hired to shoot the editorials? Be commissioned to make an illustration for an article? Do you want to run the print shop responsible for producing thousands of magazines? It all relies on where your passion and talent lives. There is a whole magnitude of art-related jobs that can be related to magazines in some way, shape, or form.

With that being said here is a quick rundown of a few ways to apply different majors at art schools to working at a magazine:
Communication Design:Creative Directors, Art Directors, and Designers; manage the look and feel of the way the content is laid out on a page. Could also work on the website of the magazine, managing web content and layout.
Fashion Design: Design the clothes featured within the pages of the magazine.
Photography: Take photos of the clothes and models featured within the pages of the magazine. Take shots of interiors, accessories, etc. Possibly find and hire photographers to take photos for the issue.
Design and Management: Public relations, bookings, money and more of the ‘business’ side of the magazine.
Illustration: Draw/paint/create a piece of work to illustrate the articles in the magazine.

As I’ve previously mentioned, part of being a good artist or designer is how well you present yourself. After reviewing countless submissions for an upcoming art-festival-that-shall-not-be-named, I’ve compiled a short list of ways to present yourself as a great artist, regardless of the body of work to back it up.

Follow All Given Directions
Presenting yourself well takes minimal effort; following directions. If submitting your work somewhere, read all the information provided to you. Being lazy is not an excuse! Someone, somewhere, probably spent a few hours or days writing up the provided information to better inform you of whatever it is you are submitting or applying for.

Good Images = Good Impression
There are 2 parts to a good image; quality and content. For this, we are concerned with the former. Use photoshop to your advantage when presenting images of your work—crop out the carpeting in the background of your photo, use the free transform tool correct distortion problems, color correct, and never use a blurry photo! Also, if the directions instruct you to make your file a certain size, resolution, or color mode—make sure you do it! It is naive to think that someone will edit your photo for you if you submit it incorrectly. “I don’t know how to use Photoshop!” isn’t an excuse—I’m sure you have a friend or local workshop who does!

Remember, Someone Will Read Your File Names
Keep in mind a lot of special characters aren’t supported when uploading your work online. I know for our registration process characters like the pound symbol (#) and underscores (_) caused serious problems. Keep your filenames something simple; usually including your name, title of the work, or entry number. Keep the crazy organized file names for your computer archiving.
Also, it is ill-advised to name your files something like “shitballs.jpg” or “2girls1cup.mov”—someone will notice, and although it might give them a quick laugh, it is never good to be the butt of someone else’s joke.

Have Professional-Sounding Contact Information
It’s okay if your email is hosted by an ISP, but it is somewhat unprofessional to make your email handle something like “hawtchick08” or “reeferdude4ev,” as these send a certain connotation from the start. A good tip: if you’re embarrassed to put it on your resume or business card, you should probably change it. If this sounds like you I suggest you make a separate email account specifically for business with your first and last name.
The next is very much anchored in opinion but…

A Coherent Artist Statement
Your artist statement should provide context to the work you are submitting, not just your philosophy as a whole. Write your artist statement in a universal language—something that anyone could understand… not language you’ve learned in art school critiques. This is especially true if you’re given a short amount of space to do so. In my opinion, round-about artist statements that sound more like they inspired this song, and less like they are inspired by your work should be re-considered.

This past Thursday was my last silkscreening class at the Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven. I finally finished my set of 60 hand-screened business cards! I’ve never had my own business cards before, and I always felt like a hack just writing down my info on a scrap piece of paper but now I have cards I’m psyched to give to people.

The front is pretty simple, I was trying to go for something that I could just print in black but would go with the aesthetic of my site (Interstate typeface, italic Caslon, reversed type, simple yet modern). I was hoping to print another round with pink ink so it would reflect more of my drawing/illustrative style but I digress…

The back of each card has a different piece of the same pattern which was hand drawn and then edited in illustrator. The first few were more of a gradient effect (from coraly pink to yellow) but after a few passes of the squeegee it started to blend into this melon color. I like it but it kind of reminds me of Halloween. Oops! After all this is my first time and I took this class to learn and better prepare myself for my graded silkscreening class this fall.

In high school I applied to 5 art schools for undergraduate study, to my surprise I got into Parsons, my super-duper-reach-school… here are a few of my suggestions as to how to better your chances of getting into one of your top choices!

Start in High School
One of the most valuable connections I ever made was with my high school art teacher, Mrs. Medley. She helped me pick out pieces for my college portfolio, discover inspiring artists, and helped create a solid foundation on which to realize my future in the art and design industry. To this day I can still stop by and visit her if I need guidance, reassurance, or inspiration.

Also, in high school you still have the flexibility to try new things without it weighing heavily on your GPA. Take painting classes, drawing classes, even that pottery class you think you might want to take…knowledge from these introductory classes will be of help when you are honing your skills during foundation year.
What to Select for your Art Portfolio
Obviously a huge factor in your application is your portfolio; but try not to stress over it too much. Show your style, but be sure to exhibit your observational skill above anything else -draw from real life, not photographs! Be sure to include complete pieces, but a few short gestures and figure studies are acceptable. Make sure to exhibit your use of materials, subject matter, conceptual ideas, and compositional skills. Mrs. Medley always told me to keep away from including a lot of illustration; “there is always time for experimentation once you get into school.”

The Home Test is a Chance to Prove Yourself
I believe it was my home test that gained me admission into Parsons. Every school has a different test; but they all offer a chance to show your creative thought process and skill. The best way to approach these assignments is to not think too literally; I was instructed to show 3 perspectives of an object or “thing” in my community that was close to me. I chose to design the packaging for three mix CDs based on Interstate 95 with northbound, homebound, and southbound as my perspectives. Each told a different story and I used my essays to explain my concept and design choices.

Consider Summer Study
I’m not sure about other colleges but Parsons requires at least one session of summer study. I took my summer session at Art Institute of Boston the summer before my senior year of high school. Summer study was a great experience not only to re-affirm my passion in art, but also exposed me to longer class times, city-living, and more intense critiques than I had experienced in a high school setting.

The Essay: Necessary Evil
The essay is a great chance to show your art history knowledge (some schools’ essays ask you to “identify” with an artist or designer) or your strengths outside of art. The essay can showcase your communication skills and make up for not-so-perfect test scores or grades. This is a great moment to sell yourself for who you are.

Extracurriculars
Involvement in extracurricular activities can show your dedication to art and design outside of the classroom; I started a music magazine at my school and it showed that I was interested in publication design and working in groups. Even involvement with sports teams can relate back to your design career… remember, think creatively!

Presentation is Important!
Don’t forget; art school isn’t just about your creativity, it’s also about your presentation! Presenting your portfolio in traditional slide format can show you are dedicated and organized. Be sure to follow the same formatting on your submitted documents like slide lists, essays, and project descriptions. Presentation shows a lot about your work ethic, organizational skills, and even your understanding of creating a basic visual identity.

Never give up!
Foundation year was one of the hardest years of my education to date. I wanted to quit so badly! But walking out on the last day of the year knowing I toughed it out was one of the most rewarding experiences at Parsons so far. Knowing I kept my nose to the grindstone and finished even when I wanted to give up made me feel really accomplished.