My name is Ellie Grover! I’m 18 and from Washington, California, and Illinois, depending on what part of my life you’re referring from. I was born in Washington, grew up in Illinois, and then traveled all around the United States before settling down in California for about five years. Just recently, I moved out here with a former partner of mine and now I’m learning how to live life on my own, hundreds of miles away from anyone that I know.

I really love art, as I’m majoring in graphic design. I enjoy creating things and absolutely adore the concept of color. Color theory is one of my absolute favorite things to study and explain to people. I’ve loved graphic design since I was young and didn’t realize that what I was doing was graphic design. Online, I always said that I was making “edits”. I would play around with GIFs and photos and make fun little projects of my favorite celebrities or characters that I roleplayed (yup, I was that kid). It made me so happy! It wasn’t until high school that I took an actual graphic design class and realized just how wide the world of graphic design is and how much of a career opportunity it is. Ever since then, I’ve been learning all I can and pursuing that field!

I have a cat named Figaro. He’s my ESA and he, fun fact, does not have any eyes! I love animals and he obviously is no exception. Before I discovered graphic design, I wanted to be a zookeeper. To this day, I still wouldn’t mind one bit if I were to become one, but math definitely isn’t something I’m good at, so I try to stick to art instead of biology.

Overall, I’d like to just say that I’m a creative person learning the ins and outs of being an adult. Can’t wait to keep learning!

Hello, I’m Doran Simpson. I was born and raised here in the Springfield-Eugene area.  I’m a technical drafting student here at LCC, and I’m taking this course to diversify my skill set. Although I’m not in the media arts program, there is some overlap between it and my field. As a drafter, I create technical drawings and annotated layouts for manufacturing or architecture. While it’s necessary to follow strict guidelines and standards when creating drawings, there’s still some artistry that goes into the process! Your drawings should be easy to understand but still convey all necessary information, and a good drawing is visually appealing too.

I have a love for all things electronic; I enjoy working with computers and playing video games. A hobby of mine is to start with an older video game, maybe 10-20 years old, and install 3^rd party modifications that alter the game in various ways, improving the graphics or the gameplay. Since these modifications are usually all designed by different people within the game modding community, they don’t always play nicely with each other, so getting a large list of modifications to load correctly together without any conflicts can be like assembling a puzzle. It is a very rewarding feeling to start with a game that is over a decade old, and through judicious application of mods, bring the game’s graphics and mechanics up to par with modern titles.

Greetings! my name is Anuar Zhanabay. I am an international student, originally from Kazakhstan. I’m 19 years old and I’m currently studying Multimedia Design at Lane Community College.

Starting in 2019, I was passionate about graphic design and also attended a computer academy majoring in computer design. I have a little experience as a freelancer. I always was interested in creating different kinds of content and in particular, I was very passionate about identity and branding.
But recently I decided to tie my future to multimedia design because I think that education in this area will help me fully realize my creative potential and give me the opportunity to become a master of my craft.
I am incredibly interested in working on images, video, and audio. My goal at the moment is to learn all the basic skills that will allow me to improve my understanding in this field, create amazing content and just enjoy the process.
Over the course of my life, I want to work on projects in different places around the world, get to know more people, and learn about different cultures. I believe that everyone is one, no matter where we are in the world. We breathe the same air and share the same land, and I know that by working together, we can achieve common success.
My dream is to create a platform for Digital Creators through which people from different backgrounds can learn together, communicate, and help each other by sharing experiences, knowledge and also learning about the world.

I believe that power is in unity!

Hello! My name is Jack Garland and I am a Junior enrolled at both University of Oregon and Lane. I previously was a computer science major, however I decided I didn’t want to be in front of a screen for the rest of my life so I switched to the product design major. Since this decision set me back progress-wise, I am taking courses at Lane that I can transfer over to my major at University of Oregon, while saving what’s left of the college fund. I’ve always wanted to pursue the entrepreneurial side of business and hope to one day create a successful startup. I created a few startups before the age of 16, most of which were illegal, so you can say I’ve had this mentality for a while. In my free time I mostly hike and go to the gym, and I also go to about a concert or two a week. The last event I went to was a rave featuring an artist named Troyboi, and before that was Cordae. I actually am also going to see Denzel Curry tonight in Portland now that I think about it. I should probably get ready for that. Thanks for reading about me!

About me 

Hi my name is Ayden Erickson. I am 22 years old. I am a returning student from 2019. I took a break from school because I didn’t know what I wanted to have as a career. I didn’t see the point in adding on more stress as well as paying for classes when I am unsure what I want to do. During that break I played a lot of video games as well as worked a few different jobs. I would play games on a concoule but I have always been interested in playing on a computer. I had the opportunity to learn the ins and out of a computer from a hand me down computer. I started to watch videos and talk to people that had more experience than me. After I saved up enough money to buy new components, I got to build my computer myself. I fell in love with how computers work and playing games on them. So being undecided on what I want to do for work I thought I might as well go to school for something that has something to do with computers or even gaming. So as of right  now I am going to get my education in game development or design.  

By: Ayden Erickson

Hi, I’m Jake!

I’m a second year student at LCC. Initially I was pursuing an Associates of Arts Oregon Transfer degree here, with plans of transferring to another college in the future to pursue a degree in film study, but those plans changed recently. After the wonderful experience that was Jan Halvorsen’s ‘Drawing for Media’ class, along with many failed attempts at snagging one of Lane’s Film Arts classes, it has come to my attention that pursuing a career in animation may be preferable. Cartoons and video games always have and always will hold a special place in my heart, and I think it may be my goal to put myself within the industry of one or the other. The reason I say “I think” is because I am not yet certain if animation is the route for me. I am using this class, along with another to figure that out. The other class is called ‘Digital Design Tools’, and it seems to be primarily about learning how to use digital art programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator. Even if I discover that the media arts industry isn’t for me, at least that class will help me broaden my range of artistic capabilities. I’ve never been a particularly gifted artist, but I’d like to believe that expanding my skills and knowledge through various art (and media arts) classes will eventually help me find my outlet.

TL;DR, I’m at LCC to get better at art and figure out if want to pursue a career in it.

By: Jake Burton

Hello everyone! My name is Ella Busch and I am a Multimedia Design major. I recently moved to Oregon from Virginia. I grew up in a town called Vienna about ten minutes from D.C. I adopted two cats in July of 2020, their names are Willow and Oliver. I decided to pursue this major because I have a passion for post-production editing. I love manipulating content and working on projects to create something unique and creative. I just think the editing process is fascinating, how you can turn raw footage into something unimaginable. My favorite show right now is Good Girls, I am currently binging it and highly recommend it. If anyone has seen Parks and Rec Donna Meagle is one of the main characters, it’s hilarious. I’m also really loving the Harry Potter movies right now. I have seen some of them but I have never watched them in order. I’m always looking for movie and T.V. show recommendations! One of my all time favorite shows is Normal People. It’s on Hulu and I highly recommend it, but be prepared to shed some tears. When I finish this program I would love to be involved in the production/ editing business in anyway I can, and from that find what I’m good at and hopefully be able to pursue it. I have a special interest in audio production after taking the audio class here at Lane.

Hi! My name is Liah Craven and I’m a Multimedia Design major. I was previously a 2^nd Year Graphic design student, but I decided that I wanted to try something different. Creating digital art, editing videos, and making 2D animations has always been a big hobby of mine. That’s mainly why I felt that this program would be better suited for me. I’m still figuring out exactly what I want to focus on as I continue to take classes. I’m a bit shy, but I’d like to think that I’m easy to get along with. I’m looking forward to learning more about everyone in this class.

I’m actually still fairly new to the Eugene/Springfield area. I moved up to Oregon in 2019 during the fall from San Diego, CA. My parents were planning on relocating up here and gave an invitation to tag along. I was in a slump and decided I wanted some change for my mental health. I’ve improved myself a lot since moving here. The main thing that I’ve really appreciated is seeing the seasons change. Seeing the gorgeous autumn leaves, snowfall, and cherry blossom trees, and wild blackberry bushes has been exciting to see during my time here so far. It’s so much different compared to the places I previously lived in. San Diego is just dry and full of palm trees everywhere. In some pockets of San Diego like Spring Valley, El Cajon, and Ocean Beach, there are wild amazon parrots that will just hang out on the telephone poles. I do sort of miss hearing them scream during the rare rainfalls that happen there. The variety of birds that I see up here make due.

I mostly keep to myself and love to relax in my spare time. I have a pet cockatiel named Tiki that I love dearly. I enjoy cute things, animated films, anime, alternative rock music, rhythm games, and animals. It’s hard for me to narrow down favorites and name specifics; I constantly hyper-fixate on different things all the time.