Ahlena Sultana-McGarry

What skills or relationships developed at OCAD U helped you participate in your field? Is there anything you would have done differently?

My positive relationship with my professors was instrumental to my educational and professional development. I’ve always had a deep respect for educators, but this was put into perspective when I understood how greatly their teaching (and your relationship to them) shaped my life and career path. Given the opportunity to do anything differently I would have likely spent more time seeking opportunities to engage with their art/research projects. One last regret is that while I was studying abroad in Italy, I didn’t indulge in the food as much as I would have liked!

Geordie Graham

What do you enjoy most about your work? What is the most challenging aspect of your work? 

I enjoy applying inclusive design principles to user research, and the idea of advocating throughout the design process as well as the necessity of having outliers. An important consideration is that through design, participant recruitment must be as diverse as can be.  

What I find challenging is that inclusive design is an emerging field. We are trying to raise awareness within product strategy etc. There is a lot of education taking place within stakeholders. There is a benefit of adopting inclusive design to create things for people. 

Kenny Tran

What do you enjoy most about your work? What is the most challenging aspect of your work?

I really enjoy being able to create work that will be displayed on screens around the world, as animation in general I find is a very rewarding process. Being able to work around like-minded talented individuals in a team environment is also great.

The most challenging aspect of my work is making sure I keep up with my health and posture, as sitting in front of a computer every day isn’t the healthiest practice to have. But also making sure I meet my deadlines and manage my workload.

Will Selviz

What skills or relationships developed at OCAD U helped you participate in your field? Is there anything you would have done differently?

Design4 and DF allowed me to be more creative on demand. When you have a quick turnaround and are working in a new team, you quickly learn how they all work (personally/technically and creatively) and understand what is feasible within a given timeframe and what isn’t.

To be honest, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. I came from UBC and knew what I wanted to experience at OCAD U.

Tian Cao

What skills or relationships developed at OCAD U helped you participate in your field? Is there anything you would have done differently?

My program is pretty much the combination of digital art and animation. DPXA is a very hybrid program and I got the chance to experiment with many different mediums and formats. In the last two years, our assignments were very open and motivated us to learn, do research, and to try various techniques. Because of that, I learned to code, use game engines, projections and to get familiar with various software in the industry.

OCAD U is very focused on the education of Art and artistic literacy. This is helpful to anyone who wants to learn and work within the Art Industry, whether that is in Fine Art or generally in the industry. The only thing I would've done differently would have been paying more attention in my Art History classes.

Andrew Sun

How did you get started in your career?  

I was an international student and had to find a job within 3 months of graduating. I sent out a lot of resumes. I was lucky that John David Edison (an OCAD U alumni) interviewed me for a position in his company. I started my role as Junior Interior Designer a week after the interview. As a student I didn’t do any internships and instead opted to go home to visit my family, however, I would encourage students to do internships.  

 

What skills or relationships developed at OCAD U helped you participate in your field? Is there anything you would have done differently? 

I maintain contact with past classmates. OCAD U helped me find my passion. Some of my professors were so passionate, it rubbed off on me. Because of them, I was willing to study and be better. One of those that had a big impact on me was Stuart Reid. I believe that to have your own practice or to be a top Designer, you need passion to drive you.  

What is important for the field when getting a job are your technical skills. OCAD U provides a lot of design thinking, which makes OCAD U students stand out from students at other universities. 

 

Geneviève Wallen

What do you enjoy most about your work? What is the most challenging aspect of your work?

I love that within a curatorial practice, I can connect with creatives who are just as passionate as I am about the themes we are exploring together. Collaborating with different practitioners gives space for ideas to evolve into a complex concept.   It is a very stimulating occupation, and I get to go down in research rabbit holes. Folks are coming to a subject matter with references that differ from mine, and it's exciting. To be honest, artists blow my mind every time! I am fascinated by how they process information into their works. Moreover, I am deeply appreciative of the bonds that can be created through those interactions. There is an opportunity to develop friendships and long term collaborators.

I find that navigating that the guest curator's position is challenging because of financial and emotional precariousness. I also find it challenging to respect my work boundaries and keep away from the burn out culture. Furthermore, the scarcity mentality plaguing the field, especially when a practitioner working from the margins, is a slippery mindset to work from.

Michael Madjus

What skills or relationships developed at OCAD U helped you participate in your field? Is there anything you would have done differently?

I wouldn’t have done anything differently in terms of coming to OCAD U. There were a variety of skills that I got from my time at OCAD U that have helped in various jobs/career stops. As a student, we were taught to observe the space around us, which for me also includes the people. I also learned to question and challenge and think differently. I don’t think we would have proposed a four-person thesis team, and in turn, got to work w/ our client (Children’s Own Museum) had we not pushed the boundaries a bit. One of the biggest things I learned and have helped in my various professional lives was how to work collaboratively with people. My year felt special (something I feel everyone says about their class) and were pretty adamant about working together and bouncing ideas off of each other. There wasn’t the feel super guarded and protective of our work. We understood that collectively we could create better work than if we were off working on our projects in secret. It was in working with my peers that we were able to build relationships and connections. I am a big believer in embracing your network and not burning bridges. I’m also open to telling people when I’m looking for opportunities – my network has made sure I am supported. I’ve gotten a lot of jobs through my network.

Sharene Shafie

What were your policies regarding internships, volunteering, and paid work?

I think volunteering is great. A lot of the time when you are going into a new industry that you may not have experience in, the org you are volunteering with is doing you a service in training you. I believe that volunteering has its place. Recognize when you are getting value from an opportunity and when you are adding value. Recognize when the shift needs to be made for receiving compensation. There’s a fine line between that and being taken advantage of. If you already have credentials, you should be paid for the experience that you are bringing to the table.

 

What skills or relationships developed at OCAD U helped you participate in your field? Is there anything you would have done differently?

I would've used the studios as much I could. It’s an incredible resource that you won’t have access to once graduate. I would have also sought out opportunities and a meaningful network. The community is the most valuable thing you can get out of post-secondary education. There is nothing I would’ve done differently – only things I would’ve done more of.

Zan Chandler

How did you get started in your career?

This is my 3rd, possibly 4th career depending on how you slice things. Previously, I had worked in the arts and culture sector, first in content creation, then in funding and policy. I was working on federal cultural policy at the time when digital technologies and the internet were radically changing the landscape for cultural production around the world. Watching how policymakers and industries around the world were struggling with change fed my desire to better understand what the future implications might be for creators in Canada. This led me to the SFI program. As a grad student, I was fortunate to work on a number of OCAD U research projects. This allowed me to practice what I was learning. Graduating with some foresight and innovation experience under my belt made it easier to gain independent consulting gigs and to work eventually start working with KerrSmith.

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