Coordinator of the graphic design program at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, Jan Conradi is a professor within the art department at the university.
Professor Conradi discusses her passion, her process and graphic design. Her career focuses on design education, typography, and design history. She has published two books, numerous articles and has served as a guest lecturer and critic at other institutions.
Beth Dombkowski:
Hello. My name is Beth Dombkowski and I'm coming to you from the Office of Admissions at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.
Beth Dombkowski:
Welcome to Rowan Confidential. I am joined today by Professor Jan Conradi from the Department of Arts. Welcome.
Jan Conradi:
Hey. Good to be here.
Beth Dombkowski:
How are you doing? Good. Jan is the coordinator of the graphic design program for the department. She is also the author of two books about the history of graphic design. We're so excited to have you here today. My first question for you, what is your inspiration or passion? What wakes you up in the morning? And don't say your alarm clock.
Jan Conradi:
I am a morning person. Ask the students in my 8:00 AM class because they're all coming in, barely eyes open and I'm bouncing off the walls. What wakes me up in the morning is the potential of the day. The morning's the best part. Everything is possible. Nothing is goofed up yet and cool things are bound to happen so you've got to get up and go after it.
Beth Dombkowski:
So in terms of your work, what are you most passionate about and where do you find inspiration?
Jan Conradi:
It's kind of a two part in terms of my work. I really am inspired by the history of graphic design and all of the connections that people make between themselves and with ideas and with visual possibilities. So thinking about that and talking about that and meeting people who are working as designers and making amazing things happen is something that really inspires me. I also am really inspired by the world of design in general, but typography in particular. And when I get tired of working with type on the computer and dealing with digital, I go down in my basement and I set metal type just like Gutenberg did in 1450. So everything from there to the present and who knows what in the next world is what's interesting to me and using typographic form and making it sing.
Beth Dombkowski:
So you have a printing press in your house.
Jan Conradi:
I have a printing press, three cabinets of lead type and two cabinets of wood type in my basement and yes, it was not fun carrying that down.
Beth Dombkowski:
I guess you're going to have to stay in that house for a while.
Jan Conradi:
Who needs a gym membership when you can carry around trays of lead type?
Beth Dombkowski:
Perfect. So what's one thing that you wish people knew about your fields?
Jan Conradi:
I'd like to talk about that more in general. First of all, in terms of the Department of Art and not just graphic design. So many people think if you get an art degree you're going to be living in an attic and making paintings and barely putting food in your mouth and that's so limiting and it's so wrong. There are dozens of job opportunities and professional opportunities that can grow out of having a major in art. In graphic design too. I think tied to that, one of the things I wish people knew is so many times parents are concerned that their children are going to be able to have a professional career based upon their education. And so a lot of times parents will push students into design because they think, oh, you can get a job being a graphic designer. But if that's not their passion, it's the wrong thing to do. That if somebody really wants to be a painter and thrives on making jewelry or sculpture or whatever it should be, that's where they should go. They should follow their passion because that's where success will arise.
Beth Dombkowski:
How did you come to graphic design?
Jan Conradi:
By accident. I started school in veterinary, pre-veterinary medicine and dairy science.
Beth Dombkowski:
Dairy science?
Jan Conradi:
At Iowa State University. And as I did a typical student thing of beginning to realize that that wasn't really where I wanted to be and I was looking around for other options, a girlfriend of mine was working on a calligraphy project in her dorm room. And when I went over there that evening and was talking to her, I'm like, well what are you doing? That looks kind of neat. She said, well, it's just an elective class that I can take. And I thought, I'm going to do that. So the next term I took calligraphy and I basically never left the art building after that. That led to typography and page layout and book design and corporate identity and the full realm of graphic design. So I guess that's something I would say to students is be open to possibilities, have a direction and be moving toward it, but don't be afraid to zigzag when something else shows up.
Beth Dombkowski:
That seems to be one of the common themes that we're hearing from a lot of our guests on this podcast so far, that where they started is not necessarily where they ended up. And I think that's just so true and good advice for any incoming students. So thank you for sharing that story with us.
Jan Conradi:
It makes sense that none of us, especially you're 16, 17, 18 years old and everybody's like, what do you want to do for the rest of your life? It's like you don't even know what you want to do next week. And the ideas about what you know about what's available is sometimes pretty limited. And so it totally makes sense, if you come to college and you go to classes and you take electives and you hear speakers who come on campus. And you get involved with organizations, you find out about things that you never knew existed and so why not pursue them if it resonates for you.
Beth Dombkowski:
In fact, some of the jobs that the students who are in school right now are going to get probably don't even exist yet.
Jan Conradi:
Exactly.
Beth Dombkowski:
Because we're changing so quickly. Okay, so you have written two books about the history of graphic design. Have you been writing about designers? Have you had the opportunity to work with any of your designers that you've been writing about?
Jan Conradi:
Yes, somewhat. It's really not been so much working with them as in developing design per se, but it's really been working with them more in a sense of promoting design and promoting ways of thinking about design that are positive and productive. Working with them on developing exhibitions of design work so that people can see what some of the really good professionals are doing. I have been very fortunate that through the projects of working with these books, I've met so many incredibly inspirational people. People who are really defining the visual landscape around us and have been doing so for years. And so to fill your head with that level of precision and perfection is life changing.
Beth Dombkowski:
And these books, writing about design has taken you outside of New Jersey, correct? You've traveled for this?
Jan Conradi:
That's been one of the real pleasures of the project is the first book that I wrote was about a company called Unimark International, which began in the mid 60s with three offices, simultaneously opened three offices in New York, Chicago and Milan, Italy. And thanks to working on that book, I've been to Italy multiple times. I've traveled multiple places around the United States and Canada and have interviewed people in other parts of the world via digital, internet access. And so it's been great because I never would have expected to make those kinds of trips as anything other than just a tourist. But to go there to specifically be talking to people and sort of working with them puts you in a different mindset, and you really can embed as a part of the community and you see things differently. So it's been a great opportunity.
Beth Dombkowski:
So other than the travel, what are some things that this field has allowed you to do that you dreamed about or you thought you'd never get to do?
Jan Conradi:
Well, honestly, I never expected to become a professor. To become a teacher was not ever on my radar. If you would have told me as an undergrad that, oh, someday you'll be a professor, I probably would have hurt myself falling over laughing because I was all involved with the activity of making design and doing design. But over time in the process of doing exactly that, I realized that I liked helping other people understand how to do things or why to do things or what might be important as they're working with design. That was through working, especially as a book designer in a publishing company prior to getting my master's degree.
Jan Conradi:
And working at that publication or working with that publisher, I realized that I liked helping other people learn and gain access into this field. And that's what led me into eventually going back to school, getting my master's degree, and then moving into the teaching field. And I've never ever regretted it. To be able to work with students and young people who are excited and engaged in what they're doing and to watch them learn and grow and to watch them come up with amazing ideas that I never could have thought about is so cool. It's like it never gets old.
Beth Dombkowski:
That's great. That's great. So you have these relationships with students inside the classroom as a professor. How do you engage students outside of the classroom?
Jan Conradi:
Talking from a standpoint of the department as a whole, there's so many opportunities and I hope all of the students, no matter what their major is, are doing things beyond just taking classes. And I know a lot of people are working on trying to earn money and that's not an insignificant thing. But you can do internships, you can be involved in on campus clubs and in the art department, the art ed students have a club. There's a Rowan Arts Collective that reaches out far beyond the department and creating activities. We have an organization called The Gallery, which puts together a showcase book every year of student work and it's completely student driven. There are studio and gallery visits in town and in Philadelphia and throughout the region. Some of them connected with classes and some open to just groups of people who want to go. So there's lots of ways to get involved and get engaged in terms of advancing what you know and seeing new things and being energized by that.
Beth Dombkowski:
So after they graduate, where do your students go? Where do your design students get jobs?
Jan Conradi:
They go all over the place. Not surprisingly, a lot of people go to Philadelphia or to New York City or work right here in the region, but they are all over the country really. And some of them are doing award-winning publication design. Some of them work on packaging or signage systems or web design, but it's not only design. And again, speaking from the department as a whole, it's interesting to see where the students go because they really have an amazing range of opportunities. For one thing, some of the students are very interested in advancing their studies and going to grad school and they're going to some of the best grad programs in the United States and in Europe. And that's great that they get that preparation for that here. A lot of the art ed teachers, art education teachers throughout the state of New Jersey were on grads. So they are inspiring the next generation that's coming up.
Jan Conradi:
Many of our grads own their own studios and they're doing jewelry or ceramics or woodworking and sculpture. Some of them have evolved into doing product design. They're exhibiting their work at galleries throughout the region and working in other kinds of design related fields and activities, and art related fields and activities. So there's a lot of opportunity. And I think one of the things that's really great about an art degree is that it's a different way of thinking about the world and what an art graduate knows is that creativity arises out of a process and out of exploration and out of embracing ambiguity and embracing the unknown. And taking ideas to see and say what if? And that level of creativity and flexibility in thinking is something that can translate to lots and lots of opportunities.
Beth Dombkowski:
Lastly, why Rowan?
Jan Conradi:
Why Rowan for me?
Beth Dombkowski:
Why Rowan for you.
Jan Conradi:
It's been a very interesting place to be. I mean obviously the location of Rowan gives you access to so much along the East coast and all of the art and culture that happens there. But Rowan's also been a really good place for me because I do think that the vast majority of faculty and staff at Rowan are here we care about students and we care about what they can do and how we can support them in advancing to their goals. And some schools are not like that.
Jan Conradi:
I like the fact that Rowan is very student centered and that in the art department with studio classes, they're small size. So we work very intimately and closely together with the students. So you build friendships. The kid who comes into a class as a freshman and isn't quite sure and a little scared and it's all new, turns into a student who grows and gains confidence. And then next thing you know, they're a graduate and they're out there and they're doing amazing work professionally and they're the people that I'm relying on to advise and consult with as we continue working with the next batch of students. So it builds connections that last for a lifetime.
Beth Dombkowski:
So why should an incoming art student choose Rowan?
Jan Conradi:
Because it's great. Because of that attitude, because the faculty in the Art Department really do emphasize teaching first. We're all practicing artists and designers and doing our own work. But we're here because we want to be here because we want to work with students and we want to see them grow. And that's priority number one. So that is an amazing reason to pick a school. I think also a lot of art students get caught up in the romanticizing of an art school and think about that as something that they would like to investigate, but you know what? A lot of times those are very expensive opportunities and if economics is something that has to be taken into consideration, it maybe isn't the best way to spend your money. The fact that at Rowan you are able to focus on growth with your art, your design, whatever aspect of it is important to you. That happens here, but at the same time you're developing a range of knowledge and skills that rounds out your education as an artist and rounds out your thinking as an artist and so it's an economical place to have positive growth.
Beth Dombkowski:
Jan, thank you so much for coming in to talk to us today. I love talking about the Art Department. Of course, I studied art as well, undergraduate, so it's near and dear to my heart. Love hearing about the type of research that you're doing, the travel opportunities, and where your students are these days.
Jan Conradi:
Thank you for inviting me and let's just keep making good things happen.
Beth Dombkowski:
Sounds good. Thank you. This has been Rowan Confidential.