I can honestly say that Graphic Design at SLC is a hard program. There are many sleepless nights, many times when you want to give up and many times you really hope that it will all be worth it in the end!
In first year, I thought Chuck was the devil, or at least good friends of the devil. He was a hard teacher, never repeated himself, always expected a lot, and didn’t seem that friendly. I remember one night when I decided to go to an I Mother Earth concert instead of doing my homework for his class. It was a crappy concert and I tried to do it when I got home at 3am, but it was less than half ass. When I brought it to my critique the next day, I finally realized how my little puppy felt she watched me discover that she peed on my bed. I could see the disappointment and it kind of got me. He picked it up, glanced at it and lofted it down on the table not saying anything and went to the next person. It sucked, but it taught me a lesson. I always did my work first after that.
Second year, Chuck was a lot friendlier, and often shared some of his positive life experiences. Hey in fourth semester in his class I won the second year poster design and had my work printed, which really made me realize graphic design was not only fun, it was rewarding!
Third year is much different, it seems to me like he stepped out of his teacher position and moved into the spiritual guidance department. He makes me nervous with all his talks about working full time, placement and some of his scarier life stories in BC.
I look back at the work I’ve done over the years for Chuck and realize what he has accomplished. He got me to love designing and especially design layout and he did very well, what he is paid to do, teach me how to be a Graphic Designer.
I think all the teachers of the program deserve a good hand shake for the work they do, especially Chuck and Michael.
I think Chuck has been at SLC for 28 years now (he started 7 years before I was born). That’s a long time and he has helped many people become successful designers. So I wish him a fun retirement from Graphic Design and hope he enjoys his next profession, whether it’s a Truck Driver or Traveler.