G. Dan Covert
California College of the Arts
Graphic Design: A Closer Look
Biography: Dan Covert grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and studied marketing at Ohio State University for two years before transferring on a whim to California College of the Arts (formerly CCAC), where he spent three years finishing a BA in graphic design. While in school he worked for Vehicle, Sputnik, and C2 in San Francisco, as well as Xlarge in Los Angeles. Dan’s work has been recognized by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, The Art Directors Club, California College of the Arts, Communication Arts, I.D. magazine, and Graphis and is featured in the permanent collection of his mother’s basement. Upon returning from his European postgraduation decompression tour, Dan plans to work in San Francisco or Manhattan.
Objective: Graphic Design: A Closer Look was my semester-long senior undergraduate thesis project at California College of the Arts. My thesis was: Since clear communication is a major concern of graphic designers, I will examine why the majority of our society doesn't understand what we do. I set out with intentions of creating an educational piece that would tell the world how great graphic design is and how it can make the world a better place. Halfway through the semester, however, I switched gears and began to investigate why this chasm of misunderstanding exists. Explanations for this lack of understanding ranged from the very superficial fact that we can't even agree on a name for our profession to the harsher conclusion that in the grand scheme of things most of what we do doesn't really matter.
Tools used: I used Adobe® Photoshop® CS to color-correct, crop, and create all the images. I used Adobe Illustrator® CS to create all of the line art illustrations in the book. Then I used Adobe InDesign® CS to combine all these separate pieces together with type in my final book. I was very pleased with the entire Adobe Creative Suite and could not have done this project with any other software.
