TMHS Graphic Design Students Putting Skills to Work in New ‘Fab Lab’

March 10, 2023
TMHS Graphic Design Students Putting Skills to Work in New ‘Fab Lab’

Creating real-world experiences is what CTE is all about. For Tomball Memorial High School Graphic Design students, being immersed in educational opportunities that lend themselves to real-world experiences has been a focus for the senior level practicum class.

TMHS students in Jessica Mulkey’s Graphic Design Practicum class have been exposed to a variety of applications and have been fortunate recently to put their skills to work in their new fabrication lab, the “Fab Lab.”  With their state-of-the-art printing equipment, these students have created designs and put those designs into production to manufacture.

While these students are just getting started on implementing designs in this new lab, if you walk the halls of TMHS, you will find student design work on most all campus door windows, including teacher classrooms and the library. Part of the real-world experience for these students includes interacting with the individuals in which they are designing for, measuring the space, and creating a draft of the design that will go through a review process for final approval.

In addition to window designs, custom sports and robotics banners have been made to celebrate student achievement campus-wide. One of the biggest projects to date, featuring Practicum and Graphic Design II students, has been teaming up with a group from the Level 4 Engineering classes in which the student designers created all visuals for a tripod used for the February Tradeshow and will be used again during Senior Engineering Presentations at the end of the year.

The equipment these students have been exposed to is industry-level leading software programs and printing equipment that has the ability to produce custom prints for a variety of applications, including window decals, luggage tags, customized wood signs, t-shirts, and stickers.

The Graphic Design Practicum course allows students to build a resume and portfolio as they master professional skills for life after high school. Along with this, these students are gaining experience communicating with each other by taking and giving professional critiques.

“I am proud to say the students really trust each other,” Mulkey said. “I have really enjoyed watching them grow as designers and communicators. Seeing them build up each other while challenging each other is exciting to witness each of them have so much to offer as designers.”

Students can begin Graphic Design as part of the Junior High Jump Start course: Digital Media. They will then continue in the program with the Level One Course: Principles of AV Technology and Communications, followed by Level Two Course: Graphic Design I, then Level Three Course: Graphic Design II, and lastly, the Level Four Course: Practicum in Graphic Design. Learn more about this CTE Pathway.