To kick off the school year students as a group of two or three brainstormed to gather a list of everyday problems. From there they narrowed it down and decided on one per group. From there they created a company as a solution to that problem to pitch to other classes on a pitch day. All the students in attendance selected one idea or company to work on giving all the students an "internal client" because it was established within CAPS.

​

Our students have the opportunity to brand a product and company from the start up stage. They will work with that group throughout the course of the semester in addition to their other projects. These internal projects are not limited to one semester. If their idea takes off it can be carried on on the students own time. The facilities here are always open to students.

​Every student in Interactive Design gets to work on at least one external project per semester. These projects come in from the industry and they are handled like a design firm would handle them. The jobs come in and we decide if they would be a good fit for our students. From there they go into a queue if that semester is already full. Students are assigned to assignments based on their previous skills and interests. The projects are discussed and the students have a say in which projects they are assigned to but the teacher may guide a students based on the scope or intensity of a project. In the end most students are happy with their project and enjoy it. ​

​

These external projects are the primary focus for the class. Because they are being done for industry partners there is a lot of pressure on students to provide quality work that will actually be used for their particular business or organization. The opportunity to work with real clients is not something high school students typically get the chance to do, so our students are learning skills and developing portfolios that are unrivaled by their peers.

External Client Projects

Internal Client Projects

Personal Brand Identity

In addition to the internal and external projects that the students work on they will brand themselves as a designer, then use that brand for their portfolio that they all leave with. This is their opportunity to design for themselves and create something that represents who they are. They will use this "brand" to market themselves to employers by incorporating it throughout their portfolio. They could also take it and create a start up design firm with it. It has to be something other than their name because they are not featuring themselves but a brand that that identifies with themselves. They will develop things like a logo, website, business card, and a "leave behind" item to leave with interviewers.