A Life-Changing Experience

Life changing. Yes, she admits it’s a cliché, but Utah State University’s 2007 Summer Design Program in Switzerland was exactly that for Natalie Hartley, a senior from Boise, Idaho.

Many of Hartley’s 36 fellow students had the same reaction to the intensive, hands-on study abroad experience based in USU’s Department of Art and the Caine School of the Arts. Among the opportunities? Collaborating with the International Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

 

“The intensity of the program, its unique experiences and complete immersion for an extended period of time allowed me to learn in a way I will never forget,” Hartley said. “Not only did I learn valuable lessons about design, aesthetics and history, but also about myself, how I related to these things, this culture and, in a sense, who I am.”

 

Hartley is a bachelor of fine arts student with a graphic design emphasis. Her trip to Switzerland in the summer of 2007 was her second. She participated in the 2006 program as well.

 

“The great thing about this program is that you can have great experiences every day,” she said.

 

For fellow student and program participant Loni Pilcher, this was her first experience with the program and her first trip to Europe. Home base for the students was the alpine ski village of Leysin, where the USU group took over a small hotel.

 

“I knew since my first semester at Utah State that I wanted to have some kind of study abroad experience, and so it was just the natural thing that, as a graphic design student, I would participate in the Switzerland program,” Pilcher said. “I’m so glad I participated. It’s a unique program because we got to see so much of the country. We didn’t spend time sitting in a classroom — we got to take full advantage of every second that we were in Switzerland. The whole country was our classroom”

 

Pilcher, from Bluffdale, Utah, is a junior art major with a graphic design emphasis.

 

Now in its sixth year, the program is directed by associate professor of graphic design Robert Winward. The four-week long visit immerses both graduate and undergraduate students in Swiss design and European visual culture.

 

“Swiss designers have had a powerful influence on the design profession and continue to be a major force in the direction of international visual communications,” Winward said. “The program is enormously successful and broadens students’ worldviews, exposing them to internationally acclaimed artists and designers.”

 

The program also offers students the opportunity to collaborate with international corporations and organizations on visual communication problems.

 

Summer 2007 presented an opportunity of Olympic proportions — literally. The summer’s assignment included work for the International Olympic Museum to produce prototype designs for the Olympic torch for the coming Olympics in Vancouver (2010) and London (2012). By the end of the assignment, the directors and staff at the museum were so impressed with the nine torch designs created by the USU students, they decided to put them on exhibition in the museum during the summer tourist high season. An unexpected honor for the USU students.

 

“This is an incredibly prestigious international venue on the Swiss Riviera, and it’s no small feat to be invited to exhibit there,” Winward said. “I’m very proud of what the students accomplished.”

 

 

USU student groups have collaborated with prestigious organizations during the program, including:

 

 

In addition to the Olympic Museum, USU students visited many museums in Switzerland. Here are some of the more interesting museums:

 

 

 

 

Contact: Robert Winward (435) 797-1394, winwardr@hass.usu.edu