Letter of Intent

I have always loved learning.

From building with Legos and practicing pen-and-ink calligraphy to constructing model rockets and forging strong TIG welds, my life has been an exercise in learning to make ideas a reality. Even from a young age, I was a maker and a doer. This was never more evident than when I was a middle-school-aged child and a teacher saw me drawing super heroes. She gave me the best gift I can think of—an old, worn copy of Gray’s Anatomy, so I could better learn how to draw the human form.

After college, my pursuit of fine art gave way to a job at Fossil. My undergraduate background in sculpture made me ideally suited for thinking in three dimensions: designing watch cases, bracelets, and dials, while my fine hand skills made me a natural at preparing marker comp presentations.

While I was employed at Fossil, I was learning anything anyone would teach me about graphic design. As a fine art major I knew about shape, form, line, color, balance, and composition, but nothing of typography, kerning, leading, layout, color theory, or the history of graphic design and advertising. At the same time, I was developing production skills, learning clipping paths and layer masks, working with vector art and Bézier curves, and all manner of printing techniques. Every day brought a new challenge. But I wanted more.

After three years at Fossil, I came to a realization. I didn’t really feel like a graphic designer. Nor was I a true product designer. I felt the need to select one career path and to get the proper educational training to legitimize my choice. Subsequently, I applied, and was accepted, to the Savannah College of Art and Design’s masters program for industrial design, but my love for graphic design wouldn’t let go of me. I decided to change course, and got a job at a boutique graphic design and advertising studio called Banowetz + Company to learn visual communication from the ground up.

Learning the craft of visual communication in a trial-by-fire environment can lead many people to burn out, but I thrived in it. Over the next 13 years at Banowetz, I added more skills to my craft including logo design, art direction, presentation skills, illustration, copywriting, and a penchant for custom typography. But even with everything I had learned, I needed to learn more.

In 2014, I left the firm to form Small Hat Studio, LLC—my own one-man design company. The last five years have been some of the most challenging and rewarding years of my life, because it’s all mine. I’ve done it all: Finding business and meeting with clients. Estimating and billing. Designing and art directing. Everything down to changing the lightbulbs and taking out the trash.

Now I feel ready to learn something new. It’s time to get an education in becoming an educator. It’s time to let my love of learning fuel my passion to earn my Master of Fine Art degree at Texas A&M University – Commerce.

Eric R. Venegas

CWID: 50251890