On April 7th, five graphic design students from the Department of Visual Arts won first place in a branding competition during one of the studio tours at the 12th Annual Dallas Society of Visual Communications (DSVC) Portfolio Review and Conference. The conference provides job recruitment, internship and scholarship opportunities, as well as professional portfolio reviews, and presentation from nationally renowned speakers. Student team members consisted of: Taylor Campbell, Tyler Darbonne, Jeane Derouen, Emily Frederickson, and Carson Smith competed against other schools in Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and South Carolina.

Working under a tight twenty-minute deadline. Their challenge was to develop a name and identity for a creative and inspirational space in which freelance designers could come work together.  Their winning name for the space was called Green Haus, and was based upon how creativity often needs care and nurturing just as true greenhouses are spaces used to care and cultivate young plants. As a reward for their creativity, the students were all given hats from Greenlight, the design studio that hosted the competition and one of the studio tours. At the conclusion of the competition and the studio tours, the students rejoined the rest of their peers and Associate Professors Kevin Hagan and Jeff Lush in participating the remainder of the conference programs.