CATAWBA RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL
DIGITAL ART & DESIGN

Meet Mrs. Pierce

Education.

​

Mrs. Carly Pierce studied fine art, specializing in graphic design at Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers, Florida. Prior to teaching, she worked  as a graphic designer & web design specialist. Outside of teaching, Mrs. Pierce does a little freelance design work for small businesses and sometimes works at larger design companies in the summer. She is now entering her 14th year of teaching high school design courses.

Words of Advice from Mrs. Pierce.

​

1. If you want to be a good designer, never stop learning. This industry is constantly changing and evolving, and creatives must be ready to adapt with it.

​

2. Your work is not "yours" when you work in design. Don't take it to heart if a client wants tons of changes to it, even if you know the design you created is amazing.

​

3. Be patient & persistent. Computers crash, work gets lost, designing can be complicated and really good original ideas come after you've had probably fifty average ideas, and average will not be good enough to stay employed by a good design company. So again, be patient & persistent.

​

4. Have a solid foundational knowledge of design. Know your elements and principles, typography, layout, and compositional rules. Know them well enough to know when to follow them, and when to break them.

​

5. Learn to work well with others. You are always stronger as a team then by yourself, whether you like working with others or not, it will make you stronger, so suck it up and just do it.

​

6. Always use spell check.