By Sam LeVan

Two former KU communication design graduates are returning to campus in order to share their professional experiences with students.

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 200 of the Academic Forum, the KUCD Association of International Graphic Artists (AIGA) officers will usher in two former students who have exemplified success in the design field post-graduation.

The event is free and open to the public. AIGA will provide free pizza as long as it lasts in Sharadin 209 at 5:15 p.m. before the event.

According to Communication Design Professor Kevin McCloskey, “[the event] is in honor of David Bullock who founded the CD department. It’s a chance to see super successful grads.”

The event will feature Jenna Palermo from KU class of 2006 who works at ESPN, LA. According to the communication design website, Palermo is a motion graphics designer and has launched and maintained graphics packages for both ESPN and ABC. She

provided graphics and support for the Special Olympics World Games which boasted 6,500 athletes from 165 countries. Along with custom animations for NBA, MLB, NFL and college sports, she also takes care of in-house design requests. Her work has been recognized within the design community and won her a 2012 BDA ProMax award for her contributions to ESPN Films animation as well as the Disney 2015 Small Teams Volunteer of the Year award for her design work for community service.

She received her Masters from Savannah College of Art and Design and teaches online courses for Southern New Hampshire University.

The event will also feature Kent Eisenhuth, also from the KU class of 2006, who works at Google, NYC. The communication design website says Eisenhuth leads UX (user experience) and design visions where he is fully engaged in the design process for the entirety of a project. Eisenhuth is building a team of Uxers todesign new products.

He has been published in Fast Company and Uxmatters; he also teaches interactive design classes at the University of Pennsylvania and is a frequent guest lecturer at universities across the greater Philadelphia area. He has been in the UX field for a decade, and during that time has led teams in adopting user-centered design methods and has developed a specialization in interface design, interaction design and data visualization.

Palmero and Eisenhuth will speak about how they got their first jobs out of college, how long it took to achieve their goals and the interviewing process. They will also offer advice about classes, developing a portfolio and what to strive for before and after graduation day.

A Q&A will be held at the end to give an opportunity for the students to ask more personal and specific questions outside of the predetermined topics.

Rachel Zuppo, a current KU student, is excited to hear the speakers. She said, “Last year, I learned so much about alumni who went from zero to hero in today’s job market.”

All are welcome to join and learn more about the KUCD graduates’ lives after they left KU and what is possible for the current students to achieve. This is one of the biggest events KUCD’s AIGA group hosts all year. It is highly anticipated by both students and professors.