Student Spotlight: Jonathan Balcombe

September 20, 2014

ClemsonGC grad, Jonathan Balcombe’s artowrk featured on a new set of notecards

Students in the department of Graphic Communications find themselves in just about every possible position within the graphic communications industries during their two required internships. With over 50 companies attending Intern Employer Day each Spring and Fall, they may choose to work for a Fortune 500 company or small mom-and-pop print shop. Students may find themselves remaining in state or as far away as New York or California for a semester. Their daily duties may include anything from working as a customer service representative for a firm’s major client to prepress for lithography, flexography, or screen printing jobs to creating and maintaining social media marketing campaigns for their company. Many graduates of the program look back and point to the real-world experiences they had on their internships as some of the most valuable time spent while an undergraduate.

Jonathan Balcombe may have found the perfect fit when he took an internship at Creative Services at Clemson University, but what he ended up creating while working there came as a surprise to everyone involved. After completing his first assignment, Jonathan returned to his desk to await the next instructions. While waiting, he began to draw his favorite animal in Adobe Illustrator using the paint brush tool, a raccoon.

When his supervisor, Dave Dryden, came to his desk with his next instructions, he saw the raccoon and was intrigued. He asked Jonathan if he could draw a tiger, the universities mascot. Dryden remembers his reaction “what came next blew my mind… a series of beautiful, graphic tiger illustrations. From there we started experimenting with campus scenes. These illustrations are equally as beautiful. Jonathan has a unique point of view to his work that is unlike anything I have seen — simple and sophisticated — almost like folk art.”

Dryden wasn’t the only one to recognize Jonathan’s talent and unique style. Courtney Fink, a contributor for the Taps, the annual Clemson yearbook, saw Jonathan’s work and created a one page spread in the 2013 edition. Another opportunity arose when the First Lady, Mrs. Clements, came by Creative Services to order stationary and Jonathan’s work also caught her eye. She requested stationary featuring one of Jonathan’s tiger drawings.

That wasn’t the last time that Jonathan’s work would be featured on greeting cards. While taking an online class over the summer, he showed GC lecturer, Erica Walker his designs. She proposed that they co-create a set of greeting cards featuring varied Clemson locations and a bit of historical information about each. Some of the locations featured in the cards include the Cooper Library, Tillman Hall, and Memorial Plaza. The first set of cards has been produced and with the help of the Department of Graphic Communications, there will soon be sets of cards available at events such as the annual Godfrey Homecoming.

“Using Illustrator to give life to his unique style and vision, Jonathan is very prolific with his work, he is always creating new scenes around campus,” Walker says.

Dryden says he might have learned the most valuable lesson from this process regarding interns. “Jonathan reminded me of the importance of allowing student interns to explore and ‘play.’ Through that process they discover things about themselves that they may have really not been aware of. Things that take them to a place of exciting, new possibilities.”

So, no matter what company or city GC interns find themselves in, they will have the opportunity to both teach and learn about the Graphic Communications industry and like Jonathan, they will find a way to create and contribute.