Written by Weston Sanders, Class of 2020
Mr. Daryl Stevens is one of Graphic Communications’s newest lecturers, and after working alongside him this semester I’m excited to see how he can contribute to our program. With ten years of experience in higher education and over 25 years of industry experience, he brings a lot of valuable knowledge of working in the realm of Graphic Communications.
Mr. Stevens started off as an artist with an eye for design; he enjoyed painting, drawing, drafting, and just working with his hands. This included using the paste-up method where he would make vector logos on old stat cameras, however, he also enjoyed working on desktop publishing and digital illustration.
After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University, he started his own design business in Nashville where he worked with different publishing companies and record labels to work on album and CD covers. This included everything from working on the actual artwork to the complete design of the packaged album. One example of his work is John Kay and Steppenwolf’s Feed the Fire Album cover. In addition to running his own design studio he also often worked for local ad agencies. Eventually, he made his way to New York City to pursue opportunities in a newer, bigger market. He described the move as a great learning curve and got his start by going through the phone book and calling every ad agency listed there. This would eventually bring him into contacts where he worked with companies including Sports Illustrated, Sesame Street, Yahoo Life, MLB, and Knoll. At this point, the United States was going through a dot-com bubble, and Stevens dove into this new digital shift designing websites, animations, and digital publications.
With the rise of digital media, Stevens became even more focused on designing and creating websites and auxiliary design work. His expertise led him to work on front-end interactive website graphics and animations, working with companies like Sony PlayStation for the product launch of Ape Escape 3. He explained how he was turning client’s goals into real visuals that could be used in practical ways.
Around this time, he also began teaching at local colleges like Belmont back in Tennessee. He got an MFA in visual arts with an emphasis in graphic design. Here he was able to study with industry professionals and had backdoor access into master designers and animators studios where he learned about their processes, techniques, and strategies.
Stevens told me that what drew him in coming to Clemson was the way that GC incorporates technical experience and knowledge for design for businesses. The well-rounded faculty with background expertise in a variety of areas was also something unique to our program here at Clemson.
When I asked him about advice or wisdom he had learned through the years he mentioned how important real-world experience and knowledge is. Get experience by making valuable lasting, connections—go and meet the ‘higher-ups’ and show them what you can do. As a designer, he spoke about how it’s important to use your creative skills to help people and make them look as good as they are.
Next semester Mr. Stevens will be teaching Introduction to Web Design and Development (GC 2400) as well as helping out with the Erwin Center classes, I highly recommend taking a course with him as he has a wealth of knowledge!
