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10 Years of Being Powered by Kent State Students

IdeaBase, the College of Communication and Information's student design agency, celebrates its 10-year anniversary

Based on ideas, design and experiential learning, IdeaBase is celebrating 10 years of being powered by 5XÉçÇø students.

IdeaBase is a student design agency, part of the College of Communication and Information, that provides hands-on learning opportunities for students and co-curricular partnerships with faculty in the Schools of Media and Journalism and Emerging Media and Technology.

IdeaBase current student and alumni wall

"Our students are getting great experience working with clients, working with each other on interdisciplinary teams — students with different majors — working with real timelines and real deadlines," said Kristin Dowling, director of IdeaBase.

JR Cambell Talks to Guests at IdeaBase Celebration about the DI Node

The agency is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with a showcase of student work from over the years in the gallery on the second floor of the DI Hub through Oct. 26. A kickoff party was held Friday, Oct. 20, with current IdeaBase students and several alumni with some light refreshments and plenty of memories, laughter and graditude.

IdeaBase Director Kristin Dowling with alum

"It’s been amazing to work with the students in the classroom setting now," Dowling said. "We have community partners who allow our students to experiment over a full semester, and it can be very rewarding to see our partners benefit from the creativity of our students and our students benefit in multiple ways from the project. From the professional development to the networking, it’s really a win-win."

Ideabase Alum signs wall

Using its "Discover, Design and Refine" process, IdeaBase focuses on providing real experiences for students using real organizations from campus and within the community. Sometimes it's a job. Sometimes it's for class. Powered by students and  led by Dowling, the agency provides advertising, branding, copywriting, identity design, marketing research, Web design, usability studies, environmental design services and more.

Computers showing IdeaBase projects and websites over the years

Client partners have included Ametek, Kent State, Summa Health System, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Sherwin-Williams, State Library of Ohio and more.

Photos by Ryan Moore

POSTED: Monday, October 23, 2023 02:59 PM
Updated: Monday, October 23, 2023 04:59 PM
WRITTEN BY:
Luke Armour, Flash Communications