GDC Club Steps Out of Routine

La La La! - Absolute Studios has a sound studio on location and Caelyn Mason jumped behind the mic for a test run. The ambient lighting set the mood for her to sing a tune.

On March 27, at around eight in the morning, eight members of the Bismarck State College Graphic Design Club departed from Bismarck and started their journey to Fargo, N. D. The purpose of the one day excursion was to visit two commercial printing companies: Absolute Studios and Knight Printing. This allowed students to get a behind the scenes look of the graphic design industry and learn more about the processes that drives the growing academic discipline. 

Upon arrival in Fargo, the club's first stop was Absolute Studios. Absolute Studios is a full service creative marketing agency that specializes in web design and video production. The club members shadowed the professional graphic designers and got to witness the inner workings of the graphic design studio business model. They also were in the unique position to see how an offset press operates, which is a type of printing machine that transfers an original ink image from a metal plate to a rubber cylinder, which then “offsets” the image onto any piece of paper lucky enough to pass through. Noah Schettler is the president of the graphic design club and was able to go on the trip.

“We got to see how the presses ran and we learned how projects come together,” Schettler said. “They also had a music production studio which I thought was really interesting.” 

After their tour of Absolute Studios the club ate lunch at Old Broadway before the next stop, Knight Printing.

Knight Printing was founded on the first of January 1888. The business has over 130 years of experience and a rich history in the city Fargo, but that hasn’t stopped them from adapting to the modern era. Besides multiple offset presses, Knight Printing employs the usage of a digital press. Digital presses are much more expensive than its less advanced counterpart, the offset press, but they can be used for not just paper, but fabric, cardstock, and other materials.

At around six p.m., after the final tour and after the club members finished bowling at Kingpinz, they made their way home. Overall the trip was a great success. As the school year dwindles to a close it leaves the end of year party as the last big event for the BSC Graphic Design Club to look forward to.