The Modern Celebrates 2025 Design Day

The Modern College of Design hosted its fourth annual Design Day at its Kettering campus, giving students the chance to learn directly from creative professionals and practice real-world networking skills.

This year’s event featured a new rotating format with three interactive sessions designed to help students build professional confidence, strengthen communication skills, and explore different career paths in the creative industry.

Students participated in a panel discussion where professionals shared stories from their careers and answered questions about their work. The conversation covered topics such as finding inspiration, navigating creative challenges, and preparing for professional opportunities after graduation.

Another session focused on networking and gave students the chance to meet employers, alumni, and creative organizations from around the region. The event transformed The Modern’s atrium into a networking space where students practiced introductions, asked questions, and made connections.

A new addition to this year’s schedule, Lunch with Professionals, brought students and guests together for a casual, conversational lunch. This session gave students the chance to practice professional dining etiquette and continue meaningful conversations with the designers and business leaders they met earlier in the day.

Professionals from a wide range of fields participated in Design Day 2025, sharing their experiences across all three sessions:

• Jamie Vandeberg, Creative Director, Exhibit Concepts
• Lindsey Conner, Design Coordinator, Exhibit Concepts
• Alexia Woodward, Digital Designer, Real Art
• Bryce Herbst, Senior Graphic Designer, Critical Mass
• Jason Moore, Owner, Midnight Oil
• Haley Gammie, Videographer
• Drake Hipple, Product Designer, Winsupply
• Krista Gansert, Design Group Leader of UX/UI for Software and Services, Crown Equipment
• Mary Anne Kirk, VP of Native App UX, Synchrony, Inc.
• Matt Vojacek, Founder and Creative Director, Made by Things
• Casey Telger, New Business Director, Creative Fuse
• Rob Rohr, President and Publisher, Cox First Media
• Will Foster, CEO, Quantum Foam
• Justin Barraclough, Design and Technology Director, Stephens Direct

Organizations represented at the networking session included:

• American Advertising Federation
• Columbus Society of Communicating Arts (CSCA)
• Rosewood Arts Center
• Promotional Spring
• Portfolio Creative
• We Care Arts
• United Wheels
• YMCA

In celebration of this year’s event, The Modern hosted a Design Day 2025 logo contest for current students. After collecting submissions, faculty and staff selected the winning design created by Parv Nema, which was featured on stickers distributed to all attendees as a creative keepsake from the day.

Design Day continues to help students grow their communication skills, build confidence, and form lasting professional connections. The Modern thanks all of the designers, organizations, and community partners who made this event possible.