BFA, Graphic Design

Class of 2011

from: Minneapolis, Minnesota

"What makes me really happy is successfully communicating a complex idea through simple, beautiful graphics." 

Another MICA alumnus has made a career out of his love for beer. After Colin McSteen '11 (graphic design) had left MICA, he went back to his hometown of Minneapolis where he was hanging out with a friend who brews beer. The two discussed starting a brewery but decided it would be more cost-effective to sell beer gifts-such as T-shirts, soap, bottle cap earrings, and other knick-knacks-designed to help people express their love for the beverage.

"Instead of brewing the beer, we're brewing the swag," McSteen explained. He designs all of the T-shirts and is responsible for the company's branding-tasks that his design experience and four years of MICA classes have helped him excel in. "People respond a lot better to an artistic design than something generic that you would normally associate with beer-related products," he said.