Katie Stains

Katie Stains always knew she wanted to study graphic design. When the time came to choose her major, she was drawn to the hands-on nature of the graphic information technology program offered by the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. 

“I didn’t have to sit through years of theory or history before learning my own style,” Stains says.

She was surprised to learn how all of the media formats she learned about in her major are interconnected. While Stains considers herself a traditional graphic designer, she gained a well-rounded skill set that includes basic knowledge of photography, videography, animation and user experience.

During her time in the Fulton Schools, she was a member of the GIT Creative Agency, a fully functional design agency run by students in ASU’s GIT 494 Creative Agency and Creative Agency II and GIT 598 Creative Agency classes. 

As part of her GIT Creative Agency work, Stains was both a designer and creative director for a hackathon event project that involved sponsorship from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and STEAM Labs™ She also worked as a graphic design intern for The Polytechnic School, part of the Fulton Schools, and helped create an awareness campaign involving Principled Innovation®.

Both of these projects led Stains to see the impact of her work in real-life situations.

“I felt like these were the moments where I became a real designer,” she says.

In looking at her journey, she credits Kassidy Breaux, an assistant teaching professor in the Fulton Schools and the faculty member who oversees the GIT Creative Agency, for encouraging her to step outside her comfort zone and become a project manager for the agency’s hackathon work.

“Professor Breaux provided a safe space for me to experiment with my personal leadership style and take chances I wouldn’t have otherwise attempted,” Stains says.

After graduation, Stains aims to work full time as a graphic designer, with a long-term goal of becoming a project manager or creative director. Ideally, she says she would use her passion for graphic design to work for companies that make innovations in environmentalism or social justice.

Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ fall 2024 class here.