The StudioCCHS Graphic DesignNow taking work

Need something
designed?

The Studio is a design agency that runs inside a classroom at Culver City High School. Our designers are students. Our clients are teachers, coaches, club advisors, front office staff, and people around Culver City who need real work made.

No charge, ever
What we make

Most of it, honestly

If it gets printed, posted, projected, or worn, somebody in this room can build it. Some examples of what has actually come through the door:

Print

Posters and flyers

Show posters, tryout flyers, club recruitment, event signage, banners, sandwich boards, anything that goes on a wall or a pole.

Print

Programs and handouts

Concert and play programs, awards night booklets, one-sheets, parent-facing handouts that do not look like they were made in Word.

Digital

Social graphics

Instagram posts and stories, gym screen slides, email headers, sized correctly for each place instead of one image squashed into all of them.

Identity

Logos and brand systems

A mark for a club or a program, plus the colors, type, and rules that keep it looking like itself when other people use it.

Illustration

Illustration and sequential art

Spot illustration, comics, storyboards for a video project, icon sets, custom art for something that has no photo.

Other

Ask anyway

T-shirt art, a form that has confused people since 2011, a slide template your whole department can use. If you are not sure, ask. The worst outcome is a no.

The deal

What it costs and what it takes

The work is free. It is coursework, and having a real client with a real deadline is exactly what makes it coursework. What it actually costs you is a little time and a little patience.

We need

Lead time. Real lead time.

Four weeks minimum, and six is better. These are students learning the software while they build your thing. Something due Friday is not a project, it is an emergency, and we will decline it kindly.

We need

Twenty minutes, face to face

The designer assigned to you will ask to meet in person or on a call to fill out a work order. This is not optional and it is the single biggest predictor of whether you get what you wanted. Email alone produces the wrong thing, politely.

We need

One decision-maker

Tell us who has final say. If the design has to please a committee, tell us that up front so we can plan for it instead of discovering it in round four.

We need

Your words, written down

Dates, times, names spelled correctly, the actual text you want on it. Late copy is the number one reason design work misses a deadline, in this room and in every real studio.

You get

Two rounds of revisions

Standard practice, same as any agency. More than that is possible if the scope genuinely changed, but "actually, can we see it in green" three times is how a project dies.

You get

Final files you can actually use

Print-ready PDFs at the right size with bleed, and web files at the right dimensions, delivered with a short note explaining which is which.

How it goes

Start to finish

Week 0
You submit the request form below. I read it and post it to the job board in the Tech Center.
Week 1
A pair of designers claims it, then contacts you to schedule the work order meeting. If nobody claims it, I assign it.
Week 1–2
Twenty minute intake meeting. You bring examples of what you like, any existing materials, and your final text. They leave with a signed work order.
Week 2–3
First round of concepts comes to you. You give notes. Be specific and be honest, they can take it.
Week 3–4
Revisions, then final files delivered with a handoff note. If it is going to a printer, they will tell you what to send.
Before you ask

A few honest limits

Start here

Submit a request

Takes about five minutes, right here on this page. The more specific you are about the deadline and what the thing actually has to say, the faster a designer picks it up.

Not sure whether your idea fits? Email me and ask: kiandarien@ccusd.org. I would rather talk you through a maybe than have you not ask.

Who you are

For example: "Band Director, Music Department" or "Owner, cafe on Sepulveda"

Room number, office, or phone

The project
What do you need made? *

What is it for, who sees it, and what should they do after they see it? Two or three sentences.

Dates, times, names, prices, QR codes, sponsor logos. If the final text is not ready, say when it will be. Late text is the number one reason design work misses deadlines.

Timing

The date you need them in hand, not the event date. Four weeks minimum.

What already exists

Last year's poster, another school's program, something you saw somewhere. "Like the last one but better" is only useful if we can see the last one. Paste links, or bring it to the meeting.

Approvals and logistics

If it is you, write your name. If it goes past a principal, a committee, or the district, say so now so we can plan for it.

Required. This is how the work order gets filled out.

The Studio delivers files. Printing stays on your side.

Constraints, sensitivities, a hard no on a certain color, the fact that this is for something serious.

Please confirm *