AIGA Cleveland hosted its 32nd Student Portfolio Review on Friday, April 22. Nearly 150 students and professionals participated in the all-day conference at Cleveland State’s Wolstein Center, featuring a keynote by Jason Schwartz.

Students from seven schools across the region participated in the Review + Conference including The University of Akron, Kent State University, Cleveland State University, Lakeland Community College, The University of Dayton, and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. The conference featured breakout presentations by Eric Toivonen of Genie Repros, Kevin Koetz and Beth Reardon of Mohawk and Alex and Katey Catanese of Each + Every, the sponsor of lunch for the event.

Jason Schwartz delivered an engaging keynote that chronicled his path from childhood Garbage Pail Kid collector and horror movie enthusiast to his current work as founder of Bright Bright Great, Avondale Type Co., and Mlmtr. As a Creative Director who receives dozens of resumes daily, Schwartz is has a clear understanding for how designers on the job hunt can differentiate themselves. He shared his observations for portfolio development and self-presentation and built his presentation around questions submitted by students attending the conference.

The Review + Conference concluded with an lively panel discussion with Jason Schwartz, Chris Haas of Flourish, Kelsey McCoy of The Creative Group, and Jim Masie of AmTrust North America.

AIGA Cleveland would like to extend a special thank you to the professionals who donated their time to review student portfolios. This event would not work without you and we appreciate your investment in our area students. We enjoyed serving this broad group of students and professionals and look forward to another successful event next year!