LEFT: MIAD students developed designs for Fort Atkinson-based bottle and can printing company ink360. ABOVE: Casey Hoaglund created the illustrations for Milwaukee artist Trapper Schoepp’s recent music video.
or developing a virtual reality product. “One thing that distinguishes us from other innovation centers is that, if someone came to us and wanted an architectural layout and product development and a logo and brand development and a video, our answer is, ‘yes,’ Morin said. “Because we pull from all our academic programs. We have interior architecture majors, product design majors, fine arts majors, communications and illustration majors. Anything from the front door of the business on – whether layout, design, signage, identity, product – they can come to one place.” Casey Hoaglund, a MIAD se-
nior studying illustration, has taken on some significant professional projects as a student. Through the Innovation Center, Hoaglund became connected with the Milwaukee Ballet, for which she designed a large 50th anniversary poster that will hang in the entryway of the company’s new Third Ward rehearsal facility when it opens in the fall. Hoaglund’s poster embeds augmented reality technology that animates the image when a viewer’s phone hovers over it. After working on projects for several professional clients throughout her time at MIAD, Hoaglund said learning to express her
ideas and talk about her artwork with real-life clients has been one of the most valuable lessons. “My classes teach you how to present your ideas, but it’s to your peers and teachers,” she said. “We get to do that in a professional setting. And it’s not just a trial run; we’re actually working.” As a freshman, Connor Sannito, a 19-year-old budding industrial designer, developed an original toy design that won a creative challenge competition that was open to all MIAD students. Maxwell saw the potential in Sannito’s idea and encouraged him to take it to market. Sannito, who spends many of
his non-class hours in the Innovation Center, happened to be working on his project when Morin was leading a group of representatives from a major Wisconsin sports team on a tour of MIAD. Morin regularly hosts C-suite tours in an effort to “chip away at the hidden gem” quality of the school and interface with the community, Morin said. On this particular day, the chance encounter led to a big opportunity for Maxwell. “Once they saw what he was working on, they said they wanted first dibs,” Morin said. Since then, Sannito has been working with Maxwell on developing about eight products to pitch the client, the name of which they did not disclose. The potential for taking his products to market looks “really promising” at this point, Sannito said. Meanwhile, he said, having an audience with a major client has forced him to elevate his presentation skills. “The first few pitches I did there was a lot of stuttering, a lot of shaky hands, it was a mess,” Sannito said. “As you can tell, that wouldn’t translate well to a real pitch to a company. The more I’ve worked on that with (Maxwell) and other faculty, it’s helped sharpen my skills and made me better at presenting my ideas, because that’s half the battle.” “What they get from the Innovation Center is confidence,” Morin said. n
Imagine everything that comes next.
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