Digital Arts

Name: May C.L. Truong
Major: Digital Art and Multimedia Design
Graduation Year: Class of 2010
Occupation: Director of Online Learning and Instruction Design at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine

May C.L. Truong graduated in May 2010, and is the director of Online Learning and Instruction Design at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine. In addition to her Digital Arts and Multimedia Design major, she minored in Information Technology. In her work, she combines visual multimedia design with learning theory and design. Her role is to build a bridge between students and professors in an online space. This can include designing new academic programs, employing effective navigation, and creating a user interface that is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. Her work became especially important during the COVID lockdown. Through researching and employing effective instructional design in an online space, she helped students better engage with the content given by the professors. She also helped professors by teaching them how to make and edit videos for class.

As an alum, Truong believes that La Salle helped her become an independent thinker and problem solver. “La Salle University is an institution that pursues lifelong learning,” said Truong. She emphasizes taking the tools and lessons given in class and building upon it outside of class. Currently, Truong is also currently an adjunct at La Salle, teaching a section of Intro to Visual Design. She imparts the same lesson of self-teaching to her students, preparing them for real work after college. “There are times where you will not know how to do something, but you can work through the challenge by taking it upon yourself to research and learn something new in the absence of a teacher or class.”

Outside of her professional work, Truong engages in many activities related to the Digital Arts. She owns an Etsy shop called JawnsByMay, creating stickers, prints, illustrations, and custom designs. She also enjoys photography and shoots professionally for close friends and family. She has volunteered as a graphic designer for many different organizations. Notably, she has volunteered in the Asian American Heritage Month Festival, held annually in May located in Franklin Square Park. She designed flyers and other advertisements for the festival.

She offers this advice to DART students:

• Firstly, networking is very important. It is scary, but necessary. You need to put yourself out there, but the process is easier now in the modern age with many social media applications available. Put your work up, communicate with others in your field, and take notice of any constructive feedback you receive.
• Secondly, after graduation, students should not feel pressured to find work through the traditional route. Focus on building your portfolio and remember to be open to opportunities. There will be favorable and unfavorable opportunities, but even in an unfavorable opportunity, there will always be something to learn or takeaway from the experience.
• Lastly, you will likely experience impostor syndrome. Truong spoke about her own experiences of dealing with impostor syndrome. There are times where you will feel your peers are succeeding and you are stagnant because you’re not following the same route as other people. You could also feel like you don’t belong in a job that you landed. Truong overcame these feelings by reflecting on how she got the job, validating herself and practicing to not look to harshly on herself. Essentially, what she teaches is the importance of giving yourself more credit. Having a good support system is also helpful when combating impostor syndrome. Talking to a friend who works in the same field as you and validating each other is very beneficial.
• To summarize, be unafraid to put yourself out there when networking, be open to opportunities, and remember to practice a balance of humility and pride in your work and yourself.

Name: Cory Anotado
Major: Digital Art and Multimedia Design
Graduation Year: Class of 2009
Occupation: Creative director of Dreamscape Marketing

Cory Anotado is a La Sallian graduate of 2009. He is the creative director of Dreamscape Marketing in Columbia, Maryland. He is experienced in graphic design, web design, and game design. He is also an enthusiast of all thing games and has the work catalog to prove it. Cory is the founder of PacDude Games and runs the Buzzer Blog, a premiere game show news website. He has a passion for game shows and board games, which is not your typical definition of a gamer nowadays. He loves to create anything that is fun.

PacDudes Games was created in 2000, publishing online Flash games. Since then, the business expanded to creating interactive softwares, websites, logo designs, and board games. It takes on commissions and personal projects. One of the recent projects that Cory developed is Pundle, an online flash game that is reminiscent of Wordle and Wheel of Fortune. Pundle is a puzzle game you can play daily that provides a riddle to players that can be solved by entering letters that the player guesses are part of the answer. Each answer is a pun creating a charming and enjoyable experience.

When asked about how La Salle helped him grow, Cory advocated the benefits of being in a small department. La Salle fostered a supportive learning environment that helped him to explore different disciplines related to Digital Arts. For his independent study, Cory wanted to do a workshop where he taught people how to animate in flash. This independent study was possible because the La Salle DART program allowed him to explore the things he wanted to do.

After graduation, Cory focused on maintaining a good portfolio of work which took a couple of years. He applied to agencies that needed his particular skillset. The mission was to find the right workplace that would challenge and help him grow, but still be manageable. He advised not to treat job interviews as an audition for yourself. It should be a conversation, and a fact-finding mission about the company on your end as well. Ask questions that will determine if this workplace is best for you. Research on Glassdoor or Indeed. Don’t sell yourself short.

Cory also gave some advice for people already in the field. Dealing with burnout is a typical problem that people will face later on in their career. This could be by working too much, not having enough time for yourself, or balancing tight deadlines. When work starts getting dreadful outside of office hours, that’s a problem. Cory recommends taking time aside from work when you can. Take a mental health day for yourself to recharge and focus on the people you love, or even your pets. Working in a production environment involves learning new skills and techniques and sacrificing a lot of things like your technical prowess, polish, and creative vision to get the necessary work done. In short, all this can take a toll on one’s mental health. You won’t be able to produce work that will meet your clients’ expectations if you are burnt out. There will be work you’re not going to be proud of, and that’s okay. While the client’s opinions take priority, at the end of the day, learning to separate yourself from your production work will be helpful in dealing with burnout.

Cory Anotado’s journey is inspiring because it shows that you don’t have to sacrifice what you are passionate about versus what will make you money. He teaches how to take care of your mental health while working in Digital Arts. Lastly, as long as you remember to have fun in what you do and stick with it, eventually people will notice and support you.

Name: Jason Roeckle
Major: Digital Art and Multimedia Design
Graduation Year: Class of 2007
Occupation: Manager of UX engineering at The Walt Disney Company

Jason Roeckle is a 2007 alumnus from La Salle’s Digital Arts program. He is currently a manager of UX engineering at The Walt Disney Company.

Jason says that La Salle University’s Digital Arts and Multimedia Design program provided him with an amazing set of foundational skills involving creative problem solving and expression that he uses every day. While at La Salle, Jason feels that he learned life-long lessons and values. One of the most important values that he learned and that he continues to carry with him throughout his life is to “keep learning.” He says that being inquisitive and having an eagerness to explore will get you far in life. Jason believes that continuous learning is not only recommended but required in order to grow, especially in regard to a career in Digital Arts and technology. “Specifically, when it comes to software, never invest your career entirely into one language or framework. The more diverse your knowledge base is the more valuable you are.” Students should strive to learn new things and expand their knowledge because it can only benefit them. You can learn things everyday from the people around you and share them throughout your life. This perspective led Jason to create and enhance problem solving and other skills while at La Salle. These are skills he continues to improve upon and use even after graduating from La Salle. Another La Sallian value Jason carries with him is to help others. “I strongly believe we should all do what we can, when we can, to help the impoverished and marginalized.”

Currently, Jason works at The Walt Disney Company, a job he received when a recruiter from The Walt Disney Company reached out to him. In his position, Jason creates prototype applications for smartphones, websites, and television devices. These prototypes test out new ideas, designs, and features. “Most of our current projects are top secret, but you can see some of our work from the past in the DisneyNOW, ABC, ESPN, and National Geographic.” In his job with the Walt Disney Company, Jason embodies La Salle’s value of being inquisitive and eager to explore. He is always ready to learn new things and seek new information. He also encourages current students to explore new horizons and expand their knowledge. Regarding his own work, Jason says: “Our own organization recently released a new design for the National Geographic app. Download it, and check it out!”

Jason also provided some great advice to current students. When it comes to networking, Jason says that he tries to connect with as many talented people as possible. “I found this approach works well for discovering new opportunities.” When asked about what advice he has for students who are unsure of what they want to do in the future, Jason acknowledges that it is okay not to know. He says that most students are not sure what they want to do in the future and that it takes time to figure it out. “There’s no shame in that. Keep trying things, explore outside your comfort zone, and you’ll be surprised what you learn.” Overall, Jason advises students to keep learning. Whether students know what they want to do or are still trying to figure it out, he believes that students can grow and improve themselves with what they learn. Choosing to keep exploring shows a true strive for progress.

Name: Leo Manning
Major: Digital Art and Multimedia Design, Psychology
Graduation Year: Class of 2018 (May 2018)
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa.
Sports/Clubs/Organizations: Epsilon Sigma Alpha, Late Night La Salle, Collegian, Campus Activities Center, Honors Program

What helped you decide on majoring in DArt?
I originally came in as a Psychology major, but during my first semester, I began to miss all of the graphic design work I did in my high school photography class. Then I declared DArt as my second major. After taking a bunch of the Digital Art courses, I realized that I was more interested in working as a graphic designer than as a therapist.

What is your favorite digital design medium/technique?
I’m a huge fan of using Adobe Illustrator with my Wacom tablet for most of my design work.

What was your experience in La Salle’s DArt Program like?
Instead of focusing on just graphic design, animation, or web coding, I learned a lot in each area, making me feel like a jack-of-all-trades. However, even though the program covers a wide range, I still feel as though I’ve learned a lot from each area and could work in multiple fields.

Who are some people who you look up to and help keep you inspired?
A lot of my inspiration actually comes from other students in my major and seeing all of the work that they do. Seeing everyone else’s projects and hearing their thoughts helps me strive to work harder and get better.

What was your favorite class in or out of the program?
My top two classes were HON 374: Global London and CSD 340: Web Scripting. Global London was a travel study to London where we learned the history and the literature of the city and then traveled there to explore the city itself. Web Scripting was a coding class that was different because aside from creating useful code, it also allowed me to use the code to create something more artistic.

Who has been the most influential member of the La Salle community on your life?
I believe that the most influential member of the La Salle community on my life would be Mina Koller, the assistant director for campus activities. From my time working in the Campus Activities Center and for Late Night La Salle, I have developed so much as a designer, an artist, and a leader. Her constructive criticism on my flyer designs pushed me to create more original designs and try harder on any designs I create.

If you could have dinner with any three people at La Salle, who would they be?
Mina Koller (Assistant Director for Campus Activities), Professor Sandy Camomile (Digital Art and Multimedia Design), and Dr. David Falcone (Psychology).

How did La Salle help you prepare you for the future beyond college?
Primarily, La Salle helped me develop my design skills. The classes that I took provided me with opportunities to practice a variety of skills and to experiment with different ideas. In addition, my time working on-campus gave me invaluable experience working with clients in a real-world setting.

What is your advice to any high school students thinking about entering the DArt program at La Salle?
When entering the DArt program at La Salle, the main things that you need are passion and patience. The passion is what drives you to try your hardest on every project, while the patience helps you achieve what seems unachievable.