Hi! My name is Dhrithi Vishwa, and I am a senior Design student at the Freestyle Academy. At Freestyle, I’ve taken classes in Design, Digital Media, and English. Outside of Freestyle, I am the design lead for the Mountain View SLAM Magazine, a violist in the MVHS orchestra, and the social media manager for my Girl Scout troop. I truly value community service and justice, so working on SLAM and being a Girl Scout has enabled me to focus on these areas.

For my showcase, I decided to highlight my senior Zenith project. I chose this project because it was a self-directed graphic design project where I created my own product and packaging from scratch. I deepened my understanding of various areas through my work on Zenith, including digital design and branding. I have not created something like my Zenith before, so I did a lot of things for the first time (like packaging design!) and developed many new skills.

In the Fall, I will be attending the University of Southern California. I plan to double major in Media Arts and Cognitive Science, and am currently considering a career in User Experience Design. I would like to couple my knowledge in design and media with cognitive science to study human-computer interactions. I’m excited to take this next step in Los Angeles, where I can learn from the creative and tech industry spaces that will surround me.

Showcase Video

My Zenith was a passion project from start to finish. I am very interested in fragrance, so creating my own for this project was a joy. I did not create a packaging template or design before working on this project, so it was a new experience for me. I learned how to create a custom template in Adobe Illustrator for printing and cutting, and how to create an effective design. I think that the knowledge I gained from creating my own marketable product will be beneficial in the future.

Showcase Reel

My reel highlights several design projects I’ve worked on during my time at Freestyle. It includes packaging design, publication design, and more.

Personal Reflection

Freestyle has helped me grow a lot as a digital artist/designer! As someone who was almost going to be a pure STEM major, I didn’t really consider design to be part of my career until midway into high school. I was mostly self-taught creating projects for fun and for extracurriculars. Taking a design class at Freestyle helped me develop the foundation in design that I lacked, and I noticed a significant improvement in my projects. I also appreciate how taking classes at Freestyle helped me realize that I don’t want to pursue just art or just STEM, but both, and I think I have a lot more clarity in my future goals because of this program. I am so grateful that I got to be part of Freestyle, and I am excited for what’s to come!