It’s that time of year when art schools and colleges start holding portfolio reviews and design competitions and whatnot, and we’ve got a busy schedule of judging and reviewing ahead of us. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again (right now, in fact): we feel it’s important for established designers to give something back to the next generation. Thus we always block out big chunks of time in March, April and May to take part in these events.

And even though we’re barely into March we’re already booked up! Earlier in the week Ian stopped by his old alma mater, American University, to chat with some students and to judge the AU Design Expo. He popped in on his old professor Ross Nover’s class (aka Rosscott, who is “kinda famous on the internet“), and spent an hour or so answering students’ questions. They had some great ones about how to get freelance work, how to make one’s portfolio stand out, and how to go about applying for a job. We’ve actually answered these same questions before on our blog and we even put together a little one page PDF on how to create a kick-ass portfolio. It’s worth a download, especially if you’re a student in the process of looking to land that first gig.

After chatting with Ross’s class, Ian spent the next several hours judging the Design Expo along with two other local designers: Soung Wiser of The General Design Company and Carni Klirs of Freerange. There was a wide range of projects and some really great work, so it was hard to choose a favorite!

Below: Carni and Soung judging while Ian stops to take a picture. Bad Ian, get back to work!

This weekend Tomas and Bryan will be at the AIGA DC student portfolio review at the Corcoran. Unfortunately it looks like registration for the event is closed, but if you’re in the area or if you’re already registered make sure to stop by and say hello.