As Saint Stephen’s evolves into a modern, world-class school, the artistic and “design” demands of the community continues to grow. Technology is taking over, and the need for clever designs, logos, websites, posters, merchandise, and more out in the community has never been greater.    

Enter: the Creative Solutions class at SSES. If you have a design problem that needs solved, the Saint Stephen’s Creative Solutions elective could be your go-to for artistic and design needs you might have. The class, founded last year by Ms. Molly Grady, is designed for students with various backgrounds in the arts to come together and create projects that fit the evolving demands of our school’s community. 

Most Creative Solutions students have experience in either film, graphic design, illustration, and/or photography. The way the course works is that “clients” (people in need of creative work) from within the Falcon community—whether that be a teacher, student, or community member—approach the class with job proposals, and if a student’s skills match with the job, then they proceed to meet with the client and begin developing the project. 

If it’s a go, the student will meet with the customer as needed to create the final product. 

The course offers students work-like experience to see what it’s like to work with a buyer—setting deadlines, holding themselves accountable, and scheduling meetings. 

Here is a basic outline of the steps a C.S. student goes through during a project: 

1. Schedule meeting with customer—this is done to hear the client’s vision for the project in order to represent them best
2. Create first draft 
3. Discuss with client the layout and adjustments needed to be made 
4. Edit details 
5. Upload product to Google Drive to get it approved
6. Export project to client 

The 2019-2020 school year is the second year of the Creative Solutions course at Saint Stephen’s. Student Julian Sedillo, a returning member, said, “I really love this class because we try to help out the community in any way we can.”  

The services of the class are available for a variety of creative needs: a poster, video, song, t-shirt, logo; anything goes.

Projects ranging in scope and size are created regularly. Some of the most successful accomplishments of the Creative Solutions course include SSES alumna Cameron LeMay’s project, where she designed the Gauntlet’s logo; the design of the front cover of Saint Stephen’s magazine The View, a popular magazine said to be “the first multilingual literary magazine of its kind in the nation.”

Have a creative job to propose? Client applications are in Ms. Grady’s room in the Russell Building of the upper school.