When it comes to design, criticism is the most important thing that someone can give you. It gives you perspective on what you can improve on. I have always loved picking things apart and learning what makes them work and design is no different. 

This personal quality is what allowed me to fly through the ranks in my high school yearbook program, where I went from being a staffer in my sophomore year to a design editor and eventually creative director in my junior and senior years, respectively. Through the program, I discovered that my strengths did not lie in writing or photography but in design.  

Having a space where I could almost exclusively focus on the development of my design skills was great, but delving into the world of photography and writing would prove to be useful. Specifically in aspects of my creative process and non-creative life. 

The transition to college was almost damaging for my creative development because I would go from spending half of my school week doing nothing but graphic design to having a singular design-based project in a rhetoric class. 

Design had been a part of my life for four years straight, from falling into my lap to being one of the few things that drove me, it was never not there. So, after three semesters at UTEP with no creative outlets besides some intro-level art courses, my (self-proclaimed) skills as a graphic designer had gone practically untouched. 

Being a part of The Prospector was always something I wanted to do since I first decided I even wanted to come to UTEP. After multiple unsuccessful attempts, I continued to apply in hopes that the layout position would eventually become available. 

As The Prospector’s new layout editor, I plan to create designs that push the limits of what one might consider a traditional newspaper. I want to allow The Prospector to retain its identity while also bringing my own flare to the entirety of the publication. 

But enough about me, I do not want my time at The Prospector to just be about me. I want to execute both my and other people’s visions; I want to take their constructive criticisms and apply them. Because I am a perfectionist who is never satisfied with what I create, I constantly need to evolve and improve my work. 

This semester, I am making it my mission to always outdo the previous issue visually. I am throwing my ego back so that we can produce a newspaper that is both informative and visually appealing, as the two are not mutually exclusive. 

I am excited to see what the semester brings and from this moment forward, I am making the promise that I will never, absolutely never, use Canva. The Prospector offers me more than they could ever know, and being a part of a new community here on campus while exercising my creative eye is all I could ask for. 

Gael Araiza is the layout editor and may be reached at [email protected]