Who am I?
I’m Christian Troiano, a 20 year-old Graphic & Web Design student at John Abbott College from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. My goal is to utilize my Design skills and knowledge to pursue Marketing in University.
What do I do?
Life Outside of Graphic Design
I’ve been living in the West-Island of Montreal since I was 2 years old. I’m a big hockey fan, my favourite team being the Montreal Canadiens. I started skating at 5 years old and I’ve played organized hockey every year since then. I spend a lot of time on Fantasy Hockey leagues and watching hockey in general.
Music has always been important to me. For the past year, I’ve been learning music production in Apple Logic and recently I’ve been learning how to DJ with the support of my cousin who is an experienced DJ. Music producers like Tame Impala, Pharrell Williams, and Metro Boomin inspire me to utilize my creative talents.
Life Inside of Graphic Design
When entering a workflow for a new project, I proceed with a design debrief. What are the project’s mission, goals, and values? I build that knowledge off discovery and research. Based off the information found, I begin planning the design direction; project theme, typography, colour palette, mood board.
From there I move onto the sketching and prototype phase, I begin experimenting with different ideas and layouts. Once the client is pleased with the prototypes, I move onto creating digital drafts and ask for feedback in the process. From there, I polish and adjust the drafts into final products.
Why Graphic & Web Design?
I spent 3 semesters in Social Sciences at John Abbott. Despite failing Intro-to-Psychology on the first attempt, learning about the perception of colour was quite interesting to me. I passed the class the second time.
The Social Science program wasn’t a fit for me. I wanted strive towards a career where I can combine a creative mind with strategic thinking.
With a bit of research, I found Graphic & Web Design under John Abbott’s career programs, and decided this was the program I wanted to join.
My interests in graphic design started from a business project in secondary 5 (2023). I created a fictional brand and designed a trifold using Canva. In addition, I had to emphasize why my designs supported the brand’s identity and marketing.
When switching programs, graphic design felt like the right choice; “Where Creativity meets Strategy”
Now & After
Now
I am actively working through my third semester of the Graphic & Web Design program. I’m currently learning branding, photography, web publishing, page layout in book design, and logo development.
I enjoy graphic designing because it combines creativity with problem-solving. I like taking an idea and figuring out how typography, imagery, colour, and layout can work together to create a form of communication.
After
I’m looking to continue building my graphic design skills and finishing the program. In the third year, Graphic & Web Design offers a Stage/Internship. If all goes well during the stage, I’d like to return either as soon as possible or after my studies in university.
Follow my Graphic Design work on Instagram