Glowing Confidence

September 3, 2018

One Student’s disbelief in their abilities is transformed into bolstered confidence.

By Eminah Quintyne

Marin Coleman is a graphic design student who says her recent experience at 3 Day Startup (3DS) has validated her success.

“I didn’t really think I was good a graphic designer,” she said.“I didn’t think that I was skilled, so I wouldn’t listen to myself when designing. I just did what people wanted me to. It didn’t get me great grades or reviews from teachers, and that only confirmed my view of myself. I would constantly compare my designs to others in my class and get really discouraged.”

Marin transferred to Georgia Southern after spending her freshman year at Georgia State University. Her parents wanted her to go to the University of Georgia and major in business or something along the lines of culinary school. Growing up in a small town, Marin wanted to get away from home and live in the city. Navigating campus life academically, emotionally and socially in Atlanta proved to be challenging for her, and after learning Georgia Southern had a good graphic design program, she made the choice to change schools. Marin’s parents are supportive of her decision. Her mother is an English teacher, and her father is an entrepreneur. Both parents encouraged academic excellence. Despite being in gifted classes, in high school, Marin always compared herself academically to her friends. She would never speak in class because she did not want to make a comment perceived as stupid.

“I don’t think I recognized that I was creative. I just knew that I was different. I was in love with yearbook. That was my favorite class. I think organizing things as a kid kind of translated into my love for graphic design because it is very structured. There are rules to design, and even when you break them it is freeing and fun. I really enjoy everything about design from typography to branding, and I love how with one major, you can do so many different things.”

Marin’s skill sets became a hot commodity during the spring 2018 3DS competition because student teams needed her competencies to develop a logo for their business. 3DS is a collegiate entrepreneurship education program model used internationally that teaches students in an extreme learning-by-doing environment. At Georgia Southern, 3DS is implemented similar to a Shark Tank-style business idea competition. Initially, Marin felt she kind of wanted to ditch the crowds or avoid talking to clusters of people, but her skills ensured she wouldn’t be left alone.

“After submitting the final copy of my first logo design for Dis Boards, everyone at 3DS loved it and people starting coming up to me to tell me how amazing I was and that they wanted me to design their logo,” she said. “With every logo I designed, I became more and more confident”.

The thought process behind Marin’s graphic designs is based on a few factors. She begins with questions to connect to the style preference, intent, and purpose of the design, then listens and observes the temperament, personality and energy of her subjects until she is able to personify them in color. Color is her language of depicting who you are.

“A company’s logo encompasses the feel, beliefs and personality of that company, and for me design is all about feeling and personality. I like that to show through my designs. If a company is family-friendly, and family is the biggest part of their business, I want you to be able to feel that just by looking at their logo.”

Currently, Marin is the new President of Square One, formerly known as the 3DS GS campus student organization. She and a team of five officers recently changed the name to reflect its mission.  

“Because everyone’s abilities, ideas and creativity have to start somewhere, I think it would be really cool if they started from Square One. I think you really find who you are in college and I want Square One to help students find who they are by bringing out the best of their abilities. I really want to help other students with their confidence and creativity, and make them feel like they belong to an organization that brings out the best in them.”