Paul Shank likes to stay on his toes, creatively speaking. As the Creative Services Manager for the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National 校园, he’s constantly designing fresh visual elements that match the fast-paced movements of tennis. 他的 数字艺术 & 设计学士学位 from 满帆 gave him the art foundations he needed to play ball in the sports design world.

Paul has had a penchant for art since childhood, when he spent much of his free time drawing. As an adult, he joined the Navy and worked in aviation, but designing was his collateral duty. He put his artistic spin on everything from flyers to t-shirts to command coins; he even designed murals for aircraft carriers. He hopped around to a few different colleges before landing in the 电脑动画程序 at 满帆, but he switched to 数字艺术 & 设计 to gain a broader design background.

Paul became the Creative Services Manager for USTA in 2019. He’s responsible for the digital and print assets for the 美国大学国家校区 in the Lake Nona district of Orlando. The campus is a playground for tennis enthusiasts: Everyone from casual players to nationally recognized athletes can pick up a racket on one of the 100 courts on campus.

“Primarily, I push all the art for the campus. 所以这可能是一个信号, 数字资产, 打印活动, everything from magazines to billboards will go through me and my team,保罗说. “We have different programs like Tennis On 校园 and officiating, 所以无论哪里需要我, 我只是想插手帮忙. 当然，还有美国网球公开赛. 这是个大问题. So visual assets, social media graphics, and whatnot.”

The design skills that Paul learned at 满帆 come in handy when he’s making those assets for USTA.

“Something that was always pushed was working non-destructively,” he recalls. “Your project is going to go through revisions. 如果你破坏性地工作, and you get a photo or an asset and you erase part of that, 它永远消失了. I had plenty of classes in 满帆 where they teach you that you need to mask and utilize tools where you're not destroying your asset, but you can go in and make quick changes. 我每天都用这个.”

It’s tough for Paul to pick a favorite project out of all the work he’s done for USTA, but he’s very proud of his recent contributions. He created a 1980s-themed throwback campaign for the USTA League’s 2021 National Championships, and he’s preparing to make the social media graphics for the 2021 US Open. Working on a wide range of designs makes Paul’s job particularly satisfying.

“这个组织是流动的. We’ll have different campaigns; it's not stagnant. So that's probably my favorite part. We just brought pickleball and padel to Lake Nona, so we had to create all the assets for that. It's ever-changing, it's always improving, and it's not boring,” he says.

Maintaining an up-to-date skill set helps Paul roll with the punches on whatever campaigns come his way. That commitment can help aspiring designers find their way, too.

“保持学习. It's art, it's a fluid field, so just keep designing. I went back to 满帆 a few years ago to audit classes. And of course I’m the oldest student, but it was another program with another tool that I wanted to put into my basket. 你必须不断发展.”