Hello, my name is Pete Bella. I am a professor of graphic designer at Buffalo State College in New York, north of the Finger Lakes region. I have been teaching as an faculty member in the undergraduate graphic design program at Buffalo State College and RIT ...I’ve fallen in love with teaching. The energy I find in instructing young designers is unexplainable and I strive from it. Some of my other passions are typography, photography, cycling, fly fishing and fly tying, the outdoors and family. I am always looking forward to learning from new experiences as well as from others.

Excitement. Yes, I’ll say it again and again. I have enjoyed an enthusiastic and dynamic career as a graphic designer over the past decade. With my professional work primarily in academia I have had an opportunity to appreciate the higher education learning environment. This same opportunity gave me the incentive to continue my education and to pursue a masters degree. During my initial investigation of the degree path which suited my original goals started with recommendations into a Communications degree. While on that original path I encountered advising that purely had intent for retaining enrollment in that program and not aligning to my interests. After being encourage to continue (past the point of withdraw from the program) I realized that my education should be right for me, not right for the advisor. That experience—although damaging to my permanent transcripts and overall GPA—improved my beliefs that any students academic endeavors should first and foremost follow the students aspirations and passions. This was the turning point in my professional and personal goals. Soon, that understanding changed direction to a program which aligned better with my aspirations to give back to academia. Completing my Master of Science degree in Professional Studies has been an eye-opening experience. I soon began seeking opportunities to give back to students through adjunct instruction, class interaction and lectures, and as an advisor to student programs as an art director/mentor on various projects. Moving forward, completing an MFA program with Savannah College of Art and Design will allow me to pursue teaching in higher education in the graphic design field which will contribute to my efforts of assisting students in pursuit of their dreams.

When it comes to the relationship between form and content in current graphic design perspectives I feel strongly that we once lived in a world where graphic design was about the form of communication. Meaning, “what form did it take?”—as in form follows function. As that is still true I also feel that today it is much more. In current graphic design the designer needs to consider not only the form and the content but also the context in which we are designing. Factors such as socioeconomics, education, psychographics, etc. are just as meaningful—if not more—in design as typography, grid structure, imagery, color, and so on. Design can create a purposeful creation of value in a society.

Mies Van Der Rohe was known for the famous quote, “Less is more.” To quote Stefan Sagmeister, “Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.” It is my time to act. I realize that there is a limited time to share wisdom with others the further along the road of life we travel. Therefore, with less time each day, my goal is to give more to those with a need, the time to act is now.

Now is my time to give back. Imagine what we can dream…

I aspire to embrace a vibrant learning environment communicating to students. I believe in their abilities, their ambitions and their objectives while at the same time communicating my passion toward assisting in their learning and growth as designers. A central principle I hold closely is the ability to understand the variances between student’s aptitudes thus positioning instruction to ensure students gain the maximum information and experience from their studies. Permitting students this opportunity creates an energetic and genuine learning environment that spawns academic conviction. Along with this assurance, academia must permit students to make mistakes and support them in learning from mistakes. Assisting students to endure through their mistakes allows them—without fear—to make additional attempts. Imparting these teachings and skills will endure within students throughout their academics, into their professional careers and beyond.

The primary essence to my teaching philosophy is the need to be passionate and care profoundly about student success, and to embrace optimism toward students’ abilities with empathy and sensitivity to their varying needs and learning styles. I devote an abundance of time thinking about our learning methods, as I am captivated by the way individuals learn. As a lifelong learner who embodies a vast intellectual curiosity about our world and the field of graphic design, I feel confident as an efficacious instructor who shares the sense of awe alongside students. Through my own life journeys, as well as struggles, I’m presented the opportunity to share with students real-life experience to strengthen and connect their studies. Knowledge cannot be revealed to students; rather, the student must compose it. This is true because each student brings to their learning and to the classroom, diverse approaches toward organization, logic and thinking. Therefore, conveying material to students in a manner that expands these diverse intellectual abilities, and in a method demonstrating an importance in the lives of the student, is vital to their academic experience.

I couple a profound passion of graphic design with my philosophy to enable students to learn from an engaging curriculum that expands and strengthens their creative-thinking appetite. In the classroom I encourage an atmosphere of mutual expectations with obtainable yet challenging goals, realistic ideals and shared trust. I support discussion through nourishing debate and inquiry in the learning environment to stimulate critical thinking and analysis among students. Thought-provoking dialogue probes students to challenge emblematic approaches about thinking allowing them to cultivate new theories and differing opinions to foster new ways of viewing graphic design and our world. I believe this can be accomplished through dedication, passion, integrity, ethics and proper collective values. Incorporating these principles into my teaching philosophy is imperative to my responsibility as an educator, mentor and individual.