Students, alums and the public met in the gallery room on the second floor of the Design Innovation Hub Friday evening to celebrate IdeaBase.

The event, which spanned two hours, showcased the work of the past and current students working for IdeaBase to highlight the 10 year anniversary of the firm.

Planning for the event began last semester when student workers for IdeaBase envisioned what should be done for the anniversary.

IdeaBase is a creative agency that is part of the university’s College of Communication and Information on the third floor of Franklin Hall, said Kristin Dowling, director of IdeaBase.

“So today, we decided, let’s do a sort of celebration of the work that the students have been doing over the years,” Dowling said. “It is all about the students, and the work that the students have been doing.”

IdeaBase hires students from all disciplines across the university where they do work for the university, along with clients outside of the university, Dowling said. 

The group has worked with several brands outside of the university, including the Hudson Historical Society, Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society, Sherwin-Williams, NEOMED and other local companies, said Liam Arch, a senior visual communication design major and a student designer at IdeaBase. 

They offer a variety of services for clients to choose from to assist in brand development.

“We offer services like logo design, web design and development, and research. We do photography and videography,” Dowling said. “Anything you could imagine at a creative agency.” 

The goal of IdeaBase is for students to get real world work experience, while being in college, Dowling said.

“That’s really what we’re trying to do here,” Dowling said. “It’s really about that educational experience and tying in what students are learning in the classroom with getting hands-on experience.” 

Everything IdeaBase was built on and adapted to was celebrated at the event. It was an opportunity for the students, both past and present, to showcase the work they created with IdeaBase, Dowling said.

The work students, both past and present, completed with their time at IdeaBase was showcased throughout the gallery that included graphic designs on the walls, website layouts on computers and videography work on the TV monitors. 

“You can see several pieces of client video work from over the last 10 years, some of our website work that we’ve done, some of our print pieces, and of course, student workers,” Dowling said.

The goal of the event was to hopefully get more recognition for IdeaBase, Dowling said.

“I think it’s important because it shows who this company is. What we’ve worked on for a very long time. What many of the people worked on before I got here,” Arch said. “It’s a way to show everybody here at Kent State but also people who might be coming in, what we’re all about.”

Overall, the event connected past students with current ones, as well as offering an opportunity for the public to learn more about IdeaBase, Dowling said. 

“I’m just looking forward to seeing everybody who comes in and showing them all the amazing work that we do here,” Arch said.

The gallery display will be up in the DI Hub until next Thursday. For students looking to get involved, visit IdeaBase’s website.

Olivia Montgomery is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].