Made by Harvest

I’ve talked a lot about my trip to Greenville, SC at the beginning of the semester and how much that trip has influenced me as a person and a designer. During that trip, we were hosted by Cody and Sarah Bridenbaugh, owners of Made by Harvest. The two graduated from IWU and moved to Greenville where they started their own agency.

I found a lot of inspiration in their story. It’s easy to say your design hero is someone famous doing huge projects and everyone knows them. I find inspiration in the small artists.

During the trip, Cody and Sarah talked about how hard their journey had been to this point in their life. There was a lot of uncertainty and hardship. Cody, especially, struggled to separate himself from his work. They encouraged our group and gave us a lot of practical advise for the first few years after college.

Meeting them and getting to interact with them was eye-opening. Hearing their story made me anxious and calm all at the same time. I related to Cody’s story and knew that mine could be very similar to his following my graduation. I found encouragement from him though. He talked a lot about the things he should have done differently so that his story hadn’t turned out that way.

Beyond hearing their story, we got to see a lot of their work up close. They took us to a school they had rebranded and it looked incredible. I loved actually being in the environment and getting to see the changes they had made. Furthermore, their process is something I am trying to follow. They focus on identity in their process and that is what I want to center my design around. I loved getting the opportunity to meet them and learn about what is possible for me once I graduate. I think it’s important to meet people like that because, realistically, I’m not going to become a famous designer, but I can make an impact on the place I live and the people I interact with, both with design and outside of it.