DISCOVER: Graphic Communication Association (GCA)

Meg Elwood

Don’t let the name make you turn the page. While it sounds official and for majors only, the laid back, yet professional student club allows all majors from newbies to upperclassmen. Graphic Communication is all about the mechanical process of printing. They begin at the blank screen in the design phase and go all the way to printing a completely finished product to call their own. While small, this allows the club to get creative without any due dates, textbooks and class times, and expands the classroom to out of state field trips.

“We actually revamped GCA this semester,” said GCA president Timothy Davis. “The club is more focused on the upperclassmen helping the new people that come in, and all of the people who aren’t familiar with GCM, we teach them about printing and everything through field trips.”

During meetings, the association spends their time organizing trips and creating t-shirts, labels, fundraisers. The club plans one major field trip a semester, usually out of state, but also smaller trips such as those to Atlanta.

What kinds of trips are they, exactly?

Last year the association traveled to Graphics of America, a printing convention in Miami, FL.

“Graphics of America is mostly for people who are trying to buy the huge presses, so it’s a good way to introduce yourself to these people who are selling them, who could potentially be contacts in the future after you graduate,” said GCA vice president Alexis Barber. “It’s a good way to get your name out there and there’s always a lot of free stuff.”

Speaking of free stuff, stop by room 2003 in the Art Building for free True Blue stickers made by the GCA students and see what you could be making.

Barber describes the club as a great way to see what the GCM major is all about and to even get a bit of experience for those who are simply interested in the subject. “I think it’s a good path to get in there,” said Barber.

Interested?

The joining process is as simple as showing up. Contact Tim Davis at td02668@georgiasouthern.edu for meeting locations and times. Another perk of being a small group means that when it comes to meetings and getting creative, the club is extremely flexible with meeting times.

“People don’t have to be a GCM major in order to enjoy doing this, it’s pretty awesome regardless,” said Barber. “Printing is related to everything, every industry has printing.”