J.P Arios (11) is the first student agenda cover designer.

Near the end of last school year, April Nakamura, student activities coordinator, realized we hadn’t gotten our agenda cover design yet.

Tyler Guieb, one of the officers from last year, referred her to Arios, who enjoys doing graphics. Arios met with Nakamura and agreed to help make the design.

In all the past years in McKinley, no student created the design. The agenda designs were made by outside people from a company.

As Arios went through the process of designing the cover, he went through many cover drafts. Arios did five drafts until it was approved. He had to change fonts and the size and input the requirements. The requirements given by Nakamura were to have a tiger, the Hawaiian islands, and the year. The format of the design was up to him.

Arios did not give up after so many trials though. His determination pulled him through. As difficult it may sound, planning out the desired design wasn’t such a hard obstacle to get around.

“It (the process of creating the design) was a little frustrating at first,” said Arios. “But I was really happy and challenged. Just keep working at what you love most. It may take a while, but the result will be good.”

“I think the agenda is pretty nice. It’s different and really artisitic,” said Shayna Fujimoto (10).

Arios learned everything by himself and it took some time to get used to all the technical uses (how different tools and functions work), but he got the hang of it by just reading and following instructions online. His graphic skills developed in 6th grade. He started to get into graphics by seeing how his friends and other people used Photoshop to edit pictures.

From there, he was inspired to do graphic designing. Nakamura said that participation in school activities like this can benefit you.

“All students have many different talents and abilities, but are not inclined to show others. In participating in such activities, students gain more pride in their school, and overall just have fun. Not only does it give you the advantage of being proud of your school and yourself, but it also gives you the opportunity of a good life in the future.”

Take Arios as an example.

“He could pursue a great career in the graphics field. Interests in subjects like art, music, or academics grow from that point and lead you towards many experiences out of high school,” said Nakamura.

“It also prepares you for the future.”