April 10, 2024
Barbara Obermeier
Submitted by Allen Zimmerman '20
Of all the classes I took during my time at Cal Lutheran, the one I felt had the most significant impact on me was Typography with Barbara Obermeier. I learned more from Barb in this one class than I have from any other teacher or professor I’ve ever had, past or present. In addition to building up my skills in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, she introduced me to Adobe InDesign, which has since become an invaluable tool for me in some of the work I do. Barb reminded me of the importance of variety and not settling on just one or two ideas for a project. You can never have too many options for any project you do, no matter how big or small it might be. The class critiques I had with her also helped reinforce this idea, as well. She also strongly encouraged self-expression and having your own distinct identity as a graphic designer; having the freedom to take any project in any creative direction I wanted to and not having to fear or worry about how it might be received is something that every up and coming art or design student should be able to experience. Through her critiques and advice, she tried to help each of her students produce the very best work that they could. She certainly helped me produce better quality work. One of my favorite memories of taking this class was when, after having the class replicate multiple letters and numbers for about five or six different typefaces by hand, Barb gave me two brush pens to keep for “having the nicest penmanship out of everyone in the entire class,” which I consider extremely high praise from her. While I’m still trying to figure out exactly where I want to traject my career as a graphic designer, taking this class reignited my passion for writing, and helped get me interested in book design and printmaking, which I can definitely see myself doing individually or simultaneously in the future. I’m currently in the process of having a poetry book I wrote printed, and this wouldn’t have been possible without all that I learned from Barb in Typography. If I could recommend any class to take at Cal Lutheran with any professor there, it would undoubtedly be Typography with Barb.