Alex Gamble hasn’t always loved art. In fact, during high school, he took a graphic design class and hated it.
Ironically, Gamble said he now studies the very subject he professed to once loathe, and loves it.
Gamble, a University of Idaho senior, said he originally came to UI for the architecture program, but ultimately decided his time would be better spent studying graphic design. Gamble said he switched his major this year.
Gamble said graphic design is similar to architecture because it involves using creativity for a practical purpose. He said it is important to adhere to design principals. Fine art, he said, is different.
“An artist shouldn’t have to feel compelled to make their art purposeful, it should be for you, for the sake of their expressing it,” Gamble said.
During his time studying architecture, Gamble said he was already taking courses in graphic design. One of these provided the opportunity to work on projects for real-world clients to put into practical use.
“I felt like we were really being treated like professionals,” Gamble said.
He said he and others were also provided with networking opportunities, which have led to many connections.
“I did a private project for a guy who started a bicycle apparel company in Boise,” he said.
Gamble, who is a member of the fraternity , Phi Delta Theta, said his design skills have also been an asset to his house. He said although art culture and Greek life are essentially different, he believes his experiences in his fraternity have helped him grow immensely.
“Being an art student makes you extremely valuable to a fraternity, I’ve done dozens of our posters, for different events, Greek and university wide,” he said.
Gamble said he wants to continue creating graphic designs professionally, but not for a career. He enjoys a variety of activities, including cycling, camping and playing guitar. After graduation, he said he wants to write a book, release an album, become a luthier and go wherever life takes him.
“I have no intention of maintaining one career for the rest of my life, that sounds absurd,” Gamble said.
He said he would enjoy owning a company that manufactures custom guitar equipment. Passionate about guitars, he also said a career as a luthier is at the top of his list of jobs.
Gamble said he has been playing the guitar since the age of 12, and found making music to be very therapeutic. He said one aspect that drew him to art was the presence of the same positive feeling he had when creating music. He said he did not have the same feeling about architecture.
“Music and art alike, you can kind of just start moving, and if you like what’s happening then you keep doing it, and if you don’t, you just change directions, and that sort of freedom is something that just really clicks well with me,” he said.
Gamble said he thinks art became such a large part of his life because of the encouragement from others to do what he loves.
“When I was like four years old, I got in trouble all the time for drawing on our walls and I mean, my mom could have told me to stop doing that and get mad and everything, she just put up paper,” he said.
He said those with artistic interest should be encouraged and supported in a non-destructive way. Gamble said if people are shown their way of life is accepted, they will have infinite possibilities.
Nina Rydalch can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NinaRobin7