By: Lisa Ackerman
TARA
GONZALES
Fashion
Forward, Career Day 2013 Logo Designer
Tara
Gonzales lives in Rockford, IL and commutes 4 hours a day to attend the
International Academy of Design & Technology in Chicago, Illinois. She
credits her “incredibly gifted artistic Mother”, for early influence, exposure
and support of her creativity. She designed
outfits for her Barbie Doll when she was six years old and purchased her first
Fashion magazine at age 12. Her
life-long obsession and passion for the industry has continued to grow. Her commitment to it is clearly evident by
her daily commute.
In
addition to attending IADT, Tara has over eight years of retail experience in
the areas of sales, operations, brand building, merchandising, and management. She is currently employed at Macy’s where she
is part of the Retail Support Team. Tara
feels her previous professional experience, along with her education from IADT
Chicago, has allowed her to excel in her current position at Macy’s. After
graduation she hopes to continue working for Macys and enter into a merchandise
planning position.
Tara
created the “Fashion Forward, Career Day” logo as part of an assignment in her
Fashion Publicity & Promotion class. Lisa Ackerman, Adjunct Professor for the class
and FGI, Chicago Regional Director challenged the students to develop “an
evolutionary and modern logo” that would epitomize the positioning of this annual
career enrichment event for Fashion, Design and Merchandising students in the
digital world we live in. We think she
did an excellent job! Tara will
graduate this November with a Bachelor of Arts in Merchandise Management. You
can view her portfolio at tara-gonzales.com.
About Fashion Forward Career Day:
Fashion Group International of Chicago has hosted one of the longest-running and largest fashion career events of its kind in the U.S. For over 35 years, fashion design and merchandising students and faculty from top colleges in the Midwest region attend annually.
Fashion Forward Career Day (FFCD) is a one-day educational
immersion experience dedicated to students interested in pursuing careers in
the areas of fashion and merchandising. Providing
an in-depth and realistic look at professional opportunities in these fields,
FFCD offers an impressive group of industry experts to deliver informative
seminars about their particular areas of practice. At the end of the day students are given the
opportunity to network with these seasoned professionals, attend a job fair
with over 15 hiring companies represented and learn about career opportunities
in their respective areas of interest.
