Tara Gonzales, Fashion Forward Career Day Logo Designer

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.