By Meghan Smith
Have you ever wanted a business card to help with your professionalism? Perhaps you need help designing a new logo for your company? McPherson College has a student run marketing and design business, located on McPherson College’s campus, Etch. Etch was started seven years ago and is still in business today with designs seen throughout McPherson and beyond.
According to co-faculty advisor for Etch, Dee Erway-Sherwood, “The concept for Etch was developed for students that are in certain disciplines of majors that have a creative focus to apply real world experience to what they are also learning academically in the classroom.” While this is true, Etch has also had a variety of students from several majors. All majors are welcome to apply and gain the experience what Etch offers. If you are a student that is interested in being a part of Etch, you can apply to be interviewed in the spring. Currently, there are nine students on the Etch staff.
Along with being a part of Etch, there is an annual trip they take every fall. Last year, Etch went to Oklahoma City to visit agencies and companies to look at their creative teams and their marketing divisions. This year the trip will be going to Dallas, Texas.
Recently, Etch had the opportunity to redesign branding components for The Spectator and Podrangle. When discussing this, Erway-Sherwood said that Etch was excited to work on this project “because it was campus related and the Etch staff are always interested in working on many types of projects of both the campus and public community.” She also made sure to mention that Etch is not only for clubs and organizations on campus, but it is also available for students to use if they need personal branding and public relations work created. There are student packages that are more affordable, along with club packages that can be found on the Etch website, studioetch.org. Etch cares about the community and has a mission to give students real world experience before they graduate. For more information, contact the operating director of Etch, visit the Etch physical location in Melhorn Suite 123 on the McPherson College campus or email Etch at [email protected].
