Charting Your Path

Visiting Niblack artist and industrial designer Julia Sutula shares her circuitous artistic journey and encourages students to chart a path that aligns with their passions.

One of the themes that emerges more and more with each visiting Niblack artist is that the path between their high school careers and a Niblack presentation is rarely a straight shot. Rather, the artists often speak metaphorically about journeys that include meandering down winding, bumpy roads; taking turns onto side roads for the roadside attractions or a rest stop; and even getting temporarily lost or waylaid before moving once again in the direction of their dreams. Sometimes their dreams are clear from the outset; sometimes the dreams reveal themselves along the way; sometimes they morph into new dreams as a result of one of those detours.

Julia’s path to becoming an industrial designer was similarly twisty. “In high school, I was interested in math and science – and art, actually. I was curious about how things worked. I was especially fascinated with the form and function of the organs of the human body: how the heart was shaped in the precise way to serve its function in the most effective and efficient way.” Her path, she thought, would lead her to medical school after college and as she started her coursework, all was proceeding as planned. She took and enjoyed her science-focused classes, and took art classes as an escape. Eventually, she had enough studio art classes to supplement her major in biology with a minor in art.
Meanwhile, after a basketball injury sidelined her, Julia began sprint kayaking and although new to the sport, improved quickly. Soon, she was paddling for the US National Sprint Kayaking team. While the training schedule prolonged her undergraduate education, it also proved to be an important stop on her path. While staying at a fellow kayaker’s home during training, Julia became curious about one of his homework assignments that had him redesigning the pizza box to keep the pizza hot, use less cardboard, and stand up to the gooey pizza mess. She loved the combination of art and science, the creative problem solving, of this odd assignment. It marked another detour on Julia’s path, as she turned away from medical school and toward design school after graduation.

As she started down this new path, Julia took note of the constant tug-of-war between the three tenets of industrial design – it works, it’s usable, it’s pretty – that designers must balance in product design. In the “sweet spot” where all three overlap, is the theoretically perfect product – the example Julia gave is the iPhone.

After a particularly influential professor introduced her to the book, “The Design of Everyday Things” by Donald A. Norman, Julia found the “sweet spot” for her career. She decided to veer just a bit on her path to focus on the “it’s usable” tenet of user-centered design, and become a designer that takes into account the user experience for the products she designs. This is where she has developed her expertise in the marketplace, and where she spends her time now. As she gained skill and insight in questioning users about their experiences, she had moved more into innovating new products to fill unmet, or even unknown, consumer needs.

All along the way, Julia has been open to new possibilities, “You can’t know what life has in store for you. Life develops. You need to identify what your interests, skills, and talents are and let those lead you without blinders. Take advantage of every opportunity that aligns with your passions, and you will end up where you are meant to be.”

During her time on campus, Julia also worked with students in Maria Eagen’s Engineering class and made herself available at lunch to speak with anyone interested in industrial design as a career.

The Helen Cudahy Niblack ’42 Arts Lecture Series, established by Austi Brown ‘73 in memory of her mother, has brought a variety of literary, performing, and fine artists to Foxcroft to share their work, stories, and perspective on the nature of the creative process with both students and the larger community. Since it began in 2007, hopefully the series has inspired a few Foxcroft girls to strike out on an artistic journey of their own.
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An all-girls boarding and day school in Northern Virginia, Foxcroft prepares young women in grades 9-12 for success in college and in life. Our outstanding academic program offers challenging courses, including Advanced Placement classes and an innovative STEM program. Our premiere equestrian program is nationally recognized, and our athletic teams have won conference and state championships. Experience the best in girls' boarding schools: visit Foxcroft.