Megan Smith ’15

Behind the Scenes with Megan Smith ’15

Story by Susan Macaitis Rosenlof ’82 | Photo by Gabe Luedke

 

A graphic designer at Hudl by day, by night Megan Smith ‘15 uses her talents to support the Marian brand. Over the past three years, she has designed Marian Magazines, curriculum guides, and support materials for both recruitment and student services. The way this magazine looks is Megan’s work.

Always interested in art, Megan knew she would one day be a Marian girl after attending Marian art camps. “I knew by going to Marian I could really get good at art,” recalls Megan.

As a Marian student, she took four years of art classes where she learned all the design principles and techniques that she still uses today.

Another influential experience was her participation in journalism. She served as managing editor of The Network her senior year, and it was here that she had her “career click moment.”

Journalism “was the perfect mix of the right side of my brain with writing and telling stories and trying to piece out really complex info… mixed with the visuals and making things look nice. It felt like a good mix – and I realized I wanted to do graphic design.”

After graduating in 2015, Megan studied graphic design at the University of Minnesota where she earned a BFA. An internship led to her first full-time design position with the sports influencer start-up Opendorse. She also worked in graphic design at Metropolitan Community College before landing at Hudl as a brand designer in January 2021.

Hudl, based in Lincoln, captures athletic game film and then analyzes and tracks everything that’s captured to provide insights to improve team performance. As a brand designer at Hudl, Megan works on digital and print projects alongside a team of over 75 marketers, writers, brand strategists and other creatives. Roles like hers focus on upholding and developing the Hudl visual brand, while also creating unique brands for campaigns and events.

Megan finds herself drawn to sports and education and it has become her design niche. “I really like the sports design; I kind of like chaos. I like throwing a lot of things there and messing with it. You can get really textured with it and really vibrant,” said Megan.

Although the sports industry is predominantly male, Megan’s team in marketing is mostly female and she values the collaborative, supportive environment that is so similar to what she experienced at Marian. “I’m so glad I went to Marian and was taught that you open up more seats at the table, you don’t vie for the one chair,” said Megan.

She also credits Marian with giving her the skills and the confidence to problem solve. “I know how to do that work…and confidence is probably the most important bit. I just appreciate that so much. I really would not have been the same person had I not gone to Marian and had such good friends and so many classmates who were supportive.”

Now from behind the scenes as she lays out spreads about current Marian girls, she reflects on her own Marian years. She enjoys giving back to Marian and getting to see the student experience today through the magazine and the curriculum guide.

To see Megan’s design work visit meganalysedesigns.com. When she’s not moonlighting for Marian, Megan enjoys running, browsing maker’s markets, reading and visiting Minnesota.