On Saturday, April 5, 2014, the eleventh annual Thinking Creatively Conference met its bittersweet conclusion. This final segment of the design majors' week-long congregation revolved around the theme of animation. To start the day off, all students gathered in the University Center (UC

The first speakers were a married couple from Los Angeles, California who both work in the field of animation. Colin Elliot, who worked on animation for films such as Happy Feet and Night at the Museum, spoke first. He discussed with the students about working in the visual effects department, and how his specific job compared to the other departments involved in making an animated film. His wife, Erin Elliot spoke next. Mrs. Elliot has worked on several Disney films including How to Train Your Dragon and the recent hit, Frozen. Mrs. Elliot works specifically on animating crowds in films, and she explained the intense details that are put into the animation of crowds. In one of her projects, she had to animate a crowd of 36,000 people. Overall, the couple's casual feel and charmingly quirky aura left the audience intrigued by their knowledge and laughing all the way through.

After a short break for lunch, everybody returned to the Little Theater and prepared for the next and final speaker of the day, Marcello LaFerlaLaFerlaBravo! Network and will soon be announced as the Creative Director. He visited New York City at the age of thirty on a work visa, but had to go back to Italy once his visa expired. He did this several times, working jobs that treated him horribly, until he finally received his green card and moved to the United States permanently. This was the turnaround point for LaFerlaBravo! and one year later, he was named Art Director. "If you focus on the details, you will lose focus of the goal," were the wise words that LaFerla

To end this remarkable experience on a high note, students viewed the International Shorts Program 2014. This was a 40-minute compilation of advertisements, PSAs, and short films from the past year. During the entirety of this presentation, students' eyes were glued to the screen. Afterward, they socialized about the films they saw and the whole conference in general. Kyle Godfrey, a graphic design student said, "Every year, you get sidetracked with the way you're thinking. [The Thinking Creatively Conference] gets me re-energized and excited about what the professionals in the field are doing and what I could be doing in a couple of years."  This reaction was the consensus from all students who attended, and next year's is expected to be just as successful.

For more information about the Robert Busch School of Design, please visit (www.kean.edu/KU/Robert-Busch-School-of-Design).