BHSU graduate lands graphic design job at iconic Black Hills venue

Shandell Clutter, graphic design communications major from Sturgis, will graduate from BHSU with a full-time job in her field of choice. She'll work as the in-house graphic designer at the Buffalo Chip, an iconic Black Hills event venue.

Shandell Clutter will put her new degree from Black Hills State University to good use this month as the full-time, in-house graphic designer at the Buffalo Chip.

Shandell graduates from BHSU this weekend and says one of her favorite professors, Gina Gibson, helped her prepare for her new job.    

"Gina Gibson was my first design professor. She's wacky and fun and kept pushing me to do better design work," says Shandell. "I enjoy the challenge of coming up with new and better ideas for what I'm creating."

For Shandell, it was a love of fine arts that inspired her to pursue a graphic design degree. The Sturgis native says she honed her computer design knowledge at BHSU, both inside and outside of the classroom.

The first week of Shandell's freshman year at BHSU she joined the University Programming Team. She helped design posters for campus events and was on the executive board. Shandell also worked in the BHSU Marketing & Communications Department and became a student technology fellow. Most recently, she's served as a marketing intern in the BHSU Student Engagement and Leadership Center.

"I run the social media pages for the center, design newsletters, and help students find clubs or organizations they might be interested in," says Shandell.

Shandell says she's ready to take all she's learned at BHSU in her new graphic design job. If you see any graphics, advertisements, web graphics or print media of the Buffalo Chip going forward, you'll see a showcase of Shandell's knowledge and talents.

Looking back on her college days at BHSU, Shandell says her favorite memory was winning the Excellence in Leadership Award at the Student Volunteer Awards Ceremony recently.

"I don't think I'd be the leader I am today without my campus leadership experiences," said Shandell. "I learned a lot through leadership and I'll take those skills with me the rest of my life."