GRAPHIC DESIGNER
CONNECTION POINTE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, BROWNSBURG IN
Audrey Musal is a graphic designer based in the Indianapolis area, working at Connection Pointe Christian Church. Connection Pointe reaches approximately 6,000 people — connecting people to Jesus and each other globally and within their community. While she is in the early years of her professional career, she remains rooted in the values she learned throughout her high school and college years: integrity, compassion, and excellence.
How and why did you become involved in socially responsible communications, any thoughts on why design can be an especially effective tool for this goal?
Audrey grew up in faith-filled communities where people were respected and honored as human beings, no matter their background. Audrey found her love for the graphic arts in high school. Her parents taught her what it meant to put others before herself and to serve people in her community. She participated in ministry outreach programs, like the Saint Joseph of Arimathea Society and the A Christian Through Service Program. Finally, she decided she wanted to pursue ministry using her gifts in arts and design.
While in college at Ball State University, she was a part of Studio 165+, a student-led, community-building design team that gave students real-world experience working with nonprofit and for-profit organizations. She was also the graphic design intern at another nonprofit organization, LifeStream Services, Inc. There, Audrey was able to design essential information for the elderly population and their caregivers throughout Indiana.
At her graduation, she and three other students were awarded the Community Arts Award by Ball State University for volunteering time to design a vinyl installation for Northside Middle School in Muncie, Indiana. Audrey’s experiences throughout high school and college have significantly impacted her beliefs about design and maintaining a socially responsible outlook toward it.
The arts and design are complete and absolute methods capable of conveying information to the public. Imagery is understood regardless of language, and therefore can express a multitude of ideas. Design is a vital instrument for representation in today’s world as it exists everywhere. Designers commit and live for the message they portray, following their personal convictions. Their understanding of media and design can be used to reach the unreachable and can let any two different people find a commonality. Amplifying a viewer’s sense of their convictions through design allows for healthy conversations, changing perceptions, and the chance for ideas to become unforgettable.
Given the confluence of events and challenges our society now faces, does this moment in time present any special opportunities, urgencies, or obstacles to designing for good?
Today’s designers have a responsibility to create for truth and the benefit of society, especially with humanity facing a worldwide pandemic, fears of an economic recession, and an influx of losses. This can bridge the gap of polarity and divisiveness that is so common today. Humankind is hurting, overwhelmed, and distracted. Regardless, a designer’s job remains the same — it does not change the validity or urgency of ethical and upstanding design. Graphic design connects people, and graphic design is a ministry.
