Cara Jo Knapp
Cara is a photography alumnus from Traverse City, Michigan. She is now the owner of Knapp Design Co.
Brief description of what you do:
I am the owner of Knapp Design Co., a luxury wedding invitation design studio. We specialize in custom venue illustration (either drawn or painted), custom calligraphy, and design of wedding suite elements. We manage the stationery needs for weddings from Save the Dates to Thank you cards and everything in between. We also specialize in day-of wedding installations for escort card displays and tablescapes.
What at NMU helped you most in your current role?
SO. MUCH.
For starters - color theory, how to use adobe products (illustrator, photoshop), how to cut a straight line and not mess it up, how to handle paper, typesetting, how to properly light a photograph without a flash, COMPOSITION, how to draw, how to paint, and so many things.
Basically - how to be the best artist I can be by mastering the technical skills I need to allow myself to be creative.
What advice would you give current students?
Take a math class. Honestly - it grinds my gears that the art degree program (at least when I was there), didn't require math. I use so much math now it's insane. I never took a math class in college, and I would say that's the biggest thing that I wish I would have taken.
Also - put the phone down and have fun. Have fun for yourself and not for social media. Enjoy things with your eyes and not through your camera. Sit and watch the sunset, and don't take any photos. Call your mom at least once a week. Go home on the weekends every once and a while. Have meaningful relationships with those around you. I'm still friends with most of the people I was friends with in college. After you graduate, keep in touch with them. Some of my college friends have died, and I miss them. I'm not THAT old either.