People lost motivation and became monotoned on zoom? Low self esteem? Students had trouble using programs to adapt online classes? Did we have to change what we’re used to before? You can get a degree online and is it valid in today’s society? How useful is design actually in life? The pandemic was a nightmare to most people, but to RJ Thompson, it wasn’t actually so bad. He’s been successful throughout that time. He was also super into art and design when he was just 11 years old.

In this podcast, he tells us how he turned his passion into his job, how he survived the pandemic, and tips on how to help students adapt to being online.

RJ Thompson, MFA is an award-winning marketing and graphic design professional. Currently, RJ is the Director of Digital Marketing in the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburgh.

Outside of marketing, design, and teaching, RJ is also the Co-Principal and Creative Strategist for +Public, a Pennsylvania-based social enterprise that focuses on cultivating community and economic development impact through the creation of branded communication platforms, creative place-making, and storytelling initiatives for communities-in-revival.

In this episode we talk about comic books, digital literacy inside and outside the educational space.