![Juniors Jessica Choi and Gia Phatarphekar and senior Caren Hsin step into graphic design by experimenting with creative freedom. “I just think you have to try [graphic design] to see what it’s like,” Phatarphekar said. “A lot of my friends, last year, they took the class and they ended up really liking it. [It] can be really free and creative.”](https://portolapilot.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Graphic-Design-Collage-1200x675.png)
From club flyers to marketing internships, student graphic designers are turning creativity into craft at Portola High.
Portola High currently offers the Computer Graphics ROP class, running from beginner to advanced levels. For junior Gia Phatarphekar, the advanced ROP course provided a platform to build on her early experiences with design and deepen technical skills. She now creates designs for the South Asian Student Association club, along with graphics and logos for Portola Elementary’s PTA.
“I did [graphic design] before in middle school, and then in eighth grade and ninth grade, I was in yearbook,” Phatarphekar said. “In ROP, I wanted to learn more about the designing side, not so much writing and photography. I also wanted to learn more about Adobe products, because I obviously didn’t know everything, and those are the technical skills that are good for designing.”
Junior Jessica Choi, a current member of the advanced computer graphic design class, is now learning to apply the fundamentals of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to create personal projects, including a vintage-inspired “The Summer I Turned Pretty” poster for her class project. The class has enabled her to think more creatively and try to incorporate new graphic design elements that she sees in other pieces in her own work, according to Choi.
“If I want to try a new style that is from other places that I didn’t learn yet, I actually have to figure out how to try and make it,” Choi said. “So I had to search YouTube and other stuff. Making designs online is the most challenging part.”
On the other hand, senior Caren Hsin uses her graphic design skills for the Portola Business team as the Head of Design at Portola Printing, creating designs for on-campus clubs and programs. As the VP of Art Publications and Digital Media for the Matcha Fusions business team last year, Hsin’s work combines marketing with creativity.
“Somebody from our marketing team reaches out to [Portola High clubs], and then they send the information on what they want, what they want to design and what kind of T-shirt or hoodie they want,” Hsin said. “They send it over to me and I do an initial sketch, send it back over, get feedback and then bring it to my team to provide official sketches. It’s a way to combine my passion for business and graphic arts to channel my creativity.”
