Adam Hitchcock

Adam Hitchcock, a member of the Class of 2016 and an adjunct professor, has long been interested in what makes people tick. He’s curious to know why we feel one way or another about our lives and the events we experience.

So, when he graduated from high school in Catskill, New York, and started out at a community college, he focused on studying psychology. He also had an interest in art so he looked in that direction as well.

By the time he applied to Sage and was accepted in the Graphic + Media Design program, art had become his leading interest, though he thinks the two subject areas, art and psychology, are very much intertwined.

Every project in graphic design has its own strategic challenges, he finds, including how the work makes connections with its audiences and the reactions it creates. 

Today, Adam is a graphic designer in the New York State Comptroller’s Office and an adjunct professor at Sage teaching classes in digital animation.

When he looks back to his experiences as a student at Sage, he goes directly to the classroom critiques that are a critical part of the Graphic + Media Design program. They can be tough, but, according to Adam, they’re extremely beneficial.

“They were my favorite thing about Sage,” he says. “And when I graduated and was out in the world working I missed them.” 

He goes on to say: “Before I got to Sage, I had this idea that art teachers were snobby, and likely to rip your work to pieces. I was scared. But it wasn’t that way at all.”

He thinks in this regard of professor Matt McElligot.  “I learned so much from him,” Adam says. “He knew how to push me past my comfort zone, and yet still feel confident about my work.”

Adam also appreciates how Sage professors seem always to keep one foot in the professional world. “They’re working with the newest techniques and trends in software,” he says. “They’re staying relevant. They make sure the coursework is evolving, because they know how their field is evolving rapidly.”

But maybe what rests at the center of Adam’s success is the way he looks at the career he chose to enter. 

“Being able to create is a joy,” he says. “It’s an adventure. When you begin a project you often don’t know where it will end up. That’s the excitement —not knowing, but trusting. It’s a process. Sure you’re going to fail sometimes, but that’s part of it.”