By SAVANNA EOSSO

Staff Writer

As a high school student, design teacher Laura Fallon had never considered art as anything more than a hobby. However, two specific people she met

while a freshman at The College of New Jersey sparked an interest in what has today become her career.

“There was a girl that lived across the hall from me that was an art major,” said Fallon, recalling an “adorable tackle box” that the girl used to transport her art supplies. “I would always see her working on her projects, and they looked like so much fun.”

After Fallon’s interest in art had been sparked, she spoke to her history professor who was also a professor of the art department.

“By my spring semester, I had declared a major in graphic design. I knew upon taking my first design course that I had made the right choice, and I’ve never questioned my decision.”

After college, Fallon worked at a design firm in Manasquan where she said her design skills matured.

“I have an inherent desire to create,” said Fallon, “and although I don’t have a ton of free time, my creative outlet of late has been baking and cake decorating.”

As a teacher of Advanced Design in the present day, Fallon puts her biggest emphasis on the “idea.” She  said a quote that sums up her feelings of design as one by Saul Bass that stated, “Design is thinking made visual.”

“Sometimes you have to go through a lot of bad ideas before you get to the good one,” she said. “Good design is about solving a problem and if you happen to make something that looks good too, well then you probably have a future.”

A mother of two, Fallon is an avid traveler. She married her husband in the Bahamas and travelling has always been an important aspect of her life since her childhood.

“I grew up with parents who planned for at least one family vacation a year,” she said. “Some of my best childhood memories are from these trips. Now that I have a family of my own, my husband and I make travel a priority in our lives.”

According to Fallon, her desire to explore resonates through her hobbies of both travel and design.