Alumni Profile: Sarah Huth, MFAID ’19
Chatham University alumna Sarah Huth has made a name for herself as a graphic designer with work that’s both immersive and playful. (Photo by Alexa Frankovitch.)
You may recognize Sarah Huth’s illustrations if you’re a Starbucks rewards member, a role-playing gamer with a taste for Arby’s, or an astronautical nerd anticipating Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine Mission 1 lunar module to launch this year.
Since graduating from Chatham University in 2019, Huth has done graphic design work for these big brands and more.
“It’s kind of the dream job in some ways,” she said.
For Starbucks, she illustrated last year’s Rewards Year in Review, an email sent to millions of Starbucks’ rewards members showing their caffeine intake habits throughout 2022. With Arby’s, she developed character sheets for a “Dungeons & Dragons”-style role playing game.
And Astrobotic Technology will use her patch design when the Peregrine Mission 1 module lifts off for the moon. Other work she’s done includes an Audi mailer with custom printing that mimics the gloss of a car windshield and the feel of seat leather, plus social media designs for MAC Cosmetics.
“It’s kind of wild,” she said of her career, “because I think it’s what other people expected for me, but it is definitely not what I expected.”
Some of those people included her professors at Chatham, where she pursued an MFA in interdisciplinary design. The program now offers a Master of Graphic Design (MGD), also available as an integrated undergraduate and graduate degree.
She came to the University after studying film at the University of Pittsburgh, working in marketing, and becoming a professional illustrator.
At the time, she wasn’t sure how she wanted her career to unfold, and she was looking for a path that would allow her to fuse the collaborative atmosphere of film production with her design talents.
(Photo by Alexa Frankovitch)
“When I saw Chatham’s program, it really appealed to me because it was interdisciplinary,” Huth said. “It meant I didn’t have to discard my film background or my interest in anything that wasn’t like straight-up graphic design.”
She remembered a conversation with Mark Bender – an associate professor in the School of Arts, Science & Business and a longtime illustrator – where she confessed to feeling that her portfolio of design work was “all over the place.”
“He was like, ‘You don’t see how it works together, but we see how it all works together. That’s our job, to help you see that. All of your skills can work together.’”
After working at a smaller, local advertising agency, Huth went on to join Formerly Known As, an agency working with big brands known across the world.
“I get to make very cool things with great people, which, when I graduated, was my number one goal,” she said.
She compared the supportive, collaborative environment at her job to her experience at Chatham, where she started her master’s program with an anxious and competitive attitude, but she was quickly mellowed out by how her professors and classmates nurtured her creativity.
“I definitely felt like everybody – including my peers and fellow students – was there to make sure everybody succeeded,” she said. “Fortunately, I feel like the environment at my current job is like that.”
Mick Stinelli is a Writer and Digital Content Specialist at Chatham University. His writing has previously appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and 90.5 WESA, and he has a BA in Broadcast Production and Media Management from Point Park University. Mick, a native of western Pennsylvania, spends his free time watching movies and playing music.