Vanessa “Van” Truong, soon to graduate with her degree in Digital Media at the upcoming Cullen College of Engineering Commencement ceremony, almost couldn’t believe the news that she had been selected as the Spring 2025 banner bearer.
“I thought, ‘oh, wow!’ That’s really a big honor. I wasn’t expecting it. I work with a lot of talented fellow classmates and peers, so it was almost too good to be true, but I’m really grateful for the opportunity,” said Truong.
Like many of her fellow Houstonians, remaining close to her family and community was a big plus to enrolling at the University of Houston. Originally interested in pursuing Computer Science, Truong made the switch to Digital Media just weeks before orientation.
“I realized that I didn’t want to be involved so much with the coding and development of these applications as with their design. I’ve always been interested in art and wanted to integrate my interests in fine art and media, so when I learned that the Digital Media program was able to integrate all of that along with technology — and was at the Sugar Land campus, which is near home — I thought that it was the perfect choice for me,” she said.
Truong chose to minor in Technology Leadership and Innovation Management for much the same reasons: its applicability to leadership roles and collaboration with other skilled employees gives her a leg up for projects she may wish to pursue in the future.
“I really like the Digital Media program because it allows me to be a jack-of-all-trades. The program advertises itself as a convergence of art, business, science, and technology, and I feel like through all of the courses that I’ve taken, that has really shaped me to be someone who can understand each of those positions, if not do them,” she added.
Truong has recently served as a graphic design officer for the Animation Club at UH, which also has its origins in the Digital Media program.
“For the past two semesters, we’ve been collaborating with the Japanese Language and Culture Club to make some opening animations for their Hatsune Miku live concerts,” said Truong. “I was able to do opening animations for three songs as well as part of the introduction sequence. I’m just really proud of being able to show off my work on such an exciting project that involves entertainment, which is an area that I’d really like to go into.”
The last two of these virtual concerts, which feature computerized digital pop star avatar Hatsune Miku and are made possible by VOCALOID singing voice synthesis software, have drawn the eyes of over 1,000 attendees to Truong’s work.
She also had the opportunity to be mentored by Emmy Award-winning Imaginary Forces creative director and previous Digifest keynote speaker Grant Lau. Lau was part of the team behind the creation of Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football title sequence.
“Through this mentorship, I developed my own concept rework of TNF’s title sequence. I learned a lot about creative pitching and concept storytelling. In addition to enhancing my technical skills, I also improved my soft skills like public speaking and constructive feedback. This experience made me feel more confident as a designer, and I am really honored that I was able to receive guidance from such a talented person.”
Outside of classes and activities, she has also spent the last year working as a grader for the program’s Graphics for Digital Media and Page Layout & Design courses.
“It’s been really fun seeing the creativity of my fellow students in the program and being able to hone my own design skills through evaluating the projects they’ve produced. I’m also glad that I was able to give back to the program in that way.
“My family really values education, and they’ve always really encouraged me to pursue what I want and to do it well. I’ve worked hard to live up to that expectation. We also value giving back based on the things that we’ve experienced, which is why I’ve been so involved in the Digital Media program through grading, in the Animation Club, and collaborating with other organizations to make sure that I’m giving back to the college in some way. At its core, design is meant for people. It’s meant to tell a story and to connect with others,” said Truong.
After graduation, she and her family will embark on a month-long trip to Vietnam and Japan.
“It’s really an opportunity for me to be able to do a little bit of traveling and exploration after three years of hardcore academics. I’m graduating a year early, so my parents have been really gracious and let me take a ‘gap year’ to do anything I’d like to do after that.
“I really want to take the time to work on my graphic design and motion design skills professionally — to work with both static and dynamic graphics to tell a story,” Truong said. “I’m excited to use the next year to hone my current technical skills and apply for jobs related to my industry. I’m excited that I have all of these opportunities.”