Have you ever wondered how designs get on your T-shirts? Who picks the designs and how they become part of the fabric?  

Senior printmaking major Zachary Bland, 22, does just that — graphic design and screen printing.

Bland participated in yearbook in high school and liked seeing something he made brought to life and enjoyed by others. He got an internship at age 17 designing for Central Valley Business Forms, which made his career choice more apparent for him.

Bland has been a professional graphic designer for six years, and higher education made his drive even stronger when he discovered screen printing in 2013.

“That was a vehicle to put things that I made into things people could wear,” he said. “Useful, wearable graphics are what I think are helping the world to become more beautiful.”

Bland worked on, what he says, was his biggest project yet — printing vinyl decals for city of Los Angeles vehicles. He is now working with Dr. Frank Llamas in the department of student affairs, while also working on a large personal series focusing on his parents’ relationship from when they met, he said.

The screen print for that project, he said, will “fill a 7-foot-by-12-foot canvas, filled with mix tapes I’ve found at thrift shops and also the ones my parents sent each other as love letters when my dad was in the Marines during Desert Storm.”

Bland also has a start up clothing line called FYL (@fyllifestyle) that is doing well and selling internationally. His goal is to continue working in the clothing industry. But for now, he said, it’s “on the back burner for the series I’m working on now.”

He compared screen printing to being a chef and having people enjoy a specially prepared meal. The guests appreciate the time and effort put into the final product.

“My two main influences are polar opposites, and they are Massimo Vignelli and Keith Haring,” Bland said. “Massimo for bringing Helvetica to the forefront, and Keith was a street artist known for his bright colors.”

Both of these artists were from the ‘70s and ‘80s. Vignelli maintained a clean and modern aesthetic, which is how Bland likes the basis of his work to be. Haring’s use of bright colors and shape work influenced Bland’s more fine art brain.

Bland is passionate about designing and making things for other people.

“I think my passion for graphic design boils down to being able to be creative for a living and seeing people with my work.”