Graphic Design Firm Moves to Middle Tennessee, Provides Experience to College Students

Graphic Design and Printing House Poodle’s Doodles, recently relocated to Murfreesboro Tenn., is endeavoring to provide college students with valuable experience while still in school. For their services, students of almost any discipline will receive paychecks while earning class credit and building their portfolios.

Poodle’s Doodles is a design house that specializes in graphic design, poster printing, brochures, business cards, letterhead and more. Offset printing is only one area of expertise Poodle’s Doodles has.

Poodle’s Doodles is the creation of sisters Karen Burton and Amanda Shipley. Both are co-owners and are attending school at MTSU in Murfreesboro. Burton has transferred to MTSU from Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland, while Shipley transferred from the International Academy of Design and Technology in Florida.

Both Burton and Shipley have been studying graphic arts at their respective colleges, so starting Poodle’s Doodles fits well with their educations. And they have positioned themselves well, considering the trend of entrepreneurs to either work from home or go into business for themselves.

New businesses have been taken into consideration by Poodle’s. They offer several packages which will enable the entrepreneur to get up and running – complete with business cards, letterhead, brochures, and even a logo.

“Many times, startups need a logo and business cards, letterhead, envelopes,” Burton said. “We have several packages that are already set to help them with that.”

Burton has more than a decade of working in the print industry and now enables students to gain both industry experience and a paycheck – all the while building their portfolios.

And while Burton is the lead designer, Shipley earns a paycheck as a working employee while fulfilling the requirements of her internship credits.

“The problem [students face after graduating college] is that employers want you to have a degree, experience, and a rockin’ portfolio,” Burton said. “Poodle’s Doodles addresses that problem.”

Poodle’s offers flexible hours for the college student to ensure they can concentrate on their studies as well as their careers.

By providing state-of-the-art programs and equipment, Poodle’s enables college students majoring in almost any discipline – graphics, sales, printing, business – to earn industry experience while still in school. And in doing so, they provide a means for college students to make some money without waiting tables or flipping burgers.
“This is not your average 9-5 job,” Burton said.

Burton is versed in a host of layout-design programs, Adobe’s Acrobat, Photoshop and Illustrator, in addition to being Microsoft certified in Word and Excel.

She is proficient with both Mac and PC platforms.