Student Affairs Marketing and Communications

Denis Vargas Finds Passion in Design, Earns Award Recognition at Charlotte

By Wyatt Crosher, Assistant Director of Communications for Student Affairs

While Denis Vargas always had some level of passion for the arts, his mind was originally set on a different path.

“I got into illustration because of friends, but I always thought it was like, I don't care. I'm going to become a doctor when I grow up,” Vargas said, now an assistant director of creative services in Student Affairs Marketing and Communications. “I did three years in general biology, as a pre-med. It went nowhere. But, it showed me that maybe there were other possibilities.”

Eventually, those other possibilities led him to studying arts, working at a local magazine and to his position at the University, where he started in fall 2023.

“I like that Charlotte, as a whole, has become an area where a lot of cultures come to mingle and know each other. I wanted to be a part of that,” Vargas said. “Now that I am part of it, I really enjoy the community and the Niner spirit.”

Vargas was born and raised in Puerto Rico. While there, despite his initial hesitation to pursue it, art seemed to come naturally during his upbringing.

In elementary and middle school, Vargas would enter poster design contests and win the top prizes. He also had a “very insistent” art teacher who wanted him to study somewhere in fine arts.

A trip to the Escuela de Artes Plásticas, along with the passing of his grandmother, opened up Vargas’ to the potential of pursuing art full-time. 

“It showed me that medicine isn’t the end-all answer that I wanted, and that I should just do things that I wanted to do,” Vargas said. “One of those things was that I wanted to draw. I wanted to design.”

Vargas eventually moved to Valencia College in Orlando to finish his degree. He then started a design position with Orlando Magazine, where he worked until deciding to move to Charlotte.

Within SAMC, Vargas works with divisional campus partners to make their creative visions come to life. His design projects, which include the logos for the division’s Kudos and Collaboration In Action awards, as well as more student-focused efforts like the Haunted Union graphics and monthly calendars for the Campus Activities Board, are both wide-ranging and wide-reaching.

“I really like seeing my work all over the University. It's instant gratification for a graphic designer to see their work being enjoyed on such a scale,” Vargas said. “Sometimes I'll go to a bulletin board and I'll see, out of eight fliers, three of them are mine. It's always very inspiring and motivating.”

His work earned Vargas the Newest Student Affairs Team Member award at the divisional awards ceremony. While Vargas said the honor was “incredibly flattering,” he also was not at all expecting to be recognized.

“I am only doing my job, and I'm doing my job with some panache, but I also feel that there's some much more involved people in our division,” Vargas said.  “I feel that I work in the shadows, but when there's no problems, it means that you're doing what you're supposed to be doing.”

Vargas said working within a higher education setting has taught him how to handle a lot of different moving parts and perspectives. Taking into consideration what the requestor, student body or specific community is looking for makes each work a unique challenge.

Vargas’ favorite design requests are those ones that challenge him. More specifically, he enjoys working on designs that allow him to learn about something, or someone, new.

“I really love projects that I can get to be more cognizant of the design that I'm making,” Vargas said. “Understanding that while your design might be plastered on paper or on a website, that what you're designing is impactful, and it's mindful of the people that get to see it.”

It took a major shift in majors for Vargas to pursue design and find his way to Charlotte, but his efforts have already been noticed by both the division and through his works seen throughout campus.

That said, Vargas believes keeping a work-life balance is important, and that it’s extremely beneficial for those who want to pursue a career in arts.

“Just because you know how to draw doesn't mean that you have to be a designer. Follow what you think you should do and what really appeals to you,” Vargas said.  “Leave a space for your hobbies. And if you're set on being a designer, I think the best thing you can do is allow yourself to have a space where design isn't all of it.”