Jason Messina ’25 found love for UI/UX after exploring all aspects of game design
At his internship with John Guilfoil Public Relations (JGPR), Jason Messina ’25 has learned how to work on tight deadlines. The interactive media major is developing his user interface and user experience (UI/UX) skills at JGPR, creating and updating websites for clients.
JGPR is a public relations firm that provides hundreds of municipal agencies, including towns and cities, police and fire departments, and school departments, with communications support and services. It also hosts and manages websites for those agencies. This means the staff at JGPR is always on call.
“I have to be on the fly,” he says. “We get requests constantly, so we have to multitask. That’s a skill I’ve developed during this internship, and it’s been really valuable.”
Messina has been working on web design for JGPR since January, driving from his hometown of Marlborough, Massachusetts, to work in the Georgetown, Massachusetts, office two full days per week. He’s designed two full websites for clients and has made many updates to other client sites. Jumping between new and existing projects is another skill Messina has been excited to develop. After he graduates in May, Messina will stay at JGPR part-time.
When Messina got into design, he hadn’t imagined he would work in public relations.
“One of the very cool things about UI/UX is that you can end up anywhere,” he says. In his classes, Messina has contributed to an array of projects. For one course, he created menus for a mystery game featuring a detective set on a cruise ship.
Messina’s path to UI/UX wasn’t direct. For the first half of his college career, he took classes in the Becker School of Design & Technology with a focus on 3D modeling and animation. But classes with Professor Kat Andler helped Messina discover he was much more passionate about UI/UX — he felt drawn to use his skills for web development and app design.
“She’s very passionate,” Messina says of Andler’s inspirational teaching style. “Specifically, when it comes to game design and UI/UX design, there’s a lot of intrinsic motivation. It comes from a love for design and getting stuff down into a layout, creating something from scratch, finding different styles that go into it, and making something your own.”
Messina’s advice to BSDT students is to take time to experience all aspects of game design. “Even if you initially pick a concentration, allow yourself time to explore the others,” he suggests.
“My years here have had a lot of growth, including figuring out how I want to start my career,” he says. “I think something not talked about enough is that when you’re in high school, you’re making this huge decision on what you’re going to do for the next four years in college. Definitely keep an open mind. If you see an elective that interests you, take it. Give yourself the opportunity to try new things. I think that’s very important at this stage.”
Aside from design, Messina is passionate about music. He was able to play trumpet and saxophone on a national stage through the Boston College Marching Band’s Partner School Program, which allows students from other schools to join BC’s “Screaming Eagles” marching band. He also played with the BC “bOp!” jazz ensemble.
“I was in a situation where I could go to school for exactly what I wanted while also having another community for music,” says Messina. “The football games are cool to be part of in the marching band, and for jazz ensemble, we’ve participated in different festivals across the country. It’s a lot of commitment and the people are awesome.”
