“When you were holding your Emmy, how did you feel?”

Asked by a student, the question was directed to Paul Matthaeus, the founder of Digital Kitchen, a digital and creative agency that has produced main titles for “Six Feet Under,” “Nip/Tuck” and “True Blood.”

Both Matthaeus and Lindsay Daniels attended the DiPho|DiPhy exhibit in EvCC’s Russel Day Gallery on April 5.

“My teacher, Kammer, encouraged us to check it out,” said student Sherri Ainslye. She brought along her daughter to the event. “It’s very inspiring to us graphic design students, and getting a little taste of the industry is good.”

Students flocked to the front of the room where Greg Kammer, the program adviser of the Visual Communications design program, introduced the two Emmy-award winners.

After the introductions, the floor was opened up to students for questions.

Ainslye rose her hand from the crowd. “How do you know as a designer when to stick to your guns instead of letting your idea die?”

Daniels spoke first, “Your role as a director is selling an idea you believe in.”

Matthaeus said, “That’s an interesting question because it implies a purity of conception at one point. Through collaboration with the team and the client, the project tends to grow.”

Both Matthaeus and Daniels worked on the title sequence of “Dexter,” a crime-drama series that ran from 2006-2013.

“The board was not all excited with Lindsay’s pitch,” Matthaeus said.

Beside him, Daniels laughed. “There’s so many mediums, and all of these different aspects influence the final piece.”

The room had been transformed to a cinematic kaleidoscope. Projectors displayed the work of Matthaeus and Daniels, Kyle Cooper and Bradley Munkowitz on three full walls. Smaller monitors hung adjacent, featuring clips from designers Joachim Sauter, Danny Yount and Ian Kammer.

Between each exhibit was a sliver of space reserved for text seemingly printed directly on the wall describing the artist and their work.

Above the descriptions, a radio channel was listed for each exhibit. Students had the opportunity to listen to sound specific for each piece on a set of headphones and receiver (a small radio).

Jesse W. Lamb, an EvCC student who helped prepare the event, described the process.

“Project scheduling-wise, Greg [Kammer] has things laid out from months to years. Execution-wise, this took about two weeks. Most events only take one week. Most of the time was spent on typing vinyl,” Lamb said.

He gestured to the text on the wall.

“We had to design the text, choose the right font, send the file to a cutter that cuts everything and then transfers it to a secondary paper that we then used to transfer the text to the walls. It’s a long process.”

This is Lamb’s last quarter at EvCC. “We’ll see what doors open up,” he said with a smile. “I’m majoring in web design, but my passion lies in graphic design. Paul Matthaeus is a huge inspiration to me.”

“[Matthaeus] is a great mentor and leader in this industry,” Daniels said in a one-on-one interview with The Clipper. “Both Digital Kitchen and Imaginary Forces completely changed this industry.”

Other students couldn’t agree more.

“Paul Matthaeus caught my eye,” said Mia Flores, a graphic design student. “I didn’t know any of this information before, but Dexter is one of my favorite shows.”

The DiPho|DiPhy exhibit will remain open until April 29 at the Russell Day Gallery in Parks Student Union.