There are many ways to find a soul mate, but this Valentine’s Day, we wanted to recognize a special story about Jessica and Brennan – whose path to the altar began at UFV. The couple met in September 2012, as the Graphic and Digital Design program (GDD) welcomed its very first cohort. Brennan chose to come to UFV to study design because he wanted to stay in the valley (moving or commuting to Vancouver wasn’t super appealing). Meanwhile, Jess was in the process of completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts. She wasn’t sure about what to do after graduation, but after hearing about the new design program at UFV she thought it would be a great fit.

The first memory the two love birds have of each other was during the program’s first orientation session. Jess thought Brennan was an “arrogant computer nerd” and Brennan thought Jess was a “stuck up art student”, so clearly things were off to a great start! Despite their initial lack of enthusiasm for one another, they hung out in the same groups and even added each other on Facebook. Before long, Jess needed help learning Illustrator and Brennan offered to tutor her. One meet-up at Starbucks and not a lot learned, but a spark was lit. Brennan pursued Jess, but he was four years younger and she thought he was too young for her. But Brennan’s charm and sarcastic sense of humour won Jess over – and the rest is history.

They thought if they could make it through two years of GDD together, they could make it through anything.  And they were right! After graduation, both started working in the design industry. Brennan as a graphic designer at Domain 7 and Jess as a designer at CHP Architects. In August 2017, the couple exchanged wedding vows.

We asked them what it’s like being married to another creative person.

“It’s great! We can ask each other for advice, and can vent frustrations about work issues that the other one can easily empathize and understand.”

In conclusion, the couple offered a great dating and design advice:

“Don’t have an ego: it doesn’t work well in relationships or design.”