Jamie Padzensky, Andover senior, designed this poster for her advanced typography class. The class was inspired by the Graphic Imperative exhibit at the Spencer Museum of Art.
Friday, November 13, 2009
“CAUTION: YOU ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE LARGEST GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD EXPERIMENT IN HISTORY” warns an advocacy poster by Jamie Padzensky that is on display in the front hallway of the Spencer Museum of Art. Other posters advocate against pollution from coal fire plants or that shrimp fishing doesn’t just catch shrimp.
Photo Gallery
Advocacy Posters
Patrick Dooley, professor of graphic design, said the Graphic Imperative exhibition, which is also on display at the Spencer Museum of Art, was the point of inspiration for the project.
“The students have an altruistic kind of streak in them,” he said. “The students have interest in doing things for social good.”
The assignment was for Dooley’s advanced typography class. Typography is the study of letter form and is one of the most important tools a graphic designer has, Dooley said.
Students were assigned to pick a cause and dig for a specific problem the cause advocates for. Dooley said he encouraged students to pick a topic they were interested in and supported. Each student then produced two posters, one with just type, and another with type and image.
Dooley said students felt challenged to make the messages compelling and to the point in order to grab the attention of the audience.
“There needed to be an emtotional appeal through design and illustration,” Dooley said. “Once it gets attention, then the artist provides more information and something the viewer can act on.”
The project took about five weeks to complete. Carly Hoover, Wichita senior, said the first few weeks consisted of extensive research. The students also had to write papers about the Graphic Imperative exhibition and their own advocacy posters.
Hoover chose to do her posters for the Mangrove Action Project, which is an environmental advocacy group. She first learned about the Mangrove Action Project while studying abroad in Belize. She said a mangrove is a tree in Belize, but the forests are being destroyed to make room for tourist attractions. The mangroves of Belize are home to various species of birds, amphibians, and mammals. They also provide food to fish. By destroying the mangroves, the beaches of Belize are also being destroyed because the mangroves break up wave energy and strengthen the soil.
“I saw it first hand and thought it would work well for the project.” Hoover said.
The ten posters chosen to be displayed were selected from 68 posters contributed by students in the class. Each student in the class was asked to pick their two favorite posters then staff from the Spencer selected the final ones to be displayed.
Bill Woodard, director of communications for the Spencer, said staff members who helped with the selection process included senior curator Stephen Goddard, exhibition designer Richard Klocke, and graphic designer Tristan Telander.
Hoover said she liked seeing how the student posters compared to the posters in the exhibit.
The student posters will be on display until Nov. 29.
— Edited by Megan Morriss
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