For the first time in seven years, the Graphic Design program showcased student works on Thursday, March 14 at the Carroll House Gallery.
Typically, the student showcase happens every four years and offers students, faculty and the community a chance to see works KSC’s Graphic Design students created over the last four years. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the previously-scheduled student showcase to be canceled.
Art and Design Professor Randall Hoyt, one of the event’s coordinators, said he was excited to bring the showcase back. “The last showcase was the same magnitude and represented everything our department was working on,” Hoyt said. “ We were planning on having another exhibition, but COVID happened. This is the first chance we’ve had since to put this kind of display together and show off what our students have been doing.”
Hoyt said the showcase offers the community a chance to see the talents of Keene State’s Graphic Design students.
“We really want to invite the community in and see the exciting work we’re doing in the program. It’s a place to see our strength. We have the best Graphic Design program in the USNH system, and we want people to see what we’re all about,” said Hoyt.
Art and Design Professor Erica Pritchett collaborated with Hoyt to bring the showcase back and said the event highlights the many different ways graphic design interacts with daily life.
“So much of graphic design is hidden. So many things we see every day are graphic design,” Pritchett said. “Posters, advertisements, the artwork on products we use in daily life, it’s all been designed by graphic artists. We interact with and are exposed to graphic design every day, but we rarely see it collected in an artistic portfolio.”
Junior Ava Hartshorn Graphic Design major was one of the student artists whose work was displayed at the showcase. Hartshorn worked on a project focused on rebranding the logos for local Keene businesses.
“My menu design thinking class had me sketching some menu sketches to rethink brands that already exist, with a focus on redesigning artistic elements that can change the customer demographic,” Hartshorn said. “We did logo designs, menu designs, and a lot of other things.”
Hartshorn said the Graphic Design program helped to foster a sense of confidence in the artistic discipline.
“I really enjoy being here. I feel confident in my professors and my own abilities, and am very excited to join the world of professional graphic design when I graduate.”
One of the exhibits featured a commercial packaging design showcase created by Art and Design professor Laura Shim’s class. In addition to teaching Art and Design at KSC, she operates and owns a consumer packaging design studio. Shim said her experience in the graphic design packaging industry translated into teaching the class.
“This was a natural segue to teach the craft and offer that expertise to the students. We started with teaching about artistic branding and various consumer personas, and that turned into our students having the chance to design their own branding for their own fictitious brands,” said Shim.
Dr. Patricia Pedroza Gonzalez, chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, attended the event and said she enjoyed seeing the creativity of students, as well as some selections of artwork that relate to the WGS discipline.
“I loved seeing the graphic design postcards that had manifestos about justice. I noticed it immediately, and I always love seeing the creativity our artistic students bring to the table,” said Pedroza Gonzalez.
Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at
rpacheco@kscequinox.com
