Client: SDSU School of Art+Design
Art Direction: Min Choi
Release Date: December 2018
Making Our Mark, is a series of marketing materials to promote the Fall 2018 Graphic Design Senior Portfolio Exhibition for Professor Min Choi and the SDSU School of Art+Design. Along with the poster printed in various sizes such as 12" x 18" and 24" x 36", I also designed digital collateral for social media for all of us in class to promote for Facebook events as a cover picture, as well as laid out in a format for Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat stories, as well as animated Instagram .gif squares. Another variant to come from this poster is the addition of having a textless version so my classmates and I can create custom messages leading to the event in our social media story segments, as well as designing a map with instructions to get to the event.
Client: Moxie Theatre
Art Direction: Gary Benzel
Release Date: May 2018
As an existential slasher comedy, the idea behind the poster iteration takes the surreal, graphic pop elements of Hookman and combines it with the gory, violent elements from the play. Rather than focus on the titular Hookman, the poster illustration depicts the main character Lexi, a UConn freshman, and is illustrated in a UConn-blue hoodie and a loose brush strokes with to incorporate the organized chaos of black comedy and mysteriousness behind the plot. The loosely painted aspects of the poster are also juxtaposed with realistically styled cracked glass (to reference the play's car scene), and a bold, white graphic silhouette of a hook as a nod of how the play itself goes back and forth to contrast what’s real and what isn’t. This is also alluded to in the color palette of the poster, contrasting the UConn hooded Lexi against an unnaturally red backdrop with a gradient that goes from an unrealistic bright red to a very real blood red. Lastly, the poster includes copious spurts of blood, as it is a reoccurring element throughout Hookman, and is a familiar sight to communicate the slasher aspect to prospective viewers. For this poster, along with The Glaspell Project, I project led in curating the new poster footer solutions for the SDSU School of Theatre, Television, and Film.
Client: SDSU School of Theatre, Television, and Film
Art Direction: Gary Benzel
Release Date: May 2018
Inspired by 1950’s pin up posters and retro fashion design, my iteration for The Glaspell Project theatre poster is an illustrative poster designed with Susan Glaspell’s screenplays Trifles and Woman’s Honor in mind. The challenge of combining the contrasting story tones of both plays is met by illustrating the symbols of Trifles—of domesticity and a woman holding a canary—with a bright, lively color palette of feminine pink, blue, and yellow hues, that represent the liveliness and humor of Woman’s Honor. Because The Glaspell Project changes the time period of each play to be set after WWII and Pre-Civil Rights, I drew the figure in a dress befitting the era, and made a subtle kitchen background to incorporate the discourse of gender roles for women at the time. In addition, as a nod to the Director Reinholz’s own personal style of incorporating projections throughout his productions, the overlay over the illustration is an abstract representation of a woman’s cage in the prevailing discourse—as something that is seemingly invisible, subtle, and intimate, yet also something that remains visible enough to talk about it. For this poster, along with Hookman, I project led in curating the new poster footer solutions for the SDSU School of Theatre, Television, and Film.
Client: SDSU School of Art+Design
Art Direction: Gary Benzel
Release Date: March 2018
The concept behind the poster, “Hands Down Good Work” is a visual pun of various artist hands at work. During development, the poster design was guided by the challenge to represent every department in the School of Art+Design. The poster’s imagery takes inspiration from previous Open Studios posters that capture the idea of the artist hand, though my take is to uniquely focus on the motions that we use and have used as artists throughout each discipline. Each hand is digitally illustrated in a realistic style, and poses were carefully chosen not only for its representation toward a certain department, but to also invoke the acquired, foundation skills artists use that transcend across different mediums. Using the forms of each hand at work, the illustrations are laid vertically like puzzle pieces to create an alluring composition that engages the viewer both from a distance and up close. The imagery is further supported by: bold, contrasting colors, layer overlays, subtle halftones, and a mixture of sans serif typography. Thus, creating a poster that honors the many hands and good work behind the 2018 Open Studios event.
Prior to the event, the SDSU School of Art+Design had SDSU students and faculty vote on which poster solutions from the SDSU Graphic Design Studio would dictate the final marketing material. Even though "Hands Down Good Work" wasn't picked to be officially presented for the actual event, my solution notably received honorable mentions among the faculty, and also tied with fellow student designer Joseph Valentin as the top student body vote.
Art Direction: Minae Kim
Release Date: November 2017
Let's Wash Our Hands is instructional poster that guides viewers on how to properly wash their hands. While the audience is created for children, from ages 6-12, I created this set to also be able to teach people with mental disabilities of all ages of this important daily skill. With the topic of cleanliness, the layout is designed as simple and concise, while the icons are cute characters of everyday items to captivate a child's attention.
Client: Poetry International @ SDSU
Art Direction: Beth Weeks
Release Date: February 2017
Strange Instinct is a broadside based on the surrealist poem of the same name by author, teacher, and SDSU Poetry International editor, Janel Spencer-Levy. The unique logotype of the poem's title encourages viewers to rotate the poster, and further emphasizes the surrealist dreamscape of the poem below:
I have a friend who believes that anyone would kill another for a million dollars,
she thinks it’s practical.
In all other matters, she’s an optimist.
We found a ladybug scaling the fingertips of the grass.
She takes the insect and lays it on her pant leg.
I take pictures. Its wings pop and close, thinking flight.
My friend will readily take any creature in her hand.
I am not so confident; I leave it in its chosen place.
Yet we are both fascinated by things we can control.
In my dreams, my friend stabs me many times,
then takes my hand after death and says
I am only dreaming.
A million ladybugs swarm us, becoming our bodies.
Art Direction: Julie Warren
Release Date: September 2015
A typographic poster summarizing the key points of the 99u article, The Stoic: 9 Principles to Help You Keep Calm in Chaos. Much like the article gives readers advice on dealing with failure, the poster conveys a tone of optimism and reassurance through its pastel color palette and various happy icons. This message behind this poster is particularly important to how it has helped through my journey in developing as an artist, graphic designer, and overall growth as a person.
