Four students from Design as Service class win awards

Messiah students in the Design as Service class won awards for their brochure and T-shirt projects for non-profit organizations.

Four seniors recently won 2015 American Graphic Design Awards from Graphic Design USA for their public service design work in Design as Service, a class taught by Professor of Art and Design Kathy T. Hettinga.

T-shirt designs by Nathaniel Solberg ’16 and Hannah Busenitz ’16 were selected from more than 6,000 entries submitted by firms such as Vogue Italia and Pepsico Innovation. Solberg designed a T-shirt for Solidarity Uganda, an international non-profit founded by Phil Wilmot ’12. (Read more about Wilmot’s work on p. 12.) The shirt featured interconnected fingerprints, which symbolize people coming together. Finger ink is also how people mark that they’ve voted in an election.

“I want to see people’s lives change in really tangible ways,” said Solberg. “It’s a project that was new, and I love making shirts that I would want to wear, that are both a fashion statement and a social justice statement.”

Busenitz ’16, who has a heart for sustainability along with graphic design, chose to work with Clean Water Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that works to combat pollution and to improve water sanitation.

“Growing up in Papua New Guinea,” said Busenitz, “in the midst of the country’s beauty I’d see cans sitting among the coral, and I’d know that soon the natural beauty would be ruined and taken away.”

Her shirt depicts an array of water droplets merging, which symbolizes Clean Water’s community focus.

“We wanted it to be interesting for all ages, so that it could be used at campaigns and volunteer events.”

From the same class, Brianna Jewell ’16 and Matthew Listor ’16 won an American Graphic Design Award for their collaboration on a multi-panel brochure titled “National Parks in the Chesapeake” for the National Parks Conservation Association. Their brochure will be seen alongside design work from Harvard University, the U.S. Olympic Committee and the National Endowment for the Arts.

“I worked a lot in the typography and layout,” said Listor, “while Brianna’s main roles were the graphics and digital illustrations.”

Listor said that working with Jewell, as well as the connections they built with an appreciative client, made the experience a very beneficial one.

“Collaboration gets innovative ideas and a more well-rounded design,” agreed Jewell. “I’m most excited that our brochure is able to reach hundreds more people and the organization can receive even more attention it deserves.”

The students’ work will be published in the 250-page “Graphic Design: USA’s Design Annual” and on the Graphic Design USA website. 

— Rose Talbot ’16