Gov. John Kasich and CCAD senior Aaron Roberts

Surrounded by reporters on a rainy Monday morning, CCAD President Dennison W. Griffith and Ohio Governor John Kasich along with a CCAD senior design student, Aaron Roberts,  unveiled the new designs for Ohio’s license plate and driver’s license—the results of a four-month collaboration between the college and the state.

The project started with an invitation by Mark Kvamme, interim chief investment officer and president of JobsOhio, to redesign the state’s most visible moving moniker and the identification card carried by millions across the state.

Griffith said CCAD’s Design Group, led by Creative Director Lindsay Kronmiller, researched every plate in Ohio history and reviewed samples from across the country and around the world to identify the elements that meet the requirements of safety and law enforcement officials, while at the same time creating a vibrant and memorable image for the state.

From left, Aaron Roberts, Gov. John Kasich, Walker MacKenzie Crane, Mark Kvamme, Isuri Merrnchi Hewage, Katlyn Westbrook, and Taylor Hicks

The five members of the CCAD team on the license plate project included: Aaron Roberts; Walker MacKenzie Crane, Granville, Ohio; Isuri Merenchi Hewage, Colombo, Sri Lanka; Taylor Hicks, Columbus, Ohio; Katlyn Westbrook, Pataskala, Ohio. The student designers brainstormed more than 100 concepts and toured the production plant in an Ohio prison to see the parameters of the presses where their designs would be fabricated. The team selected five final concepts to present to their clients, Public Safety department and BMV administrators. And, finally, a choice was made:  Aaron Roberts’ aviation-inspired theme, which features an aviation wing shape embedded with an outline of the state, along with a series of phrases from Ohio’s history screened in gray on the white background area.

“This partnership has provided our students with opportunities to manage client relationships and design challenges,” said Griffith. “In today’s economic climate, where creativity is key to solving business problems, projects such as this one give our students the experience they need to transition from the classroom to the job market.”

During the press event, the Governor announced an interactive twist to the project. The public will get to vote on the phrases and words from Ohio’s history that will be used on the plates, which range from “The Buckeye State” to “Home of Astronauts.”  Voting will take place online until Jan. 8, 2012, at http://myplate.ohio.gov.

“To see something that you designed shared every day, with everyone in Ohio and that represents the pride of our state, is really sublime,” said Roberts, a senior majoring in Advertising & Graphic Design .

After the voting is completed the new designs will go into production, a process that can take six to nine months. The new plates and licenses are expected to be available in December 2012, after the current inventory has been used.

Check out video about the project here: Meet the Designer & See the Design Process, and read the related press release online.

CCAD took home three awards from CSCA's Creative Best Awards

It’s been quite a design awards season for Columbus College of Art & Design, especially for the college’s Design Group—a student-staffed, in-house design agency.

Columbus Society of Communicating Arts held it’s annual Creative Best awards on Nov. 17 and CCAD was well represented. Several local agencies that employ CCAD alumni took home coveted awards, including EdgeCase, which won an Award of Excellence in the Interactive category  for JRubyConf.com which was designed by 2011 grad Justine Arreche. Pallavi Sen, a fine arts senior, took home two merit awards from the Student category.

CCAD’s Design Group earned a Best in Category award in the Motion Design category for its Happy New Year video. The winning team included Media Studies major (and last year’s Outstanding Senior) Taehee Lee (CCAD 2011) who came up with the concept and directed the video; videographer, media studies junior Alex Trimpe, CCAD Creative Director Lindsay Kronmiller, and Editorial Director Laura Bidwa.

CCAD’s partnership with local brand agency Ologie on the Masters of Design, Senior Fashion Show event collateral earned both organizations Awards of Excellence in the Print category for the invitation and the show catalog. The winning team was comprised of, from CCAD, Arreche, Bidwa, Danielle Deley (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 2011), Kronmiller,  and Simone Noronha (CCAD, Advertising & Graphic Design, 2011) and from Ologie, Andy Hayes and Kelly Ruoff.

“These projects not only showcase our student work to the outside world, but also allow our students to build the relationships and business experience that will place them above the rest upon graduation,” said Kronmiller.

CCAD’s Fashion Show print collateral also earned awards from American Graphic Design,  which awarded CCAD four certificates of excellence for branding initiatives, including print and environmental graphics.

In addition to the Fashion Show invitation, the college received awards for the Art Walk (environmental graphic’s in CCAD’s Canzani Center),  the Viewbook, and a positioning piece, titled Think. Do.

Both the Viewbook and the Fashion Show invite were done through the collaboration with Ologie, which is owned by board of trustee member and alumna Bev Bethge (CCAD 1982-1986). The company is an award-winning branding agency that serves national and international clients. The Design Group students worked closely with the agency to complete both pieces gaining mentorship while producing award-winning print materials.

The Art Walk panels were  designed by Design Group, with the help of Chute Gerdeman, another award-winning strategic brand and design firm in Columbus (which also took home awards from CSCA on Thursday).

“’When prospective students, parents, and the general public encounter our materials, they are seeing student work,” said Kronmiller. “It is a great testament to the talent and ability of our students.”

The American Graphic Design Awards are open to all businesses and partnerships in the graphic design community. There were more than 8,000 entries and only 15 percent were then recognized with an Awards Certificate of Excellence.

Judges for the CSCA Creative Best awards were Brigitta Bungard, assistant creative director at the Museum of Modern Arts in-house design studio in NYC; Joe Marianek, associate partner at Pentagram, an international design consultancy; and Ken Visocky O’Grady, an associate professor at Kent State University.

CCAD's Viewbook is honored with a merit award in the March issue of HOW Magazine.

CCAD’s collaborative project with Columbus-based branding agency Ologie was recognized recently when the college’s Viewbook was honored by HOW magazine’s 2011 International Design Awards, garnering a merit award. The piece and its award are featured in the March 2011 issue.

The relationship between Ologie and CCAD’s in-house Design Group was featured in the fall 2010 issue of IMAGE Magazine. “Students worked for many hours with staff members from the college and from Ologie, enriching their professional development while still in school. ‘As the students were doing their work, they were presenting their concepts to senior-level staff, which might not have happened in a regular internship at a design firm,’ says Creative Director Lindsay Kronmiller. Students develop the communication skills needed to articulate their concepts and are taught to understand client needs. Well prepared to bridge the gap between school and the professional world, most Design Group alumni are employed within three months of graduation.”

“’When prospective students, parents, and the general public encounter our materials, they are seeing student work,” said Kronmiller. ‘It is a great testament to the talent and ability of our students.’”

Owned by board of trustee member and alumna Bev Bethge (CCAD 1982-1986), Ologie is an award-winning branding agency that serves national and international clients. Ologie’s mission is to build brands that are clear, compelling, and consistent so they will be better known, better understood, and completely unique.

Another collaborative piece, “Think. Do.” received a silver ADDY award and a merit award from HOW magazine. Read more here.

Read the entire IMAGE story here.