Family Weekend & Homecoming October 7 & 8

One festive weekend, one big blow out, and one fabulous Homecoming committee to welcome alumni back to campus.

Chances are you already know the committee members, but allow us to introduce them.  (And please, RSVP to let them know you’ll be on campus Oct. 7-8.)

Illustration alumna Estella Hickman is a 1972 graduate.

A second Illustration alumna, Evangelia Philippidis, is an active member of the class of 1981. In addition to her Homecoming contributions, she is pitching in to assist with the 1974 class reunion.

Marcia Tabler majored in Advertising & Graphic Design, graduating in 1974.

Another Advertising & Graphic Design alum is Jeff Stahler, class of 1977.

The committee member with the shortest “alum” status is David E. Merz III, a 2011 Advertising & Graphic Design graduate now living in Chicago.

Even though Merz has only been away for a few months, he wants to see for himself if anything has changed on campus (besides the new students!) and he hopes to catch up with several professors to ask questions he has been wondering about since being “in the real world.”

“At Homecoming I’m most looking forward to seeing my friends from school. I’ve missed staying up late with my Mighty All-Nighter friends. I’ve been getting the word out about the event so I can see as many of them as possible during the short weekend,” Merz said

“It’ll be great to see my friends who have also graduated, but I’m excited to see those friends I left behind who are still burning the midnight oil at CCAD, especially those working in Design Group,” he said.

Merz said he received a few messages on the first day of the semester from friends who miss hanging out with him on the quad or at the Market, and he confesses to missing CCAD’s main dining facility. “Looking back, it was a great deal for getting food,” he said.

As an underclassman, Merz was involved with Student Government. He plans to check out what the new officers have in mind to enhance the college experience for current students.

Merz said he’s curious to see who the alumni award winner will be and what he will “have to do someday to be considered for such an award!”

“I wish I could be back for an entire week instead of just a couple of days. I miss Columbus and all the great people there. The people are the best!”

Stahler moved back to Columbus a few years ago, so he is no stranger to campus. “It’s exciting when it’s filled with alumni who have built this campus into a growing, progressive, smart, contemporary school with a still-strong foundation program,” he said.

Stahler commented on the changes to the annual gathering. “I look forward to the new fall Homecoming. Traditionally, the spring graduation on the heels of the annual fashion show makes for a busy campus and not much time to catch up with college friends.”

Facebook has brought Stahler closer to alumni, but he said “seeing someone in person and catching up with them is always a good time.”

When Tabler heard that CCAD was combining Homecoming and Family Weekend she decided it was time for a class reunion.

“Although it has (ha ha!) been only 37 years, not the big 40—the power of all this coming together felt right. So, the class of ’74 is plowing forward with the reunion as well as a few surprises!” she said.

Read more about the class of 1974 reunion.

CCAD talent on display at Bluemile

A collaborative effort to support central Ohio entrepreneurs and to nurture the best ideas from the region includes a display of art for purchase as one of its active components.

Local tech company Bluemile, ranked in 2010 by Inc. Magazine as one of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, is featuring artwork by CCAD alumni and faculty in its New Albany office as one way to introduce visitors and other programs to the college.

“We see CCAD as a leader in creative thought,” said Michael Marlowe, president and co-founder of Bluemile. “We’re introducing the college to various programs that we participate in that encourage idea growth and opportunity.”

Kevin J. Conlon, vice president for Academic Affairs, said CCAD talent came up in discussions with Marlowe as one way to support the company’s extensive involvement in venture accelerator and entrepreneurial programs.

“The elements that artists use to create are the same that entrepreneurs use to develop their businesses,” Marlowe said.

Since joining CCAD in June, Conlon has gotten to know the business executive as well as Fine Arts alumnus Adam Brouillette (CCAD 2002), executive director for Wonderland and founder of Couchfire Collective. Both impressed him with their ideas about the value of creativity as a means to solve problems, spark innovation and develop entrepreneurship.

Conlon immediately thought of Brouillette as a source for connecting with the best artistic talent that Columbus has to offer when Marlowe inquired about showcasing artists and their work. In a matter of days Brouillette organized 12 artists, the majority of whom are affiliated with CCAD, with a shared vision that creative individuals of all types contribute to the overall cultural value of the area.

“I have learned through experience that artistic, creative cultures thrive when supported and coupled with business entrepreneurs,” Brouillette said. “The opportunity to have these creative endeavors collide makes complete sense and I’m happy to do my part.”

Along with Brouillette, participating Fine Arts alumni included Christine D’Epiro (CCAD 2005), Andrew Ina (CCAD 2006), Boryana Rusenova Ina (CCAD 2006), Mike Litzau (CCAD 2004), Lauren Mudd (CCAD 2004), Nikos Fydor Rutkowski (CCAD 2002), Stephanie Sypsa (CCAD 2004) and Christopher Tennant (CCAD 2006). Other participants included Illustration alumnus Brian R. Williams (CCAD 2003), an adjunct instructor in Advertising & Graphic Design, and Foundation Studies adjunct instructor Nicole Langille. Ina and Litzau also are adjunct instructors in Foundation Studies and Rusenova Ina is a Fine Arts adjunct instructor.

“It makes perfect sense,” Conlon said. “(An artist’s) way of thinking during the creative process, also called abductive thinking, is identical to the sort of thinking that entrepreneurs engage to come up with new ideas.”

“I believe that Michael, Adam and I all share a vision that creative individuals of all types can contribute their skills in a way that realizes value from new ideas and new intellectual property,” Conlon said. “Overall, those skills contribute to the cultural value of the region and lead to the establishment and growth of creative companies in central Ohio.”

Image courtesy of Wendy Emery

An recent article in the Columbus Dispatch spotlighting a local music and arts festival tells the story of how one CCAD alumna left a 20-year design career in pursuit of another successful artistic dream.

Advertising & Graphic Design alumna Wendy Emrey (CCAD 1991) traded commercial design projects for making glass beads and jewelry, which are available in several area galleries.

Through the process known as lampworking, Emrey melts and shapes glass to create unique beads. “I don’t make any two pieces the same,” she said. “No single bead is perfect, and no two beads are alike—just like each of us.”

The Westerville, OH artist began working with glass in 2008 and applies her graphic design and color expertise to each bead. For the third time, her work was entered in the juried art show of the annual Westerville Music & Arts Festival.

Read more about the Emery and the 37th annual festival in the complete article.

"The Brown Bag Project" team earned a Bronze Pencil Award.

Three teams of CCAD Advertising & Graphic Design graduating seniors earned their place among the elite at the 2011 One Show Awards last may. One entry, to the college competition, earned a Bronze Pencil Award while two others received Merit awards.

This year’s college competition challenge was to create a campaign for New York City client City Harvest, a nonprofit organization that began as an effort to distribute unused food from city restaurants to area soup kitchens and food pantries. The organization has grown and is now including programming aimed at increasing access to affordable healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods. This effort includes offering nutrition education and creating access points and demand for healthier foods.

College teams were provided with a packet that included a brief and detailed client and target audience information. There was a list of assignments for teams to choose from that ranged from advertising campaigns that raise awareness and donations to corporate identity campaigns to rebrand City Harvest’s corporate collateral.

Winning the Bronze Pencil Award with “The Brown Bag Project,” an integrated branding solution, was: Katelyn Brenn, Kaitlan Hyland, and Simone Noronha.

The “Brown Bag Project” encourages New Yorkers to pack their lunch every Wednesday during the month of February instead of dining out and to donate the money they save that day to City Harvest. The campaign includes healthy tips and recipes and discount opportunities to participants to encourage them to pack their lunch.

“We did this through a mailer that informed people about the project, unconventional advertising to peak the interest of people in the city, and, finally, through a series of reusable lunch bags to help carry the message even after the campaign was done,” explained Noronha.

“My team members and I definitely put in a lot of effort in coming up with a solution that would work, ” she added. “We  felt lucky to go to New York City and represent CCAD. Only 25 pencils were given out that night and we were told that there were more than 23,000 entries to the competition.”

CCAD also had two teams earn merit awards: James Chapa and Luis La Torre entered a non-traditional advertising campaign called “Harvest Pride;” and Zack Beck, Kayla Nickerson, and Jaclyn Pasquale entered a non-traditional advertising campaign titled “Nourishing New York.”

A program of the One Club, an organization that exists to champion and promote excellence in advertising and design in all its forms, the One Show remains the pinnacle of achievement by providing a showcase of the world’s best work and by inviting collaboration among individuals that are actively developing outstanding work. Visit their website for more.

Roll Bike Air by Vince Campise

Vince Campise, a CCAD alumnus and an adjunct instructor in Advertising & Graphic Design, has a poster included in Pinchflat, an event to celebrate bikes and the opportunity to buy bike-themed works of art by Central Ohio artists.

The festivities on Saturday, May 14 began with a 1 p.m. bike ride leaving from Wild Goose Creative, 2491 Summit St. in Columbus, to pick up a beer keg. Other activities through 9 p.m. include music, food trucks, prizes, and art.

Over 25 limited edition posters, including one by Campise (class of 1991), will be available for $30 each. Attendees who buy a poster will be entered into a raffle to win prizes. Pinchflat posters will be available for online viewing May 14—June 17.

Pedal Instead is providing a free bike corral at Pinchflat and ThoughtCo will be printing t-shirts on demand.

Image from Marcia Evans Gallery

Two emerging CCAD artists are facing their first fine arts gallery exhibition this spring in Columbus.

Faces: Kyle Boganwright and Steve Kropp will be shown April 1–May 31 at Marcia Evans Gallery, 8 E. Lincoln St. in the Short North neighborhood. An opening reception is 6–9 p.m. Friday, April 1.

Boganwright is a sophomore majoring in Fine Arts. Kropp (CCAD 2007) majored in advertising and graphic design.

Marcia Evans described Boganwright’s prolific style as pop surrealism and said Kropp, a former graffiti artist, creates emotional abstract line drawings of faces with graffiti-like text.

For more information on Boganwright go to his website.

Presentations take place on Mondays from 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. in CCAD’s Canzani Center Auditorium, downtown at Cleveland Ave. & E. Gay St (unless otherwise noted)

Spring 2011 Schedule:

• Jan. 31: Eric Homan (CCAD ’98), videographer, more …

• Feb. 7: Bevil Conway, artist and neuroscientist, more …

• Feb. 21: Anthony S. Baker (CCAD ’86), medical illustrator, more …

• Feb. 28: Christopher Cole (CCAD ’89) creative director, art director, more …

• March 14: Gabriel Esquivel, architect, assistant professor, more …

• March 28: Nora Sturges, associate professor of art, more …

• April 4: Erika Meitner, author, poet, more …

• April 11: Arthur Liou, associate professor of digital art, more …

• May 2: Stephen Fellner, poet, author, more …

Check the full schedule for updates and additions as well as other CCAD lectures.

Ongoing support for CCAD’s Visiting Artists Series is received from the Skestos Endowment Fund for Visiting Artists & Lectures, Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel, and the Ohio Arts Council, which helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

Baker majored in Illustration, Cole majored in Advertising & Graphic Design, and Homan was a Media Studies-Time Based major at CCAD.

The winning T-shirt design by Danielle Williams

Danielle Williams, a freshman majoring in Advertising & Graphic Design, recently received recognition for her winning submission to Faith Mission’s “A T-Shirt to Change the World” design contest.

In the presence of hundreds on Nov. 21, Faith Mission, which serves the homeless community, announced Williams as the winner at its annual “Come Together in Unity” celebration.

As a student, Williams not only excels in the classroom but also works hard to give back to the community. From the small town of North Star, this Ohio-native loves volunteering and saw the contest as a perfect opportunity to use her artistic skills to help the shelter.

In conjunction with Firm 27 and FthreeO talent agency, Faith Mission kicked off its design contest in September to get the community more involved in helping the shelter. The challenge was to design a socially-conscious logo that focuses on any of Faith Mission’s four “h” goals: eliminating hunger, ending homelessness, providing healing, or inspiring hope. The winning design is featured on T-shirts that are to be sold to raise support for the homeless shelter.

The celebration coordinator, Julian Simmons, said the winning design by Williams “is beautiful and really embodies our mission.” Faith Mission revealed the winning design by having all of the event volunteers wear the design at its largest community program to commemorate all the donors and volunteers who support the shelter and help fulfill its mission of creating a better world by serving people in need.

“Winning the contest was completely unexpected,” Williams said. “Who would have thought that I could help Faith Mission by doing something I’m passionate about—art.”

Located in downtown Columbus near CCAD’s campus, Faith Mission is known by many as not only a place for a hot meal and a warm bed, but a haven of hope as well. Since 1966, Faith Mission has served the homeless community by offering a secure, Christian-based environment for homeless men and women on an emergency walk-in basis. The agency provides shelter, food and clothing, while helping individuals with access to longer term solutions such as housing, employment assistance, medical, dental and vision care, counseling and support groups.

Justine Arreche (Advertising & Graphic Design, ’11) and Molly Savage (Fine Arts, ’12) have filled the rental property with their own creations, collections and friends’ artwork. The roommates have even transformed one of the exposed brick walls that are iconic in German Village architecture into a brick-lined photo gallery.

Their creative work is featured in a recent newspaper article. To see their do-it-yourself style and to read the full article go to www.columbusalive.com.

Go to Arreche’s website to learn more about her art and design.

Lawrence will receive the award at a chapter ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 6 at Boston University Center for Digital Arts (CDIA) in Washington, DC. The AIGA Fellow is a national program to recognize mature designers who have made significant contributions to their local design communities by raising the standards of excellence in practice and conduct.

Lawrence has won numerous AIGA national design awards for brand/identity systems and promotional/marketing systems. In 1996, she joined the DC Chapter board as a program coordinator and later became chapter president. She continued her volunteer involvement as an advisory board member. After transitioning from corporate to retail design, Lawrence recently relocated to Los Angeles as co-founder of SingleTease.com.

For more information about the award announcement and event go to www.aigadc.org.

Image from www.foodandwineaffair.com

Chad Hughes (CCAD, ’10) is the first-place award winner of the art and poster contest held by Columbus Food & Wine Affair Grand Tasting.

Columbus Food & Wine Affair has sponsored an art and poster contest for CCAD senior Advertising and Graphic Design classes five times throughout the event’s eight-year history. When started in 2003, event organizers took notice of how other cities doing similar events incorporated the art community. “We wanted to do something better. We have seen art and wine as a natural connection from day one,” said Greg Maurer, event co-founder.

For the latest competition, three participating CCAD classes learned the history of the event, important elements that should be reflected in their entries, how their designs would be used, requirements for black & white and color usage, and the importance of representing food and wine equally  with an international and contemporary flavor.  Students made presentations using a variety of mediums.

Hughes’ winning artwork will be featured through all elements of the event, which takes place Sept. 24 at Franklin Park Conservatory. In addition to Hughes’ first-place cash prize, CCAD receives $1,250 toward its scholarship fund. Second place and a cash prize went to CCAD student Kaleah Horton with honorable mention awards and cash prizes going to Kaylynn Arnold, Corey Lucius and Jodie Erickson.

Hughes contemplated designing his presentation using computer graphics but eventually decided on photography. “I’ve been taking photos a long time. Using photography, I could bring my design to life,” he said. “Also, when I see things I can use for photo props, I save them. I have a lot of silverware and antique bottles to choose from.”

For additional coverage on Hughes and his winning design go to www.foodandwineaffair.com.  Or, check out his website at www.lifebulbdesign.com.

To see 2010 contest entries from CCAD students and past winning designs click here.

From the archives at www.dispatch.com

In an interview airing on CNN’s John King U.S.A., Columbus College of Art & Design trustee Jeff Stahler (CCAD, ’77) talks about what inspires his editorial cartoons.

During the interview, which aired Sept. 7, Stahler discusses cartoons that reflect his perspective on American politics, the 2010 midterm election, and the economy. Stahler explains that he tries to “capture the moment, capture what people are thinking.”

Editorial cartoonist for The Columbus Dispatch, Stahler’s work is distributed worldwide by Newspaper Enterprise Association. His cartoons appear every week in USA Today and are frequently reprinted in major magazines and newspapers, including Newsweek and The New York Times.

Stahler also creates the whimsical slice-of-life comic panel Moderately Confused for Newspaper Enterprise Association.

To see Stahler’s interview go to CNN. King was visiting Columbus for a live production of his show and as the second stop on a three-day tour that included Pittsburgh and northern Kentucky.

This post was included in the spring 2011 issue of IMAGE Magazine.

Kline—By Design will be on display Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. in City Hall, 4035 Broadway, and by appointment. The show is a study in surface design exploration.

Kline also works as a freelance graphic designer and painter. He lectures about the connection between the art forms of jazz and painting, and holds drawing and composition classes.

'Pipe Dream' by Kristin Huffman

The landscape and art-installation services offered by Kristin Hoffman (CCAD ’96) recently were featured in an article in the Short North Gazette.

Hoffman’s one-woman business, DirtArt, is profiled in the article that chronicles how she jumped to landscape design from a career in advertising and paints a retrospective of her life.

To read the article go to http://www.shortnorth.com/DirtArtist.html.

Ohio Theatre

Columbus College of Art & Design presented 233 diplomas during the 131st annual spring commencement on Saturday, May 15, at the Ohio Theatre in downtown Columbus.

The commencement speaker was Author, Editor & Illustrator Michael Rosen. The 2010 class had two valedictorians, Stacey Lawless-Gibson and Erica Podwoiski, and 10 outstanding seniors:

• Susan Burke, Advertising and Graphic Design, New Knoxville, OH
• Tyler Mele, Animation; Wellington, OH
• Elizabeth Munn, Fashion Design; Aurora, OH
• Ian Horn, Fine Arts; Hyde Park, OH
• Erica Podwoiski, Fine Arts; Garden City, MI
• Jacob Murray, Illustration; Fort Wayne, IN
• Shawn Fortner, Industrial Design; Canton, OH
• Kimberly Priestman, Interior Design; Lansdale, PA
• Matthew Dickerson, Photography; Columbus, OH
• Joseph Lombardi, Media Studies; St. Louis, MO

A copy of Rosen’s commencement address is available here (pdf).

Check out Hayes’s work and a snap-shot profile of his company at www.commarts.com.

More information is on the design firm’s website.