Visual Thinking, Selected Coursework

Kentucky Museum, Brochure Design, Spring 2018

During Spring 2018, Visual Thinking Students worked with Christy Spurlock at the Kentucky Museum to create a new promotional brochure for the museum. Students began by touring the museum and learning about the exhibits and what the museum has to offer the public and educators at both WKU and local schools. Students presented and pitched their design concepts to the museum staff on location at the Kentucky museum. The student designs were so successful that it resulted in the museum selecting two brochure designs. One to be used for promoting to the public outside of the WKU community, and one to be used for on campus promotion to WKU faculty.

Non-Profit Visual Identity and Collateral, Fall 2020/Fall 2019

During this semester-long assignment, students were asked to create a visual identity for a sub-initiative of their chosen non-profit. The new program/initiative identity needed to stand on its own while also complimenting the organization’s existing brand/logo. The goal was to introduce this new initiative/program while also highlighting the organization’s mission and strategy and to create an identity system that can be flexible and applicable on all of their media outlets: print, web, social, and other collateral. Starting with the logo as the first touch point of this project, students worked in phases as they developed an animated logo in After Effects and a functioning website prototype using Adobe XD. Collectively, students studied the fundamentals of logo design and development, flexibility and application of identity systems throughout other visual media, and basic web design strategies as they relate to visual storytelling and strategy for non-profits.

Non-Profit Visual Identity, For a Real Change, Spring 2021

During this semester-long assignment, students worked with a local client/non-profit, For a Real Change, under the direction of myself and Aurelia Spalding to create a visual identity for the sub-initiatives that For a Real Change offers and is developing: MySIS, Jonesville Academy, Generational Influencers, Young Men Leading In, and Invested. All of these programs aim to serve minority youth/teens in the areas of leadership, academic excellence, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.

The class was assigned their organization by random selection. Each organization had a minimum of 3 students working individually to create a visual solution for the organization. The following students had their work selected to represent the organizations: Molly Lee (Generational Influencers), Sol Garced Ortiz (Young Men Leading In), Dakota Broadstreet (Invested), Kyndall Waller (MySIS), and Pryce Hesler (Jonesville Academy).

Students began by meeting with Aurelia Spalding via Zoom to learn about For a Real Change and the umbrella organizations. They had the opportunity to ask questions and gather initial data. From there, they compiled a research binder and began initial digital proofs. Upon refining their logo drafts, students presented their first drafts to Aurelia via Zoom and received initial feedback and edits. After refining their logos, students participated in a second zoom presentation to Aurelia and For a Real Change board members for final selection.

In addition to creating the visual identity, students also developed an animated logo to be used for YouTube bumpers, concepts for social media graphics, as well as a concept-design for the organization’s web landing page.

Food Truck Identity and Collateral, Spring 2022

During this semester-long assignment, students were asked to create a visual identity for a food truck and collateral. The students drew types of cuisine at random and were tasked with doing initial research to better understand the culture and the food. Starting with the logo as the first touch point of this project, students worked in phases as they developed an animated logo in After Effects, menu design in InDesign, Custom Food Truck Mockup in Photoshop, and 3-D modeled packaging in Adobe Dimension. Collectively, students studied the fundamentals of logo design and development, flexibility and application of identity systems throughout other visual media.