GD MFA at MICA – Promotional Material

Promotional poster and postcards for the Graphic Design Masters Degree Program here at MICA.

In an effort to promote the hands on, practical approach to the advanced design study of the MICA GD MFA program, a project was proposed to create a small campaign consisting of a poster and mailer postcards.

MICA GD MFA

Description:

The project was to design advertising material that would be used to promote the GD MFA program here at MICA. The main idea was to create an original poster along with 4 standard postcards to be delivered through the mail. These posters and postcards were to be mailed out to colleges and universities in an effort to spread awareness for the program and to make a statement about the kind of graduate program in graphic design that is offered here at MICA. The posters are themed with one word that described them and that word drove the visuals for the poster.

Goals:

The goal of the project was to create a poster and postcards that would make the viewer stop, look at them, and want to learn more about the program. The main vehicle used to garner attention was original art created for the posters that would coincide visually with the postcards. The only required elements were the MICA logo and the Graduate Graphic Design Department’s contact information. The posters are meant to get across what we thought was the most important aspects of the GD MFA program, mostly through visuals.

Concept:

The theme word for my poster was “pattern” which was manifested in my design in the use of the official MICA logo pattern as an overlay for art I had created for the poster. The pattern is scaled with the letter “I” and has different effects on the viewer from different distances. From further away, a clearer picture of the general “I” shape and the art underneath are visible. Upon inspection, details in the art as well as he individual cells of the pattern are prominent.

The “I” shown in the posters is also the “I” from the MICA logo and represents a potential grad student who is looking at a different options for graduate school. The “I” is a suggestions of all they could be as an individual in he MICA GD MFA program. Because of the programs small, exclusive nature, the individual is highly valued.

The art that shows through the pattern is a random collection of details and words taken from the local newspaper and phone book. It contains words key to the graphic design program here such as “professional,” “challenge,” and “renew.” These words were meant only to give the viewer a suggestion of the program and hopefully make them want to learn more about it.

Process:

The main process involved with this poster was creating the “newspaper lifts,” as I call them. Newspaper lifts are accomplished by getting a surface covered in adhesive, usually large pieces of tape or contact paper in may case, overlaying parts of this surface on the inked pages of the newspaper and rubbing to transfer the ink in certain locations onto the adhesive. The contact paper is removed from the section, transferring ink and sometimes paper onto it. This process is repeated until a composition is complete and you can lay it down onto another sheet of blank paper.

For my poster, I scanned these and emphasized the color and contrast to insert them into the pattern of my poster. The colors are subtle but from a distance the words lifted from the newspaper are more than readable.

Solution:

My poster was printed 18″X28″ on Stonehenge, full color. The pattern of the MICA logo breaks the “I” up into four distinct parts and does not leave the edge of the letter form. The actual pattern is made up of the image constructed from the newspaper lifts and has many subtle shifts in color, readability and contrast.

The postcards that accompany it follow the same motif in their use of pattern and letterforms. The use the other letters of the MICA logo in an abtracted way to confine the pattern and make interesting shapes on the card. Postcards were sent through the mail and reached their desitination successfully in order to promote the MICA Graduate Graphic Design Program to propective students.

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