UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Four graphic design students from Penn State's Stuckeman School in the College of Arts and Architecture were honored in two esteemed design competitions: the 2024 AIGA Flux National Student Design Competition and the 2024 International Design Awards (IDA).
The AIGA competition recognizes outstanding design work produced by students in the categories of Identity, Packaging, Poster, Publication, Social Impact Design, user experience/user interface (UX/UI) and Video/Motion Graphics.
Third-year graphic design students Jess Gordimer and Katie Hackenberg earned honorable mentions in the Publication category for projects created in their GD 203: Typography II course with Emily Burns, assistant professor of graphic design.
As part of the course, students created projects by choosing a sustainability goal from the United Nations' list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and designing a publication that informs the public about the topic creatively.
“It's a pretty in-depth project that combines a lot of design research as well as actual practical application of advanced grid systems in a sequential design in the form of a publication,” said Burns.
Gordimer was recognized for her project titled “Growing Greener Sustainability Magazine,” which details ways to start gardening.
“Jess did a fantastic job of taking photographs and editing her photos and refining the layout until it really stood out,” said Burns. “I think the final product shows her dedication to that because it’s amazing. It just makes you want to garden.”
Hackenberg’s project, “High Steaks Magazine,” explores the environmental impact of the meat industry.
“Katie did a fabulous job with her layout; it's a gorgeous eye-catching design, but it is also really well researched and sheds a lot of light on her topic,” said Burns. “Being able to lay out that kind of information in a way that's not only eye catching and digestible for an audience but also communicates what you're trying to communicate is challenging to do, especially at this level.”
Graduate student Negar Dehghan, who is pursuing a master of fine arts in art with a concentration in graphic design, earned an honorable mention in the Identity category for “GlucoMood,” a mobile application project she developed as her graduate thesis. She developed the identity and branding in ART 571: Graphic Design II under Burns including the brand’s look and a wide range of deliverables including a custom wordmark, illustrations and patterns, posters, journals, a social media campaign and more.
She designed the mobile application part of the project in an independent study with Huiwon Lim, assistant professor of graphic design. Dehghan’s thesis committee members also include Xinning Gui, assistant professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, and Taylor Shipton, assistant teaching professor of graphic design.
“[The project] is a great example of how a visual brand identity can represent both a brand and an idea and be able to communicate that well to an audience,” said Burns.
Winning AIGA Flux projects can be viewed on the AIGA website.
The IDA awards recognize and celebrate work in the disciplines of architecture, interior design, product design, graphic design and fashion.
Graduate student Elaheh Babaei, a master’s student in art with a concentration in graphic design, was recognized by IDA for two projects. Her project titled “Tokmeh Couture” won a silver in the advertising/promotion/logos/trademarks/symbols category and an honorable mention in accessories/clothing accessories category.
“All of the research that went into the different materials, the manufacturing methods and the trial and error was just fascinating,” said Burns “And then on top of that, she created the whole visual identity — the logos, the typography, the illustrations.”
All the selected entries can be found on the IDA website.
“I really love when students are driven to do their best work and are excited to learn and participate in the practical application of design and actually make things and do the research and use design to communicate something they're really passionate about to an audience,” said Burns. “A lot of these projects are about making the world a better, more sustainable place.”