UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Two projects by Penn State graphic design students in the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School were recognized by the University and College Designers Association (UCDA) in its 2022 Student Awards Competition.
Jacob Lawall, Annie Princivalle, Valerija Prohorenkova and Jordan Wolf, who all graduated in May, earned a Gold Award in the Classroom Work or Assignments category for their “Break the Binary” project that they completed during their fourth-year internship course (GD 495) with Ryan Russell, associate professor of graphic design, and Taylor Shipton, assistant teaching professor of graphic design.
According to Russell, the students worked closely with creative collaborators who were their clients to develop a relevant and engaging visual narrative for an identified collaborator and product. As part of the final exhibition for the course, students created style-led content across a broad range of mediums and deliverables featuring the collaborator, and the community.
“What stood out most about this particular group of students and their work was their dedication to showcasing Opulence, a club here at Penn State, to our community as the enthusiastic and proud club that it is,” said Shipton. “Each step of the way, they were working alongside all members of the club to ensure that the brand and representation was authentic to the club’s message.”
Fourth-year students Emma Swayze and Clare Connell earned an honorable mention for the work they completed in GD 301: Experience Design Process and Methods with Russell for a project titled “The Monarch’s Journey Event and Promotion.”
The annual UCDA Design Awards honor the best work in educational design — print, digital, illustration, photography and student competitions — over the past year. They are judged by a panel of peer jurors comprised of designers, design educators, photographers and illustrators working in, or doing a significant portion of their work for, educational institutions.
The “Break the Binary” project will be part of the UCDA Design Show on display during the organization’s annual design conference Oct. 15-18 in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico.