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overview
guerilla graphic design The Stander Symposium is an annual event at the University of Dayton that provides an opportunity for students from all disciplines to showcase their intellectual and artistic accomplishments. The purpose is to recognize and celebrate academic excellence in undergraduate and graduate education. The Stander Symposium represents the Marianist tradition of education through community and is the principal campus-wide event in which faculty and students actualize the university’s mission to be a “community of learners.� For this project, I created advertising for the Stander Symposium Opening Mass in the form of Guerilla Graphic Design. Guerilla Graphic Design has to do with using time, energy, and imagination to promote something, through the use of inexpensive design and marketing techniques, to target a message to a specific and small group to get them to take action. Advertising for the Opening Mass included five types of promotional pieces that utilized consistent branding and a unified, yet varied system of elements. For my project, I designed and produced both small and large posters, table tents, mini-bible labels, bookmark sets, and table tents.
stander symposium opening mass The Stander Symposium Opening Mass is the first event of the Symposium and occurs the day before. The mass brings together faculty, religious, and students in spiritual preparation for the Stander. In the past, the mass has been called, ‘Mass of the Holy Spirit.’ This year, however, the mass was simply titled, ‘Opening Mass.’ The event description, given to me by the client, included the Holy Spirit. It reads, “We celebrate together through the Opening Mass, which calls down the Spirit’s gifts of Wisdom, Learning, and Creativity to be the animating force for the research and creative performances at the Brother Joseph W. Stander Symposium.” I felt that the Holy Spirit remains a significant part of the mass. In my plans, I incorporated the Holy Spirit in my tagline, “celebrating the gifts of the Holy Spirit,” in a scripture passage that appears on a few of the designed, promotional elements, and as a part of my overall concept.
inspiration Originally, I began designing with the title, ‘Mass of the Holy Spirit,’ in mind. I was very inspired by the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord. I planned to design my elements around these seven gifts by creating each promotional piece in a series of seven. I was also inspired by the symbol of water for the Holy Spirit. Mark 1:8 says, “I baptized you with water, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In baptism, we receive the gifts of the Spirit and are reborn into God’s church. After concept sketches and research, I realized that the official title of this year’s mass was ‘Opening Mass.’ I communicated with the client and asked her if I could still incorporate the Holy Spirit into my advertisements because the description of the event seemed in line with the theme. She responded that it was fine to include the Holy Spirit as a theme. At this point, I adapted my concept of the seven gifts to the three mentioned in the event description: creativity, learning and wisdom. My promotional pieces would be designed in series of three. The Holy Spirit and baptism remained integral throughout my project, but I incorporated other themes to tie the project closer to the event description.
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design concept
proposal for design elements 1.
11 x 1 7 p o s t e r s
11x17 inch poster, 4 colors, one-side Hung in entrance of dining halls, the Chapel, Liberty Hall, and select residence halls The first promotional, displayed a week before the Stander 10 copies printed in the Copy Center and hung by me
2.
table tents
10 table tents of approved size/content, mass time information Dining hall tables in Marianist The second promotion coming out a few days after the poster Approved by Dining Services, delivered and set up personally
3.
gifts of the spirit mini-bibles
3x4.5 inch mini bibles with wrap-around labels (3 series labels that each display a different gift of the Holy Spirit), information about the mass included on label Residence Hall front desks Set out the weekend before the Stander Mass Approved by Residence Life, delivered and assembled by me
4.
bible bookmarks
Laser-cut bible bookmarks made containing Mass information on a wrap-around label The chapels around campus and Liberty Hall Set out the weekend before the Stander mass Printed, laser-cut, labels assembled by me
5.
large format posters
Three 16�x28� large format posters mounted by me on foamcore McGinnis on Sunday April 5, KU on Monday/Tuesday April 6–7 Stood on easels provided by Student Life, transported by me
photography I decided to use hands to represent the students who would be presenting at the Stander Symposium. Each set of hands are doing something different, each representing one of the three gifts of the Spirit. The hand with the candle (top) represents learning, the light that goes on inside us when we understand a complex idea. The hands playing the piano (bottom), represent human creativity. And finally, the hands with water (over), stand for wisdom, the gift of the Spirit that we receive at our baptism.
sketches
poster design In my original sketches, I incorporated water, people, and doves in a variety of ways to convey the essence of the Opening Mass and the Holy Spirit. I spent a lot of time working with icons to unify the branding of the promotional pieces. An icon that symbolized both water and a dove would be used to represent the Spirit. However, I began to branch out from my original idea and make the subject more broad, as the title was simply ‘Opening Mass.’ In order to do this, I came up with the idea to have a series of three photographs. The photography was an essential component to the overall poster design. The hands seen in the three photos vary based on skin tone, size, and jewelry. This represents the many varying appearances of God’s people. The photograph is the attention-grabbing element. It pulls the viewer in due to its subject matter and scale. The typography on the posters match one another and is meant to be subtle and elegant in nature. The typography does not overpower, but waits quietly for the viewer to see the image and look below to gather the information.
sketches
roughs
table tent design Table tents are a very common site on the dining hall tables. I knew that in order to catch a student’s eye while eating lunch, my table tents had to be unique and interesting. Since I chose to create bible bookmarks and minibible labels, I felt that a table tent that looked like a bible would fit well with the other promotional pieces. The table tents have a spine, an acordion folded side (resembling pages of a bible), a front cover, and a back cover. The front doubles as the cover of ‘the Holy Bible’ and provides quick Stander mass information. The back provides an event description, information about the three gifts of the Spirit, and social media handles.
sketches
roughs
mini bible design The Bible is an essential part of the mass and a very significant book for Christians. Mini bibles are convenient and good for those who are on the go. They can be brought to mass, used in prayer, and are small enough to fit in any bag. With this promotional piece, I really wanted to focus on creating something that I could give away. Free take aways allowed me to be able to send advertising for the Opening Mass home with someone as a reminder of the mass information.
sketches
bible bookmark design The bible bookmarks are another unifying element of the brand. I feel that they tie together all of the concepts in my design. Incorporating photographs, color, the stained glass pattern, and mass information, these bookmarks are key elements in the overall project. In the sketching phase, the bookmarks started out as ribbons. I struggled to figure out how to incorporate the information and unify the design. I next came up with the concept of corner bookmarks. These oragami designs are folded over the corner of a page. With the deadline, however, I felt that it would be too difficult for me to assemble a mass quantity of them. Next, I came up with the idea to create a pair of bookmarks, one with a solid color and die cut and the other with one of the three photographs. A wrap-around label would unify the design with the mini-bibles and leave plenty of room for mass information and photographs. The most unique part about this design element is the way they were made. I spoke with a friend of my professor who has a laser cutting machine. He agreed to cut the stained glass pattern and die cut edges of the bookmarks at a reduced rate. The machine took about two hours to make 60 bookmark sets. The bookmarks probably would not have been possible without the laser.
roughs
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implementation
project outcome This project taught me a lot and overall was a really fun and interesting experience. From working with a client, to laser cutting, and distribution, I gained a lot of valuable insight when it comes to brand cohesiveness, installation, and production. I’m really happy with the way my designs turned out. The fun colors paired with the unique photographs was my favorite aspect of this design. I also love the subtle, clean, and elegant typographic layout I implemented throughout the designs. I distributed the mini-bibles and bible bookmarks all across campus, and when I went back the next day, they were already gone. It’s a good feeling to know that someone wanted your designs and took them home to keep. This project was beneficial and enjoyable for a couple of different reasons. It was very valuable to work and communicate with a client on budgeting, information, etc. I also really enjoyed the fact that we got to pick two of our promotional pieces. It gave me a lot more freedom to think creatively and apply guerrilla graphic design concepts to my project.
budget copy center 11x17 posters to be printed at the copy center — $15.00 Bookmark printing at the Copy Center — $32.50
dollar tree Mini Bibles at $1.00 each, 24 total — $24.00
cpc printing Printed 11x17 paper prints for the table tents — $3.00 Printed labels for bible bookmarks — $2.00
marco’s paper 11x17 cardstock paper for the table tents, bookmarks, and labels — $20.31
united art education 3 30”x40” foam core panels — $18.50
tony beran woodworking Laser cut bookmarks at student discount rate — $75
t o t a l — $190.31
a special thanks to Kathy Kargl, Andrea Wade Clarissa Bock, Kaitlin Meme and Ellyn Davis