michael elizabeth johnson University of Nebraska Graphic Design/Journalism Sophomore, Spring 2015
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N A K S A R B E N DAILY
K R O W L A N PROMOTIO
I designed the staff shirt for the Daily Nebraskan, the newspaper where I’ve worked since I was a freshman. The DN asked the illustrators to each design a shirt so that everyone at the paper could vote on their favorite. At some point during our brainstorming session we thought it would be funny all our designs had cats in them. For some reason, cats are the unofficial mascot for the DN illustrators (the writers have giraffes). No matter which design was picked, we decided, the shirts would have a cat in them.
(Right) I have done several series of promotional buttons for the Daily Nebraskan. The top trio I made for the campus housing fair, and to the right are the ones for the third annual DN fashion show. Both sets are collages of pictures I cut out of a 1960s children’s illustrated dictionary, arranged, and scanned.
DAILY NEBR
DA
I was overjoyed to be hired as an illustrator at the Daily Nebraskan my freshman year. Not only did I land a job in both majors, but I achieved my childhood dream of getting paid to draw. It’s a job which has taught me a lot about the importance of collaboration and brainstorming, as well as
LEFT: IFC votes to reject social policy RIGHT: UNL’s most, least popular majors for amendment that would allow diluted liquor fall 2014, 10.29.14. at Greek events, 3.18.15. Ink on paper, colored digitally. Ink on paper, colored digitally
RASKAN
AILY WORK budgeting my time. After I’m given a story that needs an illustration, I typically have around two hours to conceptualize, design, color, and upload my illustration to the server. My performance affects others. If my illustration is late, the story might not get into the paper.
LEFT: UNL international students express challenge of assimilating to American culture, 3.12.15. Paper-cut.
RIGHT: KUKLINSKI: Gender identity, stories shouldn’t be dismissed, 1.22.15. Ink and colored pencil on paper
LEFT: 2014 fashion showcased positive movement, setbacks in equal measure, 1.14.15. Watercolor and ink on paper.
RIGHT: Here’s a new way to be aware of your health and wellness, 1.27.15. Ink on paper, colored digitally. LOWER: Nebraska voters pass minimum wage initiative, 11.4.14. Ink on paper, colored digitally
KICKING OFF
MUSIC GAMES FOOD
S R E T S PO
SUsTAINiVaL
I’m often sought out by various student organizations on campus to create posters and advertisements for their events. This was done for the Environmental Sustainability Committee (ESC). This April, 2015, they’re launching Earthstock, four weeks of programs encouraging
students to be greener. Earthstock’s logo is two hands holding a globe, in a style very reminiscent of the 1969 Woodstock poster. I kept with this style, and included a variation of their logo in the ice cream cone.
E C I T S U J L A I C SO
In the wake of Ferguson during the winter of 2014, I created an interactive, social practice piece. I invited my community to simply voice their opinion. The Night Owl Pub gave me wall space to put the poster up in their monthly art gallery. Race is a controversial topic, so I designed the poster’s yes-no questions to be as un-biased as possible. I also provided stickers for people to cast their votes with, rather than a pencil or marker, so that nobody would be tempted to write anything potentially insulting.
Making my own clothes has always been a fashionable, creative way to save money. In fall 2014, I designed for my first fashion show, a benefit for the nonprofit Fresh Start. Fresh Start is a transitional women’s shelter. All proceeds benefitted them and the only rule was that all the clothes had to be recycled from thrift stores. I repurposed some drapes and a simple top to make a suspender skirt with matching blouse. I modeled for myself and the judges awarded my designs “Most Innovative.”
In the fall of 2014, five friends and I entered our University’s 72-hour film festival. We had 3 days to write, edit, and act a 7-min film. We titled it “Murder Most Fowl” and it was frantic, fantastic fun. I designed the costume (seen below) for our movie’s monster: a demon bird who may have been the product our hero’s own guilty conscience all along. I made the mask out of cardboard and paper-mache that I painted. The rest of the costume I created out of trashbags and a scarf.
My favorite in-class project from my freshman year, Spring 2014, was when my art class got the chance to design 3x life size Styrofoam puppet heads for a local production of “Daisy Pulls if Off!” We were given the script and little else, but the whole class worked together to come up with cohesive character designs. Working on this scale and getting to see my hard work in action on stage was amazing! It was during this project that I first became interested in the idea of wearable sculpture.
IQSCM INTERNS
My sophomore year I interned with the International Quilt Study Center and Museum, which houses world’s largest single collection of quilts. I and a partner worked through the Fall semester to research and design new museum guides for the IQSCM. The museum in on UNL’s campus, but the typical museum goer is in their 60s. Students don’t visit because quilts don’t seem relevant to them, so our goal was to engage a younger demographic to visit an underused resource.
HIP
Our second semester we spend working on advertising and marketing, the culmination of which was the first Friday on March 6, 2015. We are currently still analyzing our data, but the event seemed incredibly successful. In addition to working with various PR personnel throughout the city, we created stickers, buttons, posters, and flyers. Despite our limited budget, we were able to order all of these things in time for the show.
PHONE: EMAIL: POSITION: AVAILABILITY:
515.556.2667 m.e.johnson613@gmail.com Intern May 18th- Aug 7th 2015
Available for interview via phone, skype, and google hangout.