Student research leads to bike share program graphics

Students in Associate Professor of Art Stacy Asher’s advanced Graphic Design III course last spring designed graphics for a Boulder, Colorado, bike sharing program.

Bike sharing, provided by Boulder B-cycle, entails a large fleet of ready to ride bicycles located at stations across Boulder. The bicycles are publicly available for shared use for a short period of time for a fee. Boulder’s fleet includes pedal-assisted electric ebikes. It is similar to Lincoln’s BikeLNK bike sharing program.

“I have some people that I’ve been working with doing some commission design work and consulting on communication strategies and visual systems,” Asher said. “So when they were talking about their needs, they have so many stories to tell about the new bikes coming out. They want to promote that, but also the bike sharing system to find solutions to alleviate the heavy problems they have with parking and traffic congestion. They’re really trying to push micro mobility. They wanted to promote this, but didn’t have a budget to hire graphic designers. I thought our graphic design students could do a really good job at making some graphics that could promote the electric bikes and also bike sharing in general.”

Their assignment included a large-scale, two-sided poster; decals for the kiosk to explain the bike sharing process; and social media posts and headers for Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

“The goal of the project was to increase awareness of transportation needs in small cities like Omaha, Lincoln and Boulder, Colorado,” said Connor Bruggeman, a senior graphic design major. “And to visually communicate effectively the need to reduce carbon emissions, ease urban stress from parking and traffic, and provide enjoyment for commutes using electric bicycles.”

Asher said students also learned valuable research skills.

“This is a really great research project,” Asher said. “I think they learned a lot more than just how to make a poster. And they came up with really great solutions, and they’re all so unique. That’s what I love about it.”

Halley Geist, a senior majoring in both graphic design and advertising and public relations, began by researching what Boulder B-Cycle was about.

“I looked at their website, social media and blog for that information,” she said. “I then dove deeper into the community of Boulder, Colorado, to see what their lifestyle looked like. After that, I researched the environmental impact cars have on our planet, as well as the benefits of cycling for both the environment and overall health. Stacy provided us with some really insightful articles to help kickstart the research process.” Bruggeman said this assignment was a great way for students to get real-world experience. “Stacy gave us an incredible opportunity,” he said. “As a designer, this project gave me more experience with launching a new item and the

WE’VE GONE ELECTRIC different things we designed had to have a cohesive narrative or foundation that could be used …I researched the environmental beyond what we created. For example, the character I made as part of my design was this bear impact cars have on our on a bicycle, and it was designed with the intent of them being able to use that bear for other planet, as well as the benefits of The goal of the project was to increase awareness of transportation needs in small cities like social media posts, if they were inclined to do so.” Geist said working with a realworld client is different from designing for a class project. “Not only are you designing something that is aesthetically pleasing to you, but also to the cycling for both the environment and overall health.” Omaha, Lincoln and Boulder, Colorado.” client you’re working for,” she said. “Being able to look at what kind of style a company already has in place and then expanding on that is a valuable skill to have going into the workforce.”  ■

Halley Geist’s social media designs. “It is so important that we stay knowledgeable on the differences that we can make within our community that will have a bigger impact on the world around us,” she said.