On March 6, Baldwin Wallace University’s visual communication design department hosted its 10th annual Graphic Design Senior Exhibition entitled “Threshold,” showcasing the digital design and multimedia marketing skills of seven graduating students.
However, this year the event was hosted in Kamm Hall following the department’s relocation from the Kleist Center for Art and Drama. While the loss of Fawick Gallery presented an added challenge for this year’s presenters, Digital Media Design Coordinator Erica Lull said her students worked diligently to prepare for the showcase despite the change in venue.
“I think that moving away from that creative space… has been a very rough change of directive,” said Lull. “I also think that the closing of the art department, which is what VCD (visual communication design) was a part of, was really harsh for our students. [But] I am going to say that the move has been positive. We’ve done really great. I think we are doing really great.”
With the introduction of a senior preparatory course this year as well as their required portfolio review class, students worked to refine their previous designs, preparing material needed for interviews over an 8-week period. During this time, the seven students deliberated on a theme that they felt represented their transition from college life to the workforce, eventually choosing graphic design student Marzena Krulik’s suggested word, “threshold.”
“Threshold, as in a doorway, means you are on the edge or precipice of something in the past, reaching towards what we’re gonna call a ‘time threshold’ because we are leaving, and graduating, and we’re closing this chapter and we’re walking into a new doorway,” said Krulik.
Each student was designated a role for the marketing of the exhibition along with preparing their own booths with flyers, brochures, websites, business cards, logos, and other products created during their time at BW. Krulik, for instance, designed and managed the event’s social media page and made postcards while also displaying her own work, including her custom art supply boxes and labeled ramen cooking kit.
“Since we’re in Kamm, it’s a new space. They’re taking us under their wing and letting us into their space, and they don’t actually understand graphic design,” Krulik said. “They’re like, ‘Who are you? We’re business, what’s graphic design?’ And I’m like, ‘Everything is graphic design.’ But they actually got to see it and understand how much work is being put into everything behind the scenes.”
Though Lull said the recent changes to the department have kept her on her toes, she was proud to see the end result of her students’ hard work.
“Do not underestimate them,” Lull said. “They do a lot of work for each project and put in a lot of time and what you see in the end took hours and hours and hours of research, steps, rendering, and work to get to.”
