A recent project from the popular Civic Design course was a "Get Out the Vote” poster design, which takes on a larger ‘civic duty’ meaning. Students were asked to design posters that are part of the Hawks Vote initiative, which encourages students to register to vote and provides voting resources for the upcoming election on Nov. 5.
The process for the students’ projects involved an initial brainstorm, multiple drafts, as well considerations for how the intended audience might view the poster and its visual messaging. Questions were brought up in the process such as: Does the design and messaging engage the viewer? Would the viewer be compelled to vote? Would the audience be excited? Would the poster design or message provoke other emotions? How effective should the poster be? Ultimately, the primary objective of getting people to register and/or vote (regardless of political affiliation) was the intended goal.
As many University students will be voting for the first time, for many of the HAS students involved in this project, this project had an added layer of personal connection and meaning. Following the design process, a final part of the stage was the critique, where students shared insight to their peers about their entire creative process. This included sharing their own motivations and thought process to what inspired them. Some included external inspirations from their research ranging from contemporary artists to historical graphic design pieces, while others wove in UHart slogans or collegiate design elements or references. Ultimately, after refinements were made, a selection of some of the students’ final designs are now on display through Nov. 5 on some of the windows of the Harry Jack Gray Center.
More information on the Hawks Vote can be found here, including FAQ’s, as well as additional resources.
Special thanks to HAS faculty Michael Scricco, and students Halle Angell, Julia Cyr, Camren Ferguson, Hannah French, Aarik GoogeRochester, Caroline Graubert, Millie Hamlin, Sandy Le, Dyani Maldonado, Neira Mehmedovic, Emily Milano, and Gabriel Roberts.