Fourteen Peck School students from our Design and Visual Communication program will be part of the Poster Presentation at the 2013 Sustainability Summit on March 6 and 7 at the Delta Center, with expected attendance of more than 3400 people. Our students' innovative companies, products and services were created in a senior level undergraduate course, Graphic Design 2 - a class designed to inspire students in ways that traditional assignments involving hypothetical clients simply do not.
ABOUT THE STUDENT PROJECTS:
1 Project: bikeMKE
Student: Brian Kingsbury
Bio: Brian Kingsbury is a graphic design student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His knowledge of print design, web design, and animation-based design allows him to create a variety of unique projects. He is not afraid to learn new skills and has experimented with art ranging from printmaking and sculpture to physical computing and interactive installations. Having knowledge of these practices helps him bring new and interesting ideas to the table. While he excels at computer-based projects he also enjoys building things manually whether it is out of wood, plastic, or metal. These skills make him a well-rounded artist with a plethora of design knowledge.
Abstract: bikeMKE is a mobile application designed to make biking convenient, safe, and enjoyable for Milwaukee residents. The app can help anyone from a downtown office-worker who wants to commute to work, to a busy mom who wants to take a leisurely ride with her kids. bikeMKE allows users to bike safely around Milwaukee by providing ratings of bike lane availability, as well as the quality and condition of roads, embedded onto user-friendly Google Maps. For added convenience, the app also provides users with a map of nearby bike shops, should a biking mishap ever occur.
Additionally, users are able to view the locations of nearby thefts of bikes and bike parts so that they can leave their bikes only in safe locations. By making biking more accessible and enjoyable, bikeMKE can help Milwaukee residents save money, improve their health, and save the environment.
2 Project: Sunergy
Student: Drew Koch
Bio: Drew Koch is a Graphic Design student at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. His knowledge of design comes from both the classroom and the real world. Drew has worked with a number of clients in my times with Savage Solutions LLC and UWM Marketing Operations. His interest for design was sparked by my interest in marketing. He gained marketing experience through an internship with the Milwaukee Bucks. There, Drew was able to combine his love of sports with his interest in the marketing world. These experiences have helped me to be a crucial part of the design process as an individual and also as part of a team. I consider myself to be a self-motivated and ambitious designer with skill sets in multiple areas. I am a specialist in brand identity and visual communication, with skills in editorial design, illustration, and advertising. I combine all these talents to come up with the best solution for the project at hand.
Abstract: The Sunergy brand was created to not only aid those who participate in outdoor activities, but also to shine light on some of the benefits of using natural sources. In today’s world, we are fascinated with technology and often depend on our electronics in our daily lives. Keeping these electronics charged with power is critical. When using the outdoors, it is important to have a source of communication and direction by your side. With Sunergy, the worry is gone. Keep your electronics powered with clean and free energy.
3 Project: civictivity
Student: Stephen Stoffel
Bio: Stephen Stoffel is a graphic and motion graphic artist from Madison, Wisconsin. Now living in Milwaukee, he is a senior at UWM-Milwaukee planned to graduate in Spring 2013 with a BFA focused on Graphic Design. Outside of school Stephen is a freelance graphic designer and also works as a designer for UWM’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning (SARUP). Stephen is interested in DIY, fueled by his work as a technician/teacher at UWM SARUP's woodshop.
Abstract: Milwaukee has a strong running community. They have expressed their preference in running together in some other website communities. However, these communities lack the specific features that are needed for a certain city. Running in a city can become isolating for anyone new to either the activity or location. Runners often look for other runners to provide them with safe areas to run, encouragement, and company. Civictivity is there to cure all these ailments that have been failed to be cured by larger websites that leave the user feeling the same way they do when starting out to run or running in a new community – lost and lonely.
Civitivity’s features are organized to get the runner in you out into the neighborhood you call home. Start out by mapping out a run and viewing where most people in your community run. After that you can discover the community of runners on the website and either form running partners or teams. Use Civictivity’s running community to find events for great causes such as 5k's supporting charity. All while you do this you can make goals to keep your self-motivated and in check. With these tools, Milwaukee can become a healthier, safer, and more familiar place for its runners.
4 Project: rivit
Student: Jim Gilbertson
Bio: Jim is a Graphic Design student at UW-Milwaukee. His early design experience was an exposure to the technical end of graphic design and production from computer, to press, to finishing and binding. His assistant designer position at Brandt Printing expanded his knowledge to client relations and project management. His position designing for Admissions and Recruitment at UWM offered him time to fully develop high distribution projects, plan photo shoots, and do “big picture” thinking. His use of photography and illustration bring spontaneity, real light, shadow, and dimension into his work, complimenting his linear minimalist tendencies.
He is headed in the direction of motion graphics, video work, and web design, where he has less experience but greater curiosity for a medium with unlimited possibilities. Responding to an economy anchored in planned obsolescence, he hopes to apply his skills to projects that improve lives by offering sustainable and/or long lasting goods and services.
Abstract: Rivit provides an opportunity for the curiously minded to create, collaborate on, and experience a new type of mapping. This mobile platform application has three main divisions of functionality; BIOMES (personal maps), the BIOSPHERE (collective maps from local to global scale), and EXPEDITIONS (pre-built scavenger maps). Within BIOMES, the user creates a new map from scratch, plotting points of interest using photos, videos, drawings, or text entries to create experience based way-points (rivits) and illustrating their surroundings with a live paint toolbar.
The BIOSPHERE takes things to the next level by allowing users to share and combine maps within a global landscape. EXPEDITIONS are pre-built educational maps where the user attempts to trace the steps of planned adventures. There is an all encompassing achievement system where users receive badges for particular accomplishments. Users can track their personal progress and see how they stack up against fellow adventurers.
5 Project: plated pear
Student: Melissa Taylor
Bio: Melissa Taylor is a graphic designer. She is a gregarious person that loves nothing more than combining individual hard work and collaborating with a team. With her set of leadership skills, she enjoys keeping groups on topic and moving quickly, while not dominating conversation. Melissa can help groups remain concentrated and stay motivated, while still having fun. Graphic design to her is about producing a unique, beautiful, edgy design that intrigues anyone who sees it. Through expressive color use, intriguing typography, and innovative layouts, she differentiates herself from other designers. To quote Melissa, “I love design, because it can be used to change people's lives; we can use design to push both the industry and consumers forward.”
Abstract: Plated Pear encourages smart use of food in the consumer’s household, reducing food waste and its effects on budget, energy, and methane emissions by bringing attentions to consumer’s food. This is achieved through alerts on expiration dates, allowing input of groceries, & providing tips on food storage.
This app helps reduce food waste & improves our environment by lowering emissions from waste & can leave your pocket an average of $1,200 fuller annually.
6 Project: keep
Student: Sam Sieger
Bio: Sam Sieger is a designer and illustrator, and currently a senior in the graphic design program at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. His work has a distinct personality that combines illustration and design in fun, interesting ways. He takes inspiration from artists such as Charley Harper and The Little Friends of Printmaking. Sam currently works as a design intern at Alterra Coffee Roasters. He has been described as bird-like, angular, and a modern-day Twiggy.
Abstract: Keep is a home or office organizational system that is environmentally responsible (made from 100% recycled material), modular, and aesthetically beautiful.
7 Project: Solair
Student: Valeri Rossi
Bio: Valerie Rossi is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee enrolled in the Design and Visual Communication Program. She has worked with two very well known companies in Milwaukee such as Johnson Controls and MeyerWallis, where she has developed an expertise in strategic advertising communication; including the areas of branding, identity and promotional work. She works with mainly print and has dabbled in the realm of web design.
Valerie has developed a strong skill set in communicating ideas through print media by going through a step by step process which includes an idea from the very beginning stages to the end result. She has worked with multiple clients and has expanded her knowledge of the different varieties and qualities one must attain in order to work with an array of people demanding different and distinct styles. This is where her branding and identity senses came from where she learned how to adapt her own unique style of graphic design to put it towards an advertiser's perspective.
Abstract: The retro solar powered fan that will heighten the excitement of sustainable energy in younger generations. How so you ask? Because Solair runs off of pure energy from the sun and has no need to be plugged in. Just place the fan on the ledge of the window during the day and turn it on for those moments when you need a cool breeze. The sun rays will generate an electric charge that can be stored to run the fan.
The main intent for Solair is to introduce knowledge about solar panels and solar energy. This is an immense topic that needs to be brought down to easily understandable practices that relate to younger generations. A fan is a perfect necessity that college freshmen use and it will spark interest in this topic, thus preparing them for larger scale use of sustainable energy in the future.
8 Project: TranSit
Student: Marquayla Ellison
Bio: Marquayla Ellison is a senior at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Peck School of the Arts, majoring in Graphic Design. She has taken classes in the School or Architecture and Urban Planning at UWM and found a deep interested in design structures, ornamentation, and interior design. Marquayla is a Milwaukee native who enjoys cooking, spending time with her family, and doing community service. Outside of school she owns her own freelance business, Ellastic Designs, LLC, is President of the AIGA - UWM and treasurer of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. Marquayla is interested color, typography, social media, and branding. After graduation in May, Marquayla plans to work for a small design firm while developing her business to eventually start up her own firm in the next five years.
Abstract: In Graphic Design II we are asked to design a product. I chose to work within the category of energy, where I did research and listed different topics within energy that were interesting to me and worth exploring further. I was very interested in transportation because I drive, ride the bus, and bike to work. How can we encourage more Milwaukee residents to ride the bus? My research involved reading the Milwaukee County Transit's Annual reports, journals on transportation and alternative transportation, and visiting websites dedicated to metro transportation systems. From this research and my experience as bus rider, I wanted to create a better bus shelter design as the resolution to my research question.
TranSit is an innovative bus shelter. This shelter is solar powered to provide heating in the winter, lighting at night, and power the digital signage on the panels. The panels are the most unique element of the shelter. The side panels offer advertisement space, a map of bus line each shelter services, a live countdown that can be view from a distance, and also the time of next three bus arrivals. The middle panel will display a transparent LCD screen of the entire Bus system. Lastly, each shelter will have a green roof, which is a change to see a green roof on a lower level and help with air quality with TranSits located all over the city.
9 Project: Spröt
Student: Amy Malcom
Bio: Amy Malcolm is a student designer with an eye for simple, elegant design. She strives to understand the people she is designing for and how to convey the right image. Amy is inspired to use her talents to help people realize that good design can change how individuals see things. She has a natural eye for color and texture in design. Amy is versed in the Adobe suite and has some knowledge of web design. She currently works in UW-Milwaukee's Union Marketing as a student designer. From a young age, Amy has been attracted to the artistic world through drawing with her mother. This attraction stuck throughout high school and through talking to her teachers she discovered that it would be appropriate to go down the path of a graphic designer. She enrolled into UW-Milwaukeeʼs undergraduate design program to pursue that path. Through trial and error, Amy has learned how to use design elements such as research, brainstorming, and self-restraint. She feels that each design she makes propels her further into the professional design world.
Abstract: The Spröt was designed to help people with limited space outdoors, such as renters, to grow produce in their homes. The Spröt is a three-tiered triangular planter that can fit in a corner of a room, tucked away to save space in an already cramped environment. Each of the tiers is enclosed and has a drawer that pulls out for easy access to plants, and also easy cleaning. A door at the bottom provides space for storing fertilizer and other gardening supplies. The Spröt uses grow lights to help the plants get enough light daily and stay healthy in a dark environment. The planter has shades that block the light bulbs and provide a muted glow to light the apartment space. Provided as two durable stackable sections, the Spröt can be easily moved from apartment space to apartment space without having to be taken completely apart. The Spröt comes with a plastic planter in each drawer to protect from a mess, and provide drainage to the growing plants. With the help of the Spröt there will be fresh produce growing in your home in no time!
10 Project: Expedition Wisconsin
Student: Brea Heth
Bio: Brea Heth was born and raised in Whitewater, WI. She began studying graphic design at Gateway Technical College, graduating with an Associateʼs Degree in 2009. She decided to further her education at UW-Milwaukee while gaining internship and freelance experience along the way, working with companies such as Johnson Bank, Marcus Theatres, and Future Business Leaders of America.
Brea enjoys using design not only as an art form, but as a way to make the world better by organizing information into a clear, sensical, and beautiful way.
Abstract: Expedition Wisconsin is a website focused on bringing families together to create long lasting memories through nature-based travel in Wisconsin. The website is an aggregate of all the outdoor fun that Wisconsin has to offer, from state parks to nature craft workshops. Expedition Wisconsin brings together destinations, events, recipes, and game ideas. A user can simply browse and search these categories, or get more in-depth by creating an account. A user with an account can save their favorite items to create expeditions (travel plans) that can be printed, emailed, or posted to Facebook. These expeditions include a map of all the destinations and events and checklists to keep everything in order. Expedition Wisconsin makes it easy to find information about the outdoor destinations in Wisconsin, including hours, fees, and campsite reservation links. Users can even filter their results based on age range to make sure they are planning a trip that works for the whole family.
11 Project: Forget Me Knot
Student: Ava Wachter
Bio: Ava is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she is getting her BFA in Design and Visual Communication and minor in Art History. With a passion for all things art and design, she spends most of her time on school work, but the little time that is not spent on school is used to do freelance work for different clients, friends and family. Growing up, Ava was surrounded by artists. Her main influence was her grandmother Carol, the watercolor artist. Ava found beauty in this timeless technique and has been practicing watercolor since her freshman high school art class.
After Ava graduates this May she hopes to find a job working for a publishing company, creating, painting and or designing different book covers. Her other ideal job would be working for a magazine doing editorial design. Ava disagrees with those pessimists out there that say publication is dead! She believes that as long as there are people out there like her, people who like to feel the pages of a book, newspaper or magazine, the printed word will fight on.
Abstract: Forget Me Knot is an application I have developed that will help those who suffer from memory loss. It provides a calendar to help remind them of appointments, as well as other important dates, a journal to help record their thoughts, it also provides a to do list to help keep track of important tasks.
Forget Me Knot is also catered to the family members and friends of someone who suffers from memory loss. It makes it easier to keep in touch with one another, while allowing them to keep track of their loved one.
12 Project: Green Owl
Student: Cathylynne Ahlguen
Bio: Cathylynne Ahlgren is currently in her senior year as a graphic design student at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Her skills are drawn from a wide variety of experiences. Working retail and various service jobs during her high school and early college years has given her the people skills to effectively communicate with clients and colleagues. As a former employee of the UWM Post she worked as both Page Editor and Auxiliary designer. Currently a student and intern with Company B Brand Marketing, it is rare if her day doesn't involve design. Her latest work has been the creation and the design of the Green Owl brand and app.
Abstract: Green Owl shows that with small lifestyle changes, you can make a positive impact on our environment. Simple, eco-friendly, actions are its focus. This app lets you track your habits such as recycling, turning off the lights, and taking the bus. Viewing your progress shows your current impact and encourages you to improve.
UWMʼs Design and Visual Communication Program is dedicated to creating new career opportunities and jobs for its students and the City of Milwaukee.
For more information about the UWM Design Entrepreneur Showcase go to:
www.uwmdes.com
For more information about the Design and Visual Communication program at UW-Milwaukee go to:
www.uwm.edu/~kbeckman/
For further information, contact:
Kim Beckmann: kbeckman@uwm.edu
and/or
Amy Decker: deckera@uwm.edu
