My progress on this project wasn't what I'd hoped for in the beginning stages. I wasn't sure how to direct my creative energy so that my designs truly "went wild." I started by drawing sketches based on random words: yarn, car, telescope, lightbulb, snake, diagram, and so on. The word that stuck out to me the most was "shark." I decided to follow my instincts and pursue a design featuring a shark. I struggled at first with this concept. There are a lot of preconceptions about sharks and how to depict them. All of my first proposals were either cliché or too dark. It was late one night as I was working on this project that I finally tied the most thrilling two words together: shark and motorcycle.
The Paper Jam posters consisted of UCO Design student works, and were part of a series that were hung all over Oklahoma. My posters, along with nine other students' posters, were selected to be printed and distributed. Paper Jam is both a concert and a fundraiser for a new UCO School of Design facility. Promotion from the student body is crucial to Paper Jam's sucess.
Along with an eye-catching poster, I was asked to design social media content to further promote Paper Jam. I came up with a Facebook cover and a set of Instagram posts for this purpose.
While it was a challenge initially, and I wasn't sure how to steer my inspiration, Paper Jam proved to be one of my greatest accomplishments. My professors were pleased with what I brought to the table. Though they admitted that even they weren't sure how I was going to piece it together at first, they expressed confidence and compliments that my finished designs were going to be a hit!
