In the School of Art + Design, there are dozens of talented students worth noting. I’m fortunate enough to know and watch several students flourish into budding designers and artists since my freshman year. Since I’m a senior, I’d like to highlight a few seniors who are kicking ass in their final year. Their styles and personalities are unique to the content they create. With that being said, I can’t wait to see what they’ll accomplish in grad school, in their career, and beyond!
1. Morgan Dunn
She is a graphic design major with a mighty passion for musicals. This semester Morgan is learning new skills of other media in her Printmaking and Ceramics classes. One of her strongest projects this semester was a Screenprinting project inspired by graphic designer Paula Scher: “You have to be in a state of play to design. If you’re not, you can’t make anything.” She uses organically shaped elements on colored papers to complement the context of the quote.
2. Anna Korol
Anna is also a graphic design major, who is minoring in Business. Her entrepreneurial spirit and illustrative style has inspired her across a wide range of projects and pieces. For instance, one fall two years ago Anna began the Inktober drawing challenge, continued drawing past October and collated 365 doodles into a book that’s available on Amazon. She continues to doodle and post lighthearted illustrations on her Instagram. The one below is a great example of how she uses digital brushes to create textured typography amongst dynamic colors.
3. Sarah Ginnard
Sarah is a painting major who focuses much of her interest in embroidery work, with marks of traditional painting. Her attention to detail has been notable since I had Life Drawing with her sophomore year. The piece below is a mix of embroidery and acrylic paint on canvas. She tends to use the body as a subject, rendering them in multiple tones and colorful surroundings. The piece below is embroidered, with touches of gouache, acrylic, and dots of beads.
4. Jessica Badofsky
Jessica is a graphic design major, but she’s a multidisciplinary artist. Jessica, Morgan Dunn (who I mentioned earlier) and I are all in a Printmaking class together. She also has an interest in print design, digital work, and painting. This is an example of one of her paintings, in which she has painted a self-portrait. The large piece lends itself to show dynamic details like the glowing skin and highlighting on the face and hair.
5. Grace Turcich
She is a graphic design major who enjoys playing with different elements that focus on typography and bold compositions. She has been practicing and posting designs on her Instagram that use quotes, ideas, and phrases. This post aided to a more elaborate design for UIUC’s 8 to Create’s past exhibition.