CSM Team Earns National Awards for Moby Dick, Stop Kiss, Summer Catalog
Captain Ahab never landed the elusive Moby Dick in Herman Melvilles classic novel. That was not the case for the College of Southern Marylands Creative Services Department whose rendering of a poster to promote the CSM Childrens Theatre production of Moby Dick landed a Bronze Medallion of Excellence award and national recognition from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) in March.
In addition to Moby Dick, NCMPR presented bronze medallions to CSM for the theatrical poster for Stop, Kiss and the Summer 2013 Kids and Teen College catalog of courses.
It is always rewarding when peers recognize excellence and creativity at the national level. We are extremely honored to receive three awards for the efforts of our Marketing Department. The team works to ensure that the quality of their finished projects accurately reflect the high quality of CSMs programmingwhether it is a theater production, academic course or event for children. Their artistry plays a huge role in bringing people to our campuses, said CSM Vice President of Advancement Michelle Goodwin.
The creative force behind Moby Dick and Stop, Kiss is CSM Graphic Designer Lisa Jones.
As a child, Jones loved to draw, and play softball, and play the clarinet. I wanted to do it all, but I knew I had to do artit was more than a hobby, Jones said. My parents were supportive of my interest in art and encouraged me to be good and to keep working at it.
Jones earned a degree in animation and multimedia from the Art Institute of Washington and worked in magazine layout for The Salvation Army National Headquarters for six years before coming to CSM in 2012.
When Jones saw the schedule of theater performances for the 2012-13 academic year, she knew that she wanted the assignment for Moby Dick.
She envisioned a three-dimensional piece that would give movement to the waves, and a depth of field between the whale and the boat. She moistened scrapbook paper to create wrinkles and used balsa wood between sheets to make gaps to simulate the space between the rolling waves of the ocean.
For Stop, Kiss, Jones created a composite of three, black-and-white photos to depict the mood and site of a gentle first kiss and subsequent violent attack of the two female characters central to the play. Using Adobe Photoshop, Jones manipulated a photo of a New York City skyline, trees on a snowy evening and a solemn, snow-covered park bench illuminated by a streetlamp.
Lisa has a wonderfully creative mind and an amazing gift for graphically interpreting just about any narrative. She works extremely hard to perfect and advance her craft and is open to exploring new ways to become an even better designer, said CSM Creative Director Michael Shelton. Once Lisa understands the parameters and limits to consider for a project, I encourage her to maximize the possibilities in her design and to have fun along the way. Her work on the Moby Dick poster is certainly an outstanding example of her fine work.
The catalog for Kids and Teen College was designed by Junior Graphic Designer Katherine Reyes.
I was always into art in high school, said Reyes, who was a member of the National Art Honor Society.
Reyes took her first graphic art class at CSM in the fall of 2009 and became a student assistant in the Marketing Department in the spring. She earned associate degrees in art and general studies in 2012 and is considering transfer to Towson University for a bachelors degree.
When I took my first graphic art class I wasnt sure it was what I wanted. I found out that Im good at it and it makes me happy, she said.
When Reyes was given the assignment to design the 2013 Kids and Teen College catalog Shelton told her to have fun.
She chose graphic symbols to depict course areas such as cooking, sports, science, dance, arts and crafts and video gaming. The most time-consuming aspect of the project was culling through thousands of photos to locate ones with the emotion, action, color and size to fit her design concept.
Katies creative concept of the Kids and Teen College catalog and Lisas clever designs for Moby Dick and Stop, Kiss, were chosen from hundreds of entries by a national organization. On any given day, Lisa and Katie have a dozen projects they are working onand even more that they are contemplating. I am thrilled their works were showcased and recognized among the best in the country, said CSM Senior Executive Marketing Director Theresa Johnson.
Images used in the Kids and Teen College catalog and the Moby Dick poster were from CSM Lead Photographer Valerie Nyce, recipient of an NCMPR Gold Medallion of Excellence for original photography in 2012.
For information on CSM, visit www.csmd.edu.