For a few years the graphic design program has produced all the artwork and advertising for the “Year of” lecture series on campus, but many people are unaware of what happens behind the scenes during preparation of this production.

Graphic design instructor and “Year of” coordinator, Svetlana Kasalovic states that it is important for people to know how the “Year of” is put together, and how much student involvement there is.

“We brainstorm with our students to find visual solutions,” said Kasalovic. “We spoke with Stephanie Otani-Sunamoto [a former intern] on ways to create a visual representation of schizophrenia. It was an exemplary [example] of what we were looking for.”

Students are given a lot of freedom to design the topics they are assigned through an internship or class project that is advised by graphic design instructors Kasalovic and Susan Gardner.

Students and faculty collaborate in multiple ways to make sure that each “Year of” lecture’s message is conveyed into one poster. She discussed the importance of communicating the idea across, in particular regarding a lecture on schizophrenia.

“Her [the speaker’s] whole lecture was to communicate how it felt to live with schizophrenia,” Kasalovic said. “It was important for us to use this poster as an invitation and it was important for the illustration to be accurate.”

It is important for the viewer of the poster to understand and get a sense of what any of the lectures are trying to say.

“This design challenge allows the students to create illustrations that communicate messages,” said Gardner. “The students really “dig deep” to find images that tell the stories of these events. We push the students very really hard because, clearly, these messages have to be on target and have to be understood by all the population of Moorpark.”

Kasalovic coordinates the entire “Year of” events, the designing process, thinking of ideas for lectures and collaborations with other programs. Students from the Graphic Design and Multimedia program, Journalism, Photography, Art and FTVM all play a part in the success of this “Year of” lecture series.

“Everyone is welcome to participate in the design process,” said Kasalovic. “We allow students to use their illustrations, their photos and anything else. All art programs are invigorated to help out.”

Students enrolled in the graphic design internship class are building their professional portfolios with their illustrations and graphic design projects.

“It’s an opportunity for students to have their work highly visible on campus and interact with the campus community professionally,” Kasalovic said.

In some of the graphic design classrooms, the ‘Year of’ lecture events are allocated as assignments.

“Students get to design their own templates and work on that as well,” said Gardener.

Students are really involved in the designing and creative process of the ‘Year of’ posters as well as the producing of content with a digital prepress.

“Since we don’t have a prepress class, they are able to work with the printing department,” said Gardner. “Kerry Mehle at the print shop works with the students and teaches them how to prepare the work for print. And it is great for their resume because they can say they have experience in prepress.”

For more information on the ‘Year of” series and how to get involved with the graphic design program, please visit http://www.mcwebspace.net/theyearof/wellness/ or email Professor Kasalovic at [email protected].