Launch Student Showcase
Poster Design | Branding
Launch is the Spring 2023 student exhibition from Austin Community College Department of Visual Communication, featuring work from graduating students, including Graphic and Visual Design portfolios and UI/UX case studies. The community is invited to meet the designers of the future as they prepare to launch their careers.
Challenge: To design the branding and marketing materials for the Spring 2023 student showcase, including working with the department to select a name for the event, designing the poster and print collateral, and developing some basic brand guidelines.
Inspiration & Ideation
Moodboard
“Launch” was one of the early ideas for the event title, encompassing students launching their careers and the VisCom department launching its new portfolio website. Additionally, the 50th anniversary of the college was a point of inspiration. This led me in a retro space direction when searching for visual inspiration.
Sketches
I explored several variations on the space theme, as well as some abstract and retro inspired designs, and a few other concepts that emerged from the idea of moving on to the next adventure in life. After presenting my sketches to the department, Launch was solidified as the name of the show and some of the rocket sketches were selected to develop into digital drafts.
Digital Drafts
I presented three poster options to the stakeholders, and after receiving notes, I moved forward with the blue rocket poster with NASA inspired typeface and retro-style rocket trail. The next updates included adding a pop of orange and adjusting the layout to create better hierarchy of information and a more dynamic composition.
Final Design
Reflection
I really enjoyed this opportunity to work with the Visual Communication department on a project that is meaningful to me as one of the students participating in the show. I feel that the final design is a synthesis of my original vision and creative direction from the department. It is very exciting to see the results of this process in action. If I could add anything to this project, I would have loved to design some swag items for the event.