New Talent Elevates Their Design Game

These three New Talent entries are already on top of their game, getting in early and getting a head start! Check out how they are pushing boundaries through their inventive approaches to assignments including Brutalism, the French Fold, and candy packaging. 

Uncovering the Beauty of Brutalism

Trevett McCandliss challenged students at Kean University to create a poster or series that would promote an upcoming symposium and exhibit about brutalist architecture. It was an opportunity for students to explore visual analogies between design, typography, and the structure of brutalist architecture and gain an understanding of how to apply design principles in unexpected ways.

Student Carlos DeLeon’s project “Urban Space” (above, left) is an outstanding example that showcases the creative application of design principles. He applied knowledge of typography and contemporary design principles to explore how the visual elements of brutalism could be represented in print form, delving into intricate details such as line weight, texture, contrast, scale, and color palette. The result is a bold interpretation that feels as unified and modular as its architectural counterpart.

Brutalist design is a design style that emerged in the post-World War II era and is characterized by raw materials and simple shapes. Its structures often have an unfinished, rough texture and are made of heavy-looking materials with straight lines and small windows. Modular components are typically combined to create specific functional areas, creating an overall unified form. This brutalist style has been utilized for many buildings, from residential dwellings to cultural institutions, as it emphasizes strength and simplicity. It also conveys an air of solemnity, as the hard angles and surfaces evoke emotions of stoicism and steadfastness.

DeLeon produced outstanding results thanks to this project, and the resulting poster offers valuable insight into the striking features of brutalist architecture.

ArtCenter French-Fold Poster/Brochure Challenge

Finding creative solutions that fit into a confined space can be difficult. Professor Simon Johnston’s recent project at the ArtCenter College of Design challenged students with just that in an assignment to create a poster that doubles as a 16-page French-fold brochure. With limited room and fold lines splitting up text and images, students were to navigate a strict hierarchy of information while still finding ways to express their creativity in this unorthodox format.

A poster-brochure hybrid can be a great way to convey essential information with limited creative space. Still, the hierarchy of the content must remain logical and efficient in both orientations due to the folds. For this mashup to work correctly, student Alan Xu also factored in how certain elements, like text or images, appear when folded, which requires additional consideration compared to traditional posters or brochures. It took some trial-and-error experimentation to get everything looking polished, but taking the time to consider these possibilities beforehand helped prevent cumbersome inconveniences down the line.

As a result, Xu was able to take advantage of this restriction to his advantage. With the brochure’s size in mind, he created a grid system that gave him a clear idea of where he needed to put typographic and graphic elements based on understanding the brochure’s dimensions. As part of the design for “Other Futures Poster/Brochure” (above, right), the main title of the movie and each movie entry were arranged systematically and chronologically in an alternating zigzag pattern to create a sense of movement and a functional hierarchy of information. In addition, the movie entries were placed in a specific location in columns two and four to avoid folding in brochure form, thus maximizing legibility. Images were processed using bitmaps and placed and explicitly sized in a manner that represented the Golden Ratio and created interesting dynamics and movement across both the poster and brochure. 

Xu used the constraints as an advantage, creating an intricate and dynamic poster/brochure within a restricted guideline. 

A Tropical Twist on Packaging

Packaging, done right with creativity and great marketing, will eventually sell your products if it draws attention, conveys a message, it makes consumers feel something. 

For professor Evanthia Milara’s packaging design class at Columbia College Hollywood, students were assigned the task of coming up with an original brand and packaging design for a new product of their choice. Student Taveon Jackson chose to base his project on a product called “GatorBites” (above). With sunny Florida as inspiration, the idea was to create a unique tropical candy product. Everything from the GatorBites logo design to custom die-cut packaging was developed, including promotional materials. 

The finalized design is creative and playful yet also strategic. The illustrated packaging is consistent throughout the line, with the bright colors changing to represent the various tropical flavors while allowing each to shine. The fun triangular-shaped containers that stand alone or connect are also an excellent way to distinguish the product. Each candy is different, and each box uses a color from the candy on the box. The entire line is cohesive and diverse enough to understand each product’s differences (without looking at the candy). 

Jackson successfully conveys the brand’s philosophy and ensures that the design complements the product inside. 

The New Talent awards deadline is January 10. Enter today!