Immersion
Days
Written By: Jeff Donaldson
What
is the best way to perfect your craft as a student designer or writer?
How
about preparing a communications plan for an actual company, including
brochures, sample advertisements, and a website? That was the focus
of the annual Immersion Days project at La Roche College, sponsored
by the Depart-ment of Graphic and Communication Design. Dozens of
students enrolled in graphic design and public relations writing
courses combined their efforts in a “real world” experience
that taught them about being creative on a deadline.
Students received their assignment on Wednesday, October 30 at 8:30
a.m. They were told they had 48 hours to create communications vehicles
for the Pittsburgh Research Laboratory of the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
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Second-place
winners (NIOSH) Marketing Campaign):
(Back row, left to right) Jaison Tortorea, Matt Shimer,
Lori Blackhurst, Jamie Strattthaus, Amy Myers and Stephen
Golebiewski;(front row, left to right) Chris Brown and
Himangshu Shroff. |
First-place
winners (NIOSH) Marketing Campaign):
(Back row, left to right) Anita Orenick, Scott Young, Paul
Wilt and Christina Scott; (front row, left to right) Marisa
Golden and Brandon Morton. |
Students
focused their attention on issues involving mine safety for NIOSH.
Such issues have taken on additional meaning following the Quecreek
Mine accident in Somerset in July 2002. Several groups developed
a communications plan to help NIOSH promote itself as an organization.
Others worked on a project aimed at persuading miners to take the
proper precautions when it comes to protecting their hearing.
On Friday, November 1, each group of designers and writers presented
solutions to representatives of NIOSH and fellow students in the
Kearns Spirituality Center. Faculty members with the Division of
Design say the presentations are an integral part of Immersion Days.
“It is not enough to do great work,” said Rosemary Gould,
chairperson of the Department of Graphic and Communication Design
at La Roche. “A good designer must also be able to articulate
the strategy behind the design and convince the client that the
solution will produce the desired results.”
“I was blown away by the quality of the design work and the
content that these students managed to come up with in two days’
time,” said George Bockosh, senior scientist for NIOSH. “It
was phenomenal.” Bockosh and his colleagues chose two specific
campaigns as the winners of the design competition, but he expects
that his organization will incorporate elements of many of the proposals
in upcoming NIOSH brochures or marketing vehicles.
“Our organization is a research organization, which means
our product is knowledge. That knowledge is useless unless miners
have access to it and use it,” said Bockosh.
Best Buddies, last year’s client for Immersion Days, is using
designs submitted by La Roche students for the organization’s
national public relations and marketing campaign. Best Buddies pairs
college students with peers suffering from physical or mental disabilities.
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