Senior Year Fall 2009
My undergraduate career seems to be going by faster and faster. This past semester, Fall 2009, was a hell of a lot of work. I’ve been overachieving like a preppy little schoolboy, but I feel like all the hard work is definitely worth it. My portfolio has definitely grown significantly with six new additions, of which are solid works. My course load this past semester was 20 upper-level credits, 1 massive senior thesis, a 36′ x 8′ Homasote display wall, and the responsibilities of being the President of the RPI Graphics Club. I somehow managed to pull off a 3.93 GPA this semester despite the high work load, which required superhuman abilities to complete. The elusive 4.0 GPA still evades me… aghh!
Material Witness
My senior thesis was a massive undertaking. I was chosen by one of my professors to join a “select group of participants” to work on the conception and creation of the exhibition signage for the School of Architecture’s first-year student exhibition—Material Witness. The exhibition was to be hosted in the Albany International Airport Gallery, which is a 2,500 sq. ft., glass-lined space that is easily accessible to the 150,000 annual visitors. The gallery “has become one of the premier exhibition venues in the Capital Region, Southern and Western Massachusetts.” I couldn’t turn this excellent opportunity down, the only drawback was that I was to compete against another excellent student designer. The idea was that both designers would create three initial concepts; the clients (Airport curators and Architecture Professors) would chose which one they liked best. The chosen design would be further refined to become the final exhibition signage, mailing invitations, and interpretive text panels for Material Witness.
The first critique of our initial iterations went well, with both designers going head-to-head. The clients chose a design from each of our submissions that was to be further developed for a round-two critique. The whole thing was a bit nerve-racking because of the competition aspect and because we both submitted great designs. A couple weeks later we all met up for the second critique where we were assured a decision was going to be made on whose design was chosen. I felt confident in my designs; I created a logotype to establish a strong identity by using the one and only, absolutely gorgeous, Gotham Rounded typeface. Gotham was incorporated into the rest of the design for consistency; the layout was strong; I chose and modified a photograph to convey strong contrast and depth; and the colors complimented the gallery walls. The critique went very well, so well in fact that the Architecture professors and Gallery Curators had a really tough time making a choice. Both designs represented the exhibit differently. Twenty-four hours of being on edge went by before the decision was told to us. As it turns out, my design was chosen to represent Material Witness—an excellent choice if I must say so. 
I was told my final design better represented Material Witness—the typography was excellent and consistent, and the photography captured the essence of the student’s work and overall exhibition in a way that the professors imagined best. I am honored to have my work chosen and it was a pleasure working with all those involved with the project. My classmate had excellent designs and I commend him for his work on the project as well. The School of Architecture has even given us space to display the design process we both went through to develop and identity and final signage for Material Witness.
The exhibition has been installed in the Albany International Airport, which opened to the public on December 19, 2009, and will be open until June 20, 2010. There is a public reception on January 27, 2010, to commemorate the student’s work in a celebratory gathering.
Material Witness
Project Details: More pictures coming soon.
Homasote Display Wall
