The week of March 28 to April 1, SUNY New Paltz hosted Design Week — a week of events and opportunities circulating around the New Paltz Graphic Design program. This was the first time Design Week was able to occur in-person since prior to COVID-19. The event was organized by the Graphic Design Program, Digital Design and Fabrication and the School of Fine & Performing Arts with support from the Department of Art, the School of Science and Engineering and the Hudson Valley Additive Manufacturing Center.
The entire week consisted of various events around campus, highlighting the beauty of graphic design. All events were free and open to the public; some required an online reservation to attend. Each keynote speaker was selected from their ability, as well as their unique ways of thinking. This week was dedicated to sharing ideas, learning new things and celebrating SUNY New Paltz graphic design program.
SUNY New Paltz Professor of Graphic Design Amy Papaelias helped in the process of organizing Design Week and its elements. “Having the event in person this year was a welcome change,” Papaelias stated. “We did the best we could online last year but being able to have in-person workshops allowed us to offer more hands-on activities.” Some notable events include, a Haiku Comics workshop with Joshua Korenblat, a workshop with Associate Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology Mitch Goldstein, and a letterpress basics workshop taught by Kristoff Lalicki.
The newly reestablished New Paltz Zine Collective held a zine making workshop in the Sojourner Truth Create Space on Thursday, March 31 at 8 p.m. This event was a huge success, and many people posted on social media that they had a good time.
Students and staff were thrilled to attend the events and were very fortunate to be together in-person shedding light on the wonderful graphic design program SUNY New Paltz has to offer.
There was a screening of the film “Graphic Means,” created in 2016 which explores graphic design production of the 1950s through the 1990s — from linecaster to photo composition, and from paste-up to PDF. Through interviews and archival footage, you’ll gain an appreciation and understanding of the tools, processes and people connected to this brief moment in the design world. The screening was followed by a show and tell with the creators.
“The Graphic Means film screening was great,” Papaelias said. “After the screening, professors Anne Galperin, Chris Andreola and Dianne Attebury shared examples from their personal collections of graphic design from the late 20th century. I heard from students that it was so exciting to see these past production techniques. It made them appreciate how different it is to do graphic design work digitally!”
On March 29, the keynote speaker was Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the BFA Communication Design Program in Parsons School of Design at The New School Kelly Walters, with a presentation titled “With a Cast of Colored Stars.” As described on the social media post, this lecture highlights the evolution of racialized iconography in Black American popular entertainment.
All of the events from Design Week were promoted on various social media accounts, as well as on posters around campus. If you were unable to attend events, some live streams are available for viewing online. There are many other events to look forward to as well, The Graphic Design Senior Show takes place on Friday, May 6 from 4-7 p.m. in the FAB Rotunda. It will feature the senior thesis projects and portfolios of all 36 graduating students!
Design Week was a huge success and Papelias exclaimed a “big thanks to our sponsors: The School of Fine and Performing Arts, Department of Art, School of Science and Engineering and our Friends of Design Week, mostly comprised of alumni who gave generously to make this week happen.” There will be many more events similar to this spectacular demonstration of graphic design so make sure to keep an eye out to participate!
