Campus Life

Exhibit features student posters celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.

Jake Nicolella creates winning poster for 2014

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- "Celebrating Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. Day and Black History Month," an exhibit featuring posters designed by Penn State students in the University's 29th annual MLK poster competition, will be on display from Jan. 6 through Feb. 28 in the entry lobby of Pattee Library. This year's theme is "Reflect on Yesterday, Experience Today, Transform Tomorrow."

The student posters were created in professor Lanny Sommese's GD 400, Time and Sequence, course. This annual exercise for Sommese's students exposes them to real-world design with a fixed deadline and client, and prescribed project specifications. It also gets the students involved in a public service project — something that is important to Sommese.

The display illustrates a variety of approaches to this year's theme and demonstrates the abilities of Penn State design students.

Judges from the commemorations planning committee selected as the winning poster the design by Jake Nicolella, a senior graphic design major at Penn State. His poster features three sets of birds on lines — the first set with black and white birds separated, the next set with black and white birds integrated, and the final set with multi-colored birds and some on wing. Nicolella's design has been duplicated on buttons and posters to be distributed for Penn State's 2014 MLK celebration.

For more information or if you anticipate needing accessibility accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, call Catherine Grigor, University Libraries, at 814-863-4240.

Jake Nicolella described his poster design: "Reflecting on the theme of this year’s MLK commemoration, I chose to show the past, present and future by personifying birds and their link to true freedom. On the first line we reflect on the unfortunate­ past of segregation. The second line shows the present, where we can experience the mix of cultures that is taking place. On the third line there is a truly transformed tomorrow where we can transcend black and white to live in a world of beautiful colors and boundless self-expression." Credit: Jack NicolellaAll Rights Reserved.

Last Updated January 3, 2014