Every four years there is a presidential election. Getting people to vote is important to our democracy. Since 2008, Associate Professor of Visual and Performing Arts, Nancy Wynn, MFA has done her part by participating in AIGA’s (The Professional Association for Design) “Get Out to Vote” campaign. This campaign asks designers, nationwide, to design and produce non-partisan messaging on why it is important to get out and vote. Over the years, designers have submitted posters, animations, postcards, and buttons. All of the work can be seen in the archived galleries on AIGA’s website: aiga.org/vote.
In 2008, Professor Wynn entered three of her own designs, co-created with her husband Robert Dennis who is an advertising copywriter. One of the pair’s posters was chosen to be exhibited at both the Republican and Democratic 2008 conventions. Since then, Professor Wynn has woven the project into her graphic design classes, having students design and produce their own posters, animations, postcards, and buttons. This year, two students submitted their works to be displayed in the online gallery. Graphic Design major, Fiona Casey ’22, entered the work “A Lot on the Line” and Vikku Ponnaganti ’22, from Professor Wynn’s Image-Making and Meaning course, submitted “Closer Look.” Both submissions were accepted.
Casey states that her work “emphasizes the importance of voting and how the outcome can affect the community around you.” Whereas Ponnaganti’s piece addresses everyone’s responsibility, adding “The point of the work is to urge people to take a closer look at either party that people will be choosing in the upcoming Presidential Election and to actually go out and vote. People now are only realizing the power of their vote and if they want to make a change, they must go out and do their civic duty.”
Professor Wynn says, “This year’s students were highly engaged in the election. Our classroom discussion was centered on issues students were personally connected to, but still needed to be presented in a non-partisan way. Most exciting for me was the students listened to their own advice and they voted! I was ultimately proud of that result, as well as proud of their high-quality work.”
