UNIVERITY PARK, Pa. — Short films, branding materials, video games and more: “Encore,” the spring showcase by fourth-year Stuckeman School graphic design students in the College of Arts and Architecture, encompasses two events in April where the students will display the creative projects they have assembled throughout their final semester at Penn State, including a revival of a Department of Graphic Design tradition, the Film Follies.
“We wanted to have an all-encompassing end to our chapter at Penn State as we close out our senior year, but [we also] wanted to encapsulate that this is just the start of something [new for us],” said Peyton Harris, fourth-year graphic design student and the showcase’s creative director. “And once we get beyond this point, we will get called upon to continue to do the graphic design we’ve learned here and prosper in our individual stories.”
For the first event of “Encore,” the 16 graduating students will host a presentation of their creative capstone projects in 24 Borland Building from 3-5 p.m. on April 15 and April 17. Each student will showcase an individual project that they worked on throughout the semester.
“We get to show our interest in what we want to do with what we know how to do,” said Gabrielle Harris, a student in the class.
Rodney Allen Trice, professor of practice in graphic design, encouraged his students to try something new with their capstone projects, whether it be using new software platforms or targeting a different audience than they would normally consider with their work. Harris branched out by creating branding materials for children waiting in hospitals.
“I wanted this semester’s project to show my skills with an audience I’ve never targeted before,” Harris said.
Megan Dale, another student in the class, took on another challenging endeavor by using new software to work on her short film.
“We’re putting new things into the world that we want to show off,” Dale said. “That’s what ‘Encore’ is.”
Trice also encouraged and helped the students in reviving the Film Follies, a graphic design tradition started in the 1970s by Emeritus Professor of Graphic Design Lanny Sommese. The event has not been held since 2018.
The Film Follies is a presentation of a collection of short-form video pieces — live-action, stop-motion or computer-designed shorts. Together, the short videos create a 50- to 60-minute film. Trice selected videos made by the students to create the film.
“The Film Follies are to evoke emotion and say ‘Graphic design is more than just things on a piece of paper, especially diving into film as a medium,’” Dale said.
The Film Follies will take place in 112 Borland Building from 6-7 p.m. on April 19.
“The main theme of the follies will be ‘society,’” Gabrielle said. “Rodney chose the projects from last semester and put them in an order [that is intended] to evoke emotion from the audience.”
Harris’ piece — in the middle of the film — is a 12-second clip about social media perpetuating mass trauma. Other themes will include dating, the influence of children and other aspects of the human experience.
“It's about how [society is] funny, how it’s terrifying, how things can be happy and sad at the same time,” Dale said. “There's a lot of emotion packed into that.”
Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, follow @psugdfilmfollies and @pennstategraphicdesign on Instagram.