Arts and Entertainment

Graphic design seniors to host reimagined 'Follies' show

The tradition of an annual graphic design senior showcase started back in 1971 by former program head Lanny Sommese. Credit: Penn State Graphic Design Class of 2019. All Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Seniors in the Penn State graphic design program within the Stuckeman School will present the culmination of their work from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, on the third floor of the Stuckeman Family Building at University Park.

Previously known as the “Film Follies,” the annual tradition of showcasing the work of seniors in the program started in 1971 under former program head Lanny Sommese. The show was a combination of short film sequences — touching on a broad range of topics, including social commentaries, comedies, experimental imagery and more — that the seniors put together based on their projects. Each year the sequences would reflect a particular theme.

This spring, however, marks a considerable change in the work that is presented during the senior showcase. "Follies,” as they are now known, are the result of a new senior-level graphic design course on events design and production, which was created — and is taught — by Rodney Allen Trice, professor of practice in graphic design.

“Though the pilot class has indeed had its bumps and serious challenges, these students have begun to shift their senior show into a fusion between the decades-old traditional 'Film Follies' and a more formal capstone presentation of all of the work they’ve done during their time here at Penn State,” said Trice. “This show is their work, and how they imagined showing it.”

Trice, who himself is a 1987 graduate of the graphic design program and participated in the “Film Follies” that year, returned to Happy Valley last year as a faculty member and recognized the opportunity seniors had to use the show as a platform to demonstrate the scope and breadth of their work.

“The 'Film Follies' show last spring just didn't feel like it fit the incredibly expanding possibilities and work that our graphic design students were doing,” he said. “We received a lot of compliments on the show, but it just felt like there was so much more that the students were doing that nobody was getting to see except our own faculty.”

The work displayed this Saturday will include the seniors’ print, branding/logo and app designs and promises to be “a bit of a media blitz or a bombardment of movement, imagery and sound that more accurately reflects how we all consume media today.”

The event is, as always, free and open to the public.

Last Updated April 3, 2019

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