Berks

Penn State Berks Strategic Communications wins gold CUPPIE for poster design

The Penn State Berks Office of Strategic Communications received a Gold CUPPIE Award in the Poster category for their theatre poster titled "The Seven Sides of Satire" back in March 2024.  From L to R: Samantha Bower, web designer; Mackenzie Cullen, marketing communications specialist; Jaine DelVecchio, graphic design specialist, and Lisa Baldi, marketing and communications manager Credit: Dan Z. Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

WYOMISSING, Pa. — At the 2024 CUPRAP Awards Ceremony, the Penn State Berks Office of Strategic Communications received a Gold CUPPIE Award in the Poster category for their theater poster titled "The Seven Sides of Satire."

Graphic Design Specialist Jaine DelVecchio led the creation and design of the winning poster, working closely with the Jim Brown, theater program coordinator at Penn State Berks. Brown urges everyone involved to bring their own distinctive perspective to the college's productions, and this allowed DelVecchio to infuse her design with a creative twist.

In the case of "The Seven Sides of Satire," Brown approached DelVecchio to explain that the poster concept might be complicated as it involved seven separate satires, each with their own distinct narrative. This posed a challenge for the composition, as the satires did not have a single key element unifying them, which made it difficult to avoid a crowded appearance in the design.

"I aimed to represent each satire equally without overwhelming the viewer or giving more emphasis to any particular one, since they are all so unique," DelVecchio explained. "So, I read each play from start to finish to identify key aspects that could be visually highlighted on the poster and used Procreate to pull the illustration together."

DelVecchio designed the composition with seven distinct sections, each representing its own satire. To portray the sad, fragmented feeling often associated with satire, she employed a grunge art style throughout the poster. Each section featured a carefully crafted illustration that effectively conveyed the storyline without giving away any crucial details.

About CUPRAP

CUPRAP is an organization composed of communications professionals from colleges, universities and independent schools dedicated to advancing the understanding of higher education and enhancing the professional development of its members. CUPRAP members work in public relations, media relations, marketing, publications, sports information, web and graphic design, and other related fields. Members come from private and public colleges and universities, junior colleges, community colleges, independent schools, as well as other organizations involved in higher education. Founded in Pennsylvania in 1980 as one of the nation’s few statewide organizations of its kind, CUPRAP members now come from many states. Today, CUPRAP has nearly 350 members from 100 institutions.

For the last decade, CUPRAP has been awarding CUPPIE Awards for creative excellence in marketing and communications to the work of member institutions in the categories of advertising, electronic media, print, public relations, marketing, writing and photography. The competition is open to members and awards are presented during the annual spring professional development conference. The competition is judged by industry professionals who have no vested interest in the institutions nor the work submitted.

Last Updated April 30, 2024

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