Students Encourage Voting Through AIGA Graphic Design Program

Early prototype sketches

Get Out the Vote posters

Still from Instagram video

Poster designed by Lily Hay

Poster designed by Brysen Taylor

Photo Submitted

Get Out The Vote posters are on view in the display cases in the Fine Arts Gallery Lobby

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It's Election Day 2016 in America, and while numerous media are reporting high numbers of early voting, today's the big day to get out and make your voice and your vote count.

To help spread this nonpartisan message, Department of Art graphic design students from the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences have been creating vivid posters and other materials through AIGA, the professional association for design, and its Get Out the Vote program.

According to the program's website, the civic engagement initiative was launched on President's Day in partnership with the League of Women Voters, and consists primarily of an online gallery of original, nonpartisan posters for printing and distribution as well as exhibitions and local events.

At University of Arkansas, students in Marty Maxwell Lane's Design for Good class have been creating posters and corresponding Instagram videos and posting them at the @uarkdesign handle. 

"It's been a great project for our students to work on, and they are very passionate about connecting the imperative to vote with design that supports and motivates viewers to take action," said Lane, an assistant professor of graphic design. "It's exciting for all of us to work on design that has a real potential impact."

Lane said the Design for Good class' posters are also on view in the display cases in the Fine Arts Gallery Lobby.

For more information about graphic design at the University of Arkansas, please visit graphicdesign.uark.edu.

About the Department of Art: The mission of the Department of Art in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences is to offer the highest quality educational, research, and service programs in the visual arts. These goals encompass the department's professional and liberal arts programs, at both graduate and undergraduate levels, in art education, art history, graphic design, and studio art to prepare students for graduate study and meaningful employment in the art and design fields and allied professions.

About the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences: The J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences is the largest and most academically diverse unit on campus with 19 departments and 43 academic programs and research centers. The college provides the core curriculum for all University of Arkansas students and is named for J. William Fulbright, former university president and longtime U.S. senator.