2021 Graphic Arts & Design Senior Exhibition

The 2021 Graphic Arts & Design Senior Exhibition, is the fruitful culmination of this year’s graduating GAD majors, reveals graduates’ dedication and growth throughout their time at Benedictine. 

As part of the Graphic Arts & Design curriculum, students have created a body of work for their designer’s portfolio. The portfolio includes new advertisement design projects in addition to refined existing works. 

This virtual exhibition showcases the GAD seniors’ digital portfolios with a variety of media such as Logo, Digital Painting, Poster, Layout, Packaging, Typography, Motion Graphics, 3D Modeling, UX /UI, and more. Featured designers are Nida Ali, Abigail Ang, Anna Nothnagel, and Artemas Ray. 

I commend all graduating Graphic Arts & Design majors and wish great achievements upon them in their future careers. Huge congratulations to Nida, Abby, Anna, and Art!  Please enjoy their remarkable work and bless their future.

Hairi Han

Associate Professor, Graphic Arts & Design

Art Department, Benedictine University 

Biography

Nida Ali is a Graphic Arts and Design major at Benedictine University. Her freshman year she was a Health Science major and after a year, she realized it was more of her parents’ dream for her to go into the medical field, so she took the decision to change it. They were hesitant at first because they didn’t know if her artistic capability was enough for a career or a mere hobby. But she knew that nothing else made her feel more excited, curious, passionate, and in awe than making or admiring art and design. 

Ever since a young age, she’s been interested in making art, whether it be drawing, painting, sculpting, or anything else. The fact that people could combine countless shapes and colors to create something new that stemmed from their very own imagination was so exciting. 

Though she did start off with drawing, she loved experimenting with different forms of art. She’s glad she took Graphic Arts and Design as her major because besides the skills she gained as a graphic designer, her attention to detail, her understanding of the different components of art, her perspective of seeing the world around her, and her overall admiration for art had strengthened and amplified throughout the years. 

Artist Statement

As an artist, I realized that I don’t have one specific aesthetic, as some artists usually do. My aesthetics, regarding preferable colors, styles, and themes, is always changing based on my personal experiences.

In the beginning this used to intimidate me because every designer has a certain style that defines them and I didn’t feel confident because my work didn’t have consistency. 

As time went on, I realized this isn’t a weakness, but a strength. I’m still experimenting and trying to find my style, but for the time being, I’m glad that I’m able to portray different themes in my work. I don’t want to rush the process of finding what my forte is. Instead, I want to try to work with several different aesthetics and styles so I could expand my skill level instead of forcing myself to fit into a box creatively. 

During the beginning courses of this major, I really liked light, swirly, and floral designs. Currently, I like using more deeper and earthy tones. I like giving more dimension and weight to my designs instead of keeping them looking delicate. In between, I experimented with some different styles too. I think learning to take risks as a designer is a very important quality because playing it safe limits you creatively. My working method involved long hours of trying things out and removing them and doing this until I found something that enhanced the design. 

Even if at the end of the process, I had made the smallest change, I didn’t regret going through all the solutions I could think of because all those trials and errors showed me what kind of designs worked well and what didn't. It helped me grow as a designer and artist.   

Biography

Abigail Ang is a student at Benedictine University, majoring in graphic design. Since she was a young girl, she has always been interested in art and had an artistic eye for aesthetics. She loves to edit pictures, organize layouts, and draw illustrations. She enjoys the whole process it takes to design a project such as brainstorming unique ideas, sketching rough drafts, and choosing color schemes and type. 

Abigail took her first graphic design class in high school and got chosen to represent her school in Illinois’ Art Exhibition. She believed in her abilities as an artist and decided to pursue a career in art. She’s thankful for the support her mom has given her to follow her passion for graphic design. 

As an upcoming graduate in May with her bachelor’s degree in graphic arts and Design, she’s excited to start her journey in becoming a professional graphic designer and live her dream job. 

Artist Statement

Abigail’s work represents a big part of her personality.

She likes to create designs that reflect her interests and she has a bubbly, romantic, and vintage style to her art. 

Her designs include cute graphic illustrations with bright colors, but she can also make her designs be simple with pastel colors. Her favorite colors to use are pinks, purples, blues, and yellows. With every project she’s given, she uses her passion for art to make creative, successful designs that she hopes will leave a strong impact in visually communicating her intended message to her audience. 

Abigail is proud of her projects and looks back at all her hard work as a sign of her growth as a graphic designer. Seeing her finished projects come together is her favorite part for it reminds her of all that she has learned as an artist but also how far she’s come in her graphic design journey. 

Biography

Anna Nothnagel is a Graphic Arts and Design Major at Benedictine university. Born in Illinois, prior military service, and prior experience in working with an environmental agency, she strives to convey a feeling of balance in art, design, and mixed media. 

She utilizes digital art, calligraphy, watercolor, and reused materials in need of creative use to avoid ending up in the landfill. 

Artist Statement

After serving 3 terms in the US Navy, I continued my education in Graphic Arts and Design. 

My childhood was spent learning art to communicate. Often the words that I could not find would come to me while spending time drawing with my Grandmother or Mother. 

I continued to take fine arts courses at Downers Grove North, College of DuPage. I enjoy upcycling materials into art projects and utilizing digital media to reduce any artist waste. I am Finishing my Graphic Arts and Design Degree through Benedictine University. 

Biography

Artemas C. Ray is a Graphic Arts and Design major here at Benedictine University. He is from Chicago, Illinois with a strong background in drawing.

During his freshman year of college, he received an opportunity to participate in multiple art projects and mural pieces. Artemas, over the years, have worked to develop and build on his computer graphic and animation skills. He has completed a hand-full of projects and even have been offered freelance opportunities. 

Additionally, over the past years, Artemas seeks inspiration and creativity using resources available. 

To emphasis, Artemas Ray is very creative with any assignment-little or big. 

Artist Statement

My art style consists of being out-of-the-box. I like to know that I can add my own touch or alter something to create a different meaning. 

With every assignment, I attempt to build on my techniques to see what various options lye ahead. My thinking process when it comes to starting or finishing a piece of work is to be confident in my abilities. I also have experience in photography, and that experience have led me to gain more knowledge of the design world. The quality of my work is always at its best. I like to use mutual colors because I know keeping it simple and clean is the best way to go. 

As I continue my journey, and after, at Benedictine University, I want to continue to learn how to be a great Graphic Arts and Designer.