Neil TS Flanders, a student at Northern Vermont University – Lyndon, has received an honorable mention for his work in a national competition. The University & College Designers Association (UCDA) held a Poster Design Initiative, asking for students across the United States to design “Vote 2020” posters. Flander’s design was one of six honorable mentions in the contest of over one hundred submissions and will be featured in the UCDA’s Designer magazine. All winning and recognized designs can be found on the UCDA’s website.
Of the contest, UCDA said: “Design educators have the capability to help students get civically involved, and student designers have the power to inspire the public to register to vote in the 2020 local and general elections. This year, the Vote 2020 Student Poster Design Initiative helps promote civil engagement by enabling students to design an original, nonpartisan poster for print or social media use.” All entries to the contest can be found here.
Students in Professor Kelly Glentz Brush’s Advanced Typography course of the Spring 2020 semester entered this contest. Many designs by NVU-Lyndon students were featured on the UCDA website alongside Flanders’. This includes Mary Berger, Alex Bergeron, Cameron Ferry, Ben Gazda, CJ Gravel, Jet Magri, Talon Pace, Zosia Prince, Mandee Roberts, and Alexander Therriault. Their work is also posted on the NVU Visual Arts website, which can be found here.
When asked about how he came up with his design, Flanders told The Critic that he adopted the tagline “because your life depends on it” from the beginning of his creative process and used that to move his thoughts on the design. Flanders said that “I was leaning in an entirely illustrated direction. The ideations I conjured up depicted popular or dire issues facing the American consciousness today: Issues such as affordable housing, healthcare, prison reform, climate change, etc.”
“I felt these pictorial prompts ought to compel the informed and apathetic alike en masse to the polls, no matter which side—or whereabouts—you fall on the ideological spectrum. A vote is a vote.” – Neil TS Flanders
Flanders switched his approach from illustrative to typographical partway through the assignment to fit the Advanced Typography course and started listing out important issues to a wide demographic of Americans. Flanders continued, “After presenting [a] lineup of three designs to the class, and later consulting with Kelly, I opted to submit the design that received the honorable mention.”
“Vote 2020. Because Your Life Depends On It” is the title of Flanders’ work. He said that the colors he chose for this design also helped his work resonate with a larger audience. “I did not adopt the deep navy blue or the vermilion found in the nation’s flag, as those two colors have come to symbolize a deep divide and polarization presently running amok in the country. I thought it best to dissociate the design from any symbols of divisiveness, so that the focus was as I intended, on the issues,” he concluded.
Feature Photo by Neil TS Flanders || Flanders’ recognizes poster design titled “Vote 2020. Because Your Life Depends On It.”