By Maya-Rose Trajano
My submission is a logo I made for an assignment that asked us to brand for Grand Rapids’ annual ArtPrize event that recognizes and supports the work of many talented, local MI artists that choose to participate. Students were encouraged to submit their work to ArtPrize’s Merchandise Design Competition. The theme that ArtPrize asked participators to emulate was community, diversity, and legacy, and I feel my design presents those themes straightforwardly. Though I didn’t win, I enjoyed the process of making my design and the experience that I shared amongst my classmates. It was my first time learning to use Adobe Illustrator and I made something that I ended up being proud of. In finishing our logos as a class, we all participated in a discussion where we got to share our work with one another. Not only did we provide constructive criticism to help make us better designers, it was nice to hear all the good feedback about my design for my classmates as well as reflecting that same love back to their designs as well. Like the ArtPrize themes called for—community, diversity, and legacy—I wanted to share my work here, a space that recognizes the community-driven diverse set of students and staff on campus that continue to uplift each other for the common goal of success and inclusion. This is a collaboration with Professor Nesbitt; she helped me bring my design to life, making it an interactive logo through augmented reality.
As a perfectionist, partnership to me means stepping outside of myself and being able to trust other people’s abilities in the act of reaching a shared goal. You may be familiar with the saying “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” A lot of times I can find myself practicing that mentality. It’s not necessarily a negative mentality; it’s ok to accomplish things on your own, and most of the time that’s something that’s rewarding. However, all of us are only human at the end of the day, and I believe none of got as far as we have without at least a little bit of help.
When I got to college, what was rewarding to me was finding those people I could count on, faculty or friends, to help bring my visions to life. I would never want to share something as just my own when I’ve had the most pleasant opportunities of getting to work with such talented people. Sharing the spotlight or sharing success is something that I so enjoy in life.
