Chili peppers, flamingos forming a heart shape, a desert oasis, and the Empire State Building are just some of the graphic art pieces created and displayed by members of the Graphic Information Technology Club on the Polytechnic campus.
The club’s exhibit covers the walls of the Polytechnic campus library and is available for viewing through June 11.
“The purpose of [the exhibit] was just to showcase some of the talent here,” said Penny Dolin, the club’s adviser and a graphic information technology lecturer.
Many of the graphic pieces are photographs. Others are vector illustrations and art made in Photoshop and with other software.
“They’re all printed and mounted on board here at the Print and Imaging Lab,” Dolin said, so it also showcases the lab at ASU.
Dolin said the club has been around for nine years, is considered one of the early clubs on the campus, and every graphic information technology major is technically a member.
There are around 30 to 40 active members.
“The purpose of it is really to facilitate their learning about managing graphic projects,” Dolin said.
For example, students have been able to work on different projects for ASU, like designing logos.
The club is proud of helping with the Martin Luther King Jr. poster/bookmark and essay awards every year at ASU, she said. Students from kindergarten to 12th grade participate in the contest.
Students in the Valley create bookmarks and posters for the contest and the club photographs them and graphically assembles them, Dolin said.
“The club also printed the bookmarks on a large format printer, mounted [them] on board and they were displayed at the annual MLK Breakfast,” she said.
The club isn’t just about creating graphic works.
“It’s also an educational club,” Dolin said. “It’s to provide sort of a … vehicle for them to bring in guests and also go on trips to local businesses.”
Nicole Hoffman, the club’s president and a graphic information technology junior, has two photographs in the exhibit.
One photograph of chili peppers in a burlap bag won a few awards.
“It was for a Hispanic art contest,” Hoffman said. “It seemed to catch a lot of attention.”
Another photograph captured the Empire State Building.
“It’s just kind of a different perspective of it,” Hoffman said. “With my photography, I like to find unique and unexpected perspectives of different, everyday objects that people wouldn’t normally see or pay that much attention to.”
Some of the future goals for the club are getting more students involved, going on more tours and getting students involved in internships and community service, Hoffman said.
“A lot of our goals are to get the GIT club exposed in the industry,” she said.
Through the group, students can become more aware of opportunities for when they graduate.
“It benefits the students as well as the people who are looking to hire when students graduate,” she said.
Hoffman said she joined the club in fall 2009 because she thought it would be a good opportunity.
“When it comes time to graduate, it’s all about networking and connections,” Hoffman said. “I also thought it’d be fun to try to just help other students realize the possibilities and opportunities that are available to them when they graduate or even during their education.”
Tyler Kilbourne, a graphic information technology junior, also has two graphic pieces in the exhibit, which were created with Photoshop.
They were both landscape images, including one of a desert oasis.
“I basically just painted on the computer,” Kilbourne. “I took the approach of a normal painting but using modern tools on the computer.”
Reach the reporter at reweaver@asu.edu
