Frank Lloyd Wright Poster | Stephanie Mathena

Wright Poster © Stephanie Mathena (2014)

Cedar Rock, originally known as the Lowell Walter Residence, was designed in 1950 by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. An exemplar of his Usonian style, it is located near Quasqueton IA, and has been designated as Cedar Rock State Park. For the past ten years, the Friends of Cedar Rock organization has held an annual seminar—called An Afternoon with Frank Lloyd Wright—in which speakers talk about Wright's life, beliefs and achievements.

To celebrate the tradition of that seminar, graphic design students in the Department of Art at the University of Northern Iowa, were asked to design a series of posters that focus on Wright and his accomplishments, not limited to Cedar Rock. The poster above was designed by Stephanie Mathena in a course in Digital Image Design (2014).

This year's gathering for An Afternoon with Frank Lloyd Wright will be held at 1:00 to 4:00 pm on Saturday, October 18, 2014. It will take place in the American Legion Hall on Water Street (Highway W-35) in the town of Quasqueton. Admission is $10. more>>>

See also: Roy R. Behrens, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT and Mason City: Architectural Heart of the Prairie (2016).   

Synergistic Postage Stamp | Stephanie Mathena

Synergistic Stamp (2012) © Stephanie Mathena

In the fall semester of 2012, I asked my beginning graphic design students at the University of Northern Iowa to design a synergistic postage stamp. This was done in two stages: First, they designed a single stamp, and second, they repeated that stamp so that it became a block (above). Once assembled as a block, the stamps produced new, unanticipated pattern consequences. In this particular solution, there's a wonderful interplay of figure and ground.

UNI Graphic Design Portfolio Night 2015

Portfolio Night Poster © Aaron Van Fossen (2015)

Above Poster by Aaron Van Fossen, graphic design student, Department of Art, University of Northern Iowa (2015), announcing the program's annual Graphic Design Portfolio Night. To be held on the first floor of the Kamerick Art Building South (adjacent to the Gallery of Art) from 5:30-7:00 pm on Friday, April 17, 2015. Open to the public. Drop by any time, for as long as you'd like, to see the senior portfolios of (and to talk with) some of our graduating graphic design majors.

Among those exhibiting are Zach Bird, Kramer Dixon, Chase Murphy, Jeffery Fenton, Claire Jacobmeyer, Stephanie Mathena, Chelsea McNamee, Daniel O'Shea, Hannah Orlandini, Ali Schultz, Joel Steger, Danielle Shearer, Aaron Van Fossen and Maureen Villavicencio. Thanks to all the students, and to the event's tireless organizer, UNI Professor Phil Fass.