To celebrate a 20-year collaboration between the Department of Theatre and the VisualDESIGNLab, the School of Communication Gallery is showcasing a visual record of theater production posters from the past two decades in the exhibition “The Long Road Together.”
It started with a collaboration between Kathleen M. McGeever, chair of the Department of Theatre, and Patricia Murphey, professor of visual communication and director of the VisualDESIGNLab. The collaboration later developed into a long-standing partnership where students work together to imagine, design and create posters, email blasts, Instagram posts and digital displays for upcoming productions.
“What makes the collaboration special is that it is not simply a classroom assignment; it’s a creative partnership,” Murphey said. “Students have to listen, ask questions, understand the story and visual identity of a production, respond to feedback and translate all of that into effective visual communication.”
The VisualDESIGNLab serves as a bridge between the classroom and the professional world. Students work with community organizations to promote public events, communicate with clients, present ideas, explain their design decisions, receive critique, revise their work, meet deadlines and ultimately see their work in the real world.
“Being able to work directly with a client and getting a taste of what I will be doing after I graduate was really helpful,” said Mia Avelar, a senior studying visual communication with an emphasis on graphic design. “This experience made me feel more confident in my career choice and in continuing to work with clients and being able to provide them a product that they will love.”
Avelar’s poster design for NAU’s annual Great Survival Debate was selected to promote the event last spring. McGeever said the selection process for choosing a winning poster has become more difficult each year, since students at the lab get better every semester.
“Those students in the VisualDESIGNLab are going to walk away with a complete portfolio—even the ones that don’t get picked, because that happens in life,” McGeever said. “When we talk about career readiness, this is in action on both ends. They’re helping the department and getting the experience at the same time.”
“The Long Road Together” exhibition is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday until Oct. 30 at the School of Communication Gallery (2nd floor).
Top image: Patricia Murphey, Kathleen M. McGeever and Mia Avelar standing at the entrance of “The Long Road Together” exhibition at NAU’s School of Communication.
Mariana Laas | NAU Communications
(928) 523-5050 | mariana.laas@nau.edu