Students’ design helps spread holiday, school spirit

To showcase the passion, positivity and creativity of the campus community, for the second year in a row, President and Mrs. Fuchs reached out to students to design an original piece of art for their official holiday card.

President Fuchs contacted the UF School of Art + Art History about the project, and assistant professor Jarred Elrod, who teaches a course in typography, assigned five teams of students to compete for the honor.

The class project was a real-world opportunity for students to work with a client. They had three weeks to create their designs, based on an outline and some requirements, including making the card non-denominational.

The card chosen by the Fuchses was designed by students Mary Grace Burkett, Ian Childers, Kendal Jones, Laura Suescun and Allison Vizzi. It features white paper overlay and gold metallic ink with 32 cut out icons representing UF, from Century Tower and the bat houses to a stethoscope and a butterfly from the Florida Museum of Natural History. Albert and Alberta make a cameo appearance, naturally. The project involved two techniques, laser cutting and metallic ink printing for the printed version, which were produced in part at the UF Infinity Fab Lab. To help cover costs, the Fuchses made a donation to the School of Art + Art History.

The message inside reads “Warmest Wishes… May you find peace, prosperity and happiness in 2018,” and was sent to legislators, Board of Trustee members, Board of Governors, family and friends. An electronic version was emailed to faculty, staff, students and alumni in early December.