Theme: Design For Good AIGA Maine presents our second annual poster show, Design for Good , on view at SPACE Gallery in Portland, ME from October 5-November 15, 2023. Our show features posters designed by creatives across various mediums that each represent their unique perspectives on this year’s theme, Design for Good. This theme was selected to promote and emphasize ways in which designers can impact social, political, economic, and environmental change.
Design For Good was organized by the Maine Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA,) a national organization with the mission of advancing design as a professional craft, strategic advantage, and vital cultural force. AIGA Maine is one of 70 chapters focused on supporting the field of graphic design.
Thank you to SPACE Gallery for providing the space to display this great work, as well as all of the talented contributors who made this exhibit come to life.
Poster Gallery Click on images to view larger versions.
Jennifer Adler
Jennifer Adler is a thoughtful graphic designer, experienced communications leader, and best-selling licensed greeting card artist based in Lynn, MA. She loves envisioning and working within branded systems, creating fresh takes on print and digital materials, designing for impactful events, and doing whatever needs to get done to make sure projects are done on time, within budget, and as PERFECT as humanly possible. She lives for clean design, bold color, and excellent typography. When I am not obsessing about consistency, efficiency, or sustainability, I can be found in a dance class, on a road trip with my husband and daughter, or bingeing smart and wry content. A brief portfolio may be found at www.jenniferadlerdesigns.com. A larger collective of my work may be found at www.survivalbydesign.net.
Ghazal Foroutan
Victor Rios, Paul Buendia
Eric Benoit
“I loved the satirical advertisements at the end of AIGA Eye on Design Magazine issue #06 “Utopias”. They were funny and maybe a little too real. In that same vein, my submission “Come Visit the Ocean!” is a satirical take on classic art-deco travel posters. In this fictional world, I’ve created an advertisement for used bottles to take a trip to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an all-too-real island of plastic waste in the middle of the Pacific. Through eye-catching colors and an ironic tone, the poster is meant to grab attention and spread awareness of the horrific pollution in our oceans. To point out a few details: The bottles resemble a school of fish, though of course an unnatural one. The dead fish are lower-res than the bottles on purpose, as in this fictional world they’re the enemies, not the stars of the show. I’ve carefully arranged the school of bottles, the dead fish, and the typography to hint at a tombstone shape. And the smiley face in the middle—that could be you, if you’re lucky enough to take this permanent vacation to the middle of the ocean!”
Gina Sterling
Gina is a 25-year-old visual artist and digital designer based in Maine. With a strong background in graphic design and a passion for creative expression, Gina has honed her skills through various projects and internships, working with clients in a range of industries including music, food, and film. In 2020, Gina graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in German and Communication Arts, and also completed her minor and concentration in graphic design. Currently, Gina is freelancing as a graphic designer and content creator, and working remotely for a web design agency in Chicago. Gina’s interests include capybaras, animals with unusually long noses, Pokémon, British music, and fashion.
David “Trey” Jones
“Upon seeing the prompt, I knew almost immediately that the social issue I wanted to tackle is the overwhelming feelings of loneliness, isolation, and alienation among young adults since the pandemic began. I have found myself still often having these feelings, well after the height of the pandemic, and many other individuals around my age have expressed a similar sentiment to me. I wanted to incorporate a new medium I have been experimenting with over the past year; photography. Specifically for this poster I have included vintage photos I purchased through eBay, shots I made on my late father’s Nikon D700 digital camera, as well as my own Mamiya RB67 medium format film camera. Combining digital, film, and found photos was a way for me to feel connected to those I have lost, and those I have never known. Included as well is a posthumously published poem by Edgar Allan Poe on the topic of loneliness that I discovered about a year ago, and has held significance to me ever since.”
Christopher Dudley
Hayley Emmons
“No matter the brief or problem at hand, I always strive to approach each project with exploration as a top priority. Whether I’m working on a brand identity, packaging project, or, in this instance, a poster, I always begin by sketching, drawing, or writing out my thoughts, ideas, and research on paper. For this poster I started with a clear vision of the elements I wanted to include in the illustration. I then worked through rounds of hand-drawn sketches, treating it like solving a puzzle, moving and adjusting pieces until they fit together in a balanced and captivating way.”
Zainab Sumu
“Drawing inspiration from the Fulani way of life, known as “pulaaku,” I created this poster by illustrating iconic items from my visit to the Fulani village of Wansan. The artwork aims to showcase how the Fulani people preserve their cultural identity, language, and lifestyle through migration and changes. The poster portrays the interdependence between the Fulani, their landscape, cattle, family, and community. It serves as a visual representation of their resilience and strong connection to their heritage, instilling a sense of pride and belonging. Through this artwork, I hope to evoke reflection on identity, heritage, and the human spirit amidst life’s transformations.”
A thread travels through time from the bustling marketplaces of Freetown to the verdant vistas of Kono, from the glittering boulevards of Paris to the smart streets of London, from the sundrenched sky of Los Angeles to the tree-lined streets of Somerville uniting the unique journey of Zainab Sumu and her multidisciplinary body of artwork. This thread is one of beauty that’s found across cultures and genres, that elicits a primal response and that has the power to unify us all. Sumu graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art & Design’s Fashion and Textiles Program in Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to that, she ran an eponymous boutique featuring the work of Junya Watanabe, Azzedine Alaia and Martin Margiela, among other bespoke brands in Los Angeles, California. She previously studied in London, England. She was raised in Paris, France and before that, in Freetown and Kono, Sierra Leone, Africa. A true citizen of the world, Zainab Sumu currently works in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Ying Han
Nehal Modi
Robert Brochu
Marc Ellenberg
Emily Foran
“I originally conceived this poster for a national nonprofit client focused on racial justice. I consulted with the client and researched various aspects of the history of racial justice in the US under their guidance. With this design – ultimately not chosen by the client – I decided to capture the spirit of handmade protest posters, peace rally banners, murals, and other iconography from the Civil Rights movement. I came across the phrase, “No Justice, No Peace” which resonated with the mission of the organization, but we were a year into the COVID-19 pandemic and I wanted to capture a broader feeling of hope and accessibility. I decided to turn “No” into “Know” to give the piece an optimistic spin and speak to the educational aspects of the organization. To underscore the concept, I chose widely symbolic imagery of human hands releasing a soaring dove. After exploring a few stylistic treatments, I decided to bring the concept to life with a simplistic, hand-drawn, graphic illustration style inspired by screen-printing and American folk art, paired with a minimalist color palette derived from the pan-African flag. I drew the graphics by hand on an iPad in Adobe Fresco and set up the final layout in Illustrator.”
Brian Reeves
Brian Reeves is an artist using all manner of design and printmaking to convey ideas. He studied printmaking at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and co-founded the Print Power! intercollegiate exchange portfolio of persuasive posters. His work has been on display in museums, galleries, streets and above sofas in many states and countries including Argentina, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Korea, Lithuania, Sweden, and Texas. I teach art and design at Boston College, Maine College of Art & Design, and AIM Academy Online.
Amy Parker
Amy Parker is the Executive Design Director and co-founder at Woods Creative. Amy runs Woods’ Portland, Maine studio where she leads creative strategy, ideation, and digital design to make communication solutions, digital products, and visual languages for brands. Amy works in tandem with her research partner to conduct primary one-on-one interviews for design and Human Experience/User Experience research. Together, their primary social-science-first approach allows the team to gain insight, understand nuanced problems, ask questions, and uncover findings to identify form, content and functional needs to develop smart visual design. Amy’s current clients hire her for visual work, insights into how visual design elevates products for the people using them, and her energetic approach towards solving challenging business problems. A few notable clients and brands Amy has worked with so far are Deloitte, Pegasystems, John Hancock/Boston Marathon, Bank of America, Noble Biomaterials, Cessna, New Balance, lululemon, Puma, EVERSANA, Evenflo, Total Expert, University of St. Gallen, Daily Table, Mechanics’ Hall, 240 Strings, and SPACE. Amy holds a BFA from the New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University, teaches as an adjunct graphic design instructor at MECA&D. As an advocate for creativity, collaboration and community, she also serves on the board of directors with both AIGA Boston and SPACE.Email / Instagram (practice) / Instagram (personal) / LinkedIn / Woods
Malorie Langreen
Alexa Duffy
Christopher Laryea
Manassa Krishnan
Anh Lan Do
Sophie Zoe Chu
“Using photography from Forest Hills and an old photo of C. K. Chu, I use digital collage inspired by print and style techniques from my favorite publications of the early 90s. In college, choosing majors was difficult for me because I have a lot of different interests and not being able to see each one through fully feels like a disservice. For my future thesis and for my future in art, I have decided that graphic design is just the basis that I need, not the end goal. I think that my work is best when it has multiple touchstones of process. My work in ceramics, textiles, woodworking, painting, photography, and code, are best highlighting when they are paired with one another. This piece focuses on my photography and print/collage work.”
Nick Lawler
Sam Pouliot, Sarah Sawtelle, Bella Ucci
Clayton Hoyle
Ariel Freaner
Salem