Colby-Sawyer College Hosts Best of New England Graphic Design Show

Some of the best designs by graphic artists in New England will be featured in an exciting exhibition at Colby-Sawyer College this fall. Sponsored by the American Institute of Graphic Design (AIGA), the exhibition showcases 90 works selected by a celebrated panel of judges for the 2007 Best of New England (BoNE) show, which this year has hit the road as a travelling exhibition.

The “AIGA BoNE on the Road Design Show” will make a stop at Colby-Sawyer's Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery through Oct. 16. The gallery will be open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 am to 2 p.m. for viewing throughout the exhibition.

The BoNE Show, with its tagline of “Bringing the Best of New England to the Rest of New England,” features only the highest quality design work by skilled professionals and practitioners in the region, according to the AIGA. The works, chosen from 400 entries, were created by dozens of outstanding designers and firms, ranging from Baseman Design Associates, Isaac Gertman and The MIT Press to Stoltze Design, Moth Design, Ian Koenig and Benjamin Shaykin. In sponsoring the show, AIGA serves its mission of “furthering excellence in design as a broadly defined discipline, strategic tool for business and cultural force.”

“It's great to bring a major design exhibition to Colby-Sawyer College, where almost half of our art students concentrate in graphic design,” says Rebekah Tolley, Mugar Art Gallery director and assistant professor of Fine and Performing Arts. “This show features important designers who have created elegant and innovative designs for a wide range of clients in businesses and organizations, academe and the publishing industry. We are very excited to be able to have this work here.”

The designs were chosen by a renowned panel of judges that included Stefan Bucher of 344 Design in Los Angeles, Luba Lukova of Luba Lukova Studio in New York City and Kevin Krueger of SamataMason in Chicago.

Bucher is the author and designer of All Access —The Making of Thirty Extraordinary Graphic Designers and creator of dailymonster.com. He designed American Photography 17, for which he received a D&AD Silver Award for “Most Outstanding Complete Book Design.”

Lukova is a Belgian-born artist and designer whose distinctive art utilizes metaphors, juxtaposition of symbols, and economy of line and text to succinctly capture humanity's elemental themes. Lukova has won many awards such as the Grand Prix Savignac at the International Poster Salon in Paris and the Golden Pencil Award at the One Club in New York. Visually engaging and powerful, Lukova's work is exhibited around the world.

An Ohio University graduate, Krueger worked as a designer for Herman Miller before joining SamataMason in 1996. Recognized as an experienced and accomplished designer and project manager, Kruerger has been honored internationally in design industry competitions and publications, including The Mead Annual Report Show, The AR100 Annual Report Show, AIGA Communication Graphics and The Art Directors Club.

The BoNE exhibition is sponsored by AIGA Boston, AIGA New Hampshire/Vermont and Colby-Sawyer College. The show is also made possible through generous support of friends of the Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery.

To learn more about the Fine and Performing Arts programs at Colby-Sawyer College, visit the Department of Fine and Performing Arts.

AIGA BoNE Show Web site: www.boneshow.org/winners_list.html

 

The Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery, directed by Rebekah Tolley, hosts seven major exhibitions and related public events each academic year. The gallery is located on Seamans Road on the west side of campus in the Sawyer Fine Arts Center. Admission is free and events are open to the public. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday through Friday, Saturday from 10 to 2 p.m., and other times by appointment. The Mugar Gallery and Sawyer Fine Arts Center are fully handicapped accessible. For information, please call (603) 526-3000.

Colby-Sawyer College, 541 Main Street, New London, N.H. 03257 (603) 526-3000