The 88 students in IM 150, a design fundamentals course, were assigned a poster series in which each student chose a topic that was of personal interest, an exciting event or socially important issue. The students rocked the house; seen in the totallity, the students’ diverse voices and beautiful final solutions are a symphony of visual communication. In this attached selection, of many other excellent poster projects, the various aspects of the rubric are exemplified. The students were tasked to design an eye-catching design experience, which would be viewed from a distance, with the following criteria: • Create a clever concept and call to action (see if you can find the concept in the Chi-Town Blues Festival Poster) • Make connotative art which referenced the visual venacular of the subject matter applied with the elements of design (shape, line, texture, space, size, value), or drawing skills. • Adhere to a a grid (and consider breaking the grid). • Communicate to a specific audience. • Select a palette from the color harmonies. • Organize all of these elements into a dynamic relationship that activatesthe principles of design (balance, contrast, emphasis, focal point, rhythm, unity, and the Gestalt theory). • Finally, they applied their work to an environmental wall—an expresion of place—which supported the original concept, and sustained communication with the audience. Enjoy! IM 150 Instructors