Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Staff Report
Prof. Rebecca Barne’s Graphic Art 174 class undertook a project in Fall 2017 to design a poster, a mailer and a website, to mark the planned opening of the William Saroyan House Museum on August 31, 2018. Armenian Studies Program Coordinator Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian presented the project to sixteen students in the course. Der Mugrdechian returned to the class at the end of the semester to listen to the student presentations. After much consideration two student projects, those of Nicole Marschall and Adam Herring, were chosen as the winners of the competition. Their designs will be used in the campaign to raise awareness about the planned Museum.
Nicole Marschall is double majoring in Graphic Design and American Sign Language Interpreting, reflecting her creative interests. Marschall has always been interested in art, taking a graphic design course through the Bullard High School CART program.
“My challenge was in incorporating Saroyan, who had achieved so much, into the design,” said Marschall. “He means a lot to the Armenian community, especially in Fresno, so he was difficult to capture for that reason.”
Marschall wanted to have her design be more than a face. She incorporated many different techniques in her design, taking printed copies of Saroyan’s writing, cutting/burning them and then gluing them in a collage. Marschall experimented with different mediums including glue, water-color, and ink.
Her design purposefully loosely represents the shape of Armenia, incorporating Armenia and Fresno with the Fresno skyline. These two elements represent two things William Saroyan cherished—his American and Armenian culture.
The overall concept that informed Marschall’s work was how Saroyan left his imprint in the Armenian and Fresno community. She was inspired by Saroyan the humanist, who loved nature and art.
Marschall will graduate from Fresno State in 2020 and would like use the skills she learned in both majors in her future career. She plans to focus on packaging and logo design in the graphic art field.
Senior Adam Herring is pursuing a BFA in Graphic Design at Fresno State. Herring, who was born and raised in Hanford, transferred to Fresno State from the College of the Sequoias. The Saroyan House Museum project presented
some unique challenges for Herring, as it was his first time working on a design project that featured one person.
“Designing for a company or a product is more about marketing,” stated Herring. “The Saroyan project was more about celebrating the person and his achievements. I had never considered this type of project when deciding my career in graphic design.”
Herring’s first step in the design challenge was to learn more about Saroyan. When reading about Saroyan, Herring focused on those characteristics and qualities that seemed most interesting about the writer. Because Saroyan was so famous, it was difficult to decide which features to emphasize in the design. Herring’s task was to take these results and transform them into an artistic design.
Saroyan’s expressionist paintings were a source of inspiration for Herring, who also incorporated the colors of the Armenian flag into his design.
“For most cultures or nationalities, the flag is the face of their identity, so I wanted to include that in my design,” said Herring. “I learned about Armenians and their successful maintenance of identity in a lecture I attended on intercultural communication.”
For Herring, Saroyan’s face was also a memorable element, so he utilized an image of Saroyan that conveys both intrigue and also a comforting quality. Herring utilized several computer programs to add an expressionistic touch to the Saroyan image, manually using paintbrush in the Photoshop application as well as applying a gradient.
Herring’s interest in art began as a high school student, when he would design logos and posters for fellow student. When he discovered that he could get paid for his work, he decided to pursue his passion. After graduation in Spring of 2019, Herring would like to pursue a career in packaging/identity designing, perhaps for a large commercial firm.
