UWG Art Students Finalists in Design Contest

For the fourth consecutive year University of West Georgia art students are finalists in the AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt Design Contest.

As in previous years, they are students in Clint Samples’ graphic design class. All took the class, Digital Media for Artists, last fall. They are: Caitlyn Weathers, 22, a senior; Clarissa Robinson, 24, a junior; and Mallory Royal, 22, who graduated last year.

They are three out of the five finalists chosen by a panel of judges. Since 2009, UWG has dominated the contest. It scored winners last year and in 2010 and fielded 15 finalists in the last four years.

The winner will be announced on July 4, the day of the Atlanta Track Club’s premier road race.

To see all of the designs and to vote go to:

http://ajc.upickem.net/engine/Welcome.aspx?contestid=50735.

One vote can be cast per day.

Samples, an associate professor of art, urges his students to submit their best work by revising and fine-tuning their designs. But he also prepares them for possible rejection.

“It’s like entering an art exhibition. There’s always a chance of rejection,” Samples said. “That’s something you have to live with as an artist. We have been blessed. We’ve had this great run of designs. I always try to use the previous years as a challenge.”

Weathers’ design is a flag with the bars and blue field made up of sneaker prints. She dipped several pairs of sneakers in black paint, then photographed them and used Adobe Illustrator to change the colors and create the image.

Her inspiration was the flag used for the opening of the race. “I wanted to include that. But I didn’t want it to be just an image of the flag,” said Weathers, who graduated from Temple High School in 2008.

“I was really surprised that mine was chosen as a finalist,” she said. “I think a lot of the other designs in the class were a lot better than mine. I was really honored that they chose mine.”

Robinson’s design includes brightly-colored patches in the shape of a peach. “I brought out my painting sketchbook. I had a lot of different colors.” She used those as a jumping off point and used the software to get the shapes and colors she wanted.

“I’m really surprised,” said Robinson, who graduated from Collins Hill High School in Suwanee in 2006. “This is my first time doing something like this.”

Royal’s design is a painted peach. Stars in some of the letters evoke an Independence Day theme.

In 2011 the winner of the design contest was Jessica Ferguson and two of her classmates were finalists. The 2010 winner, Allison Bennett, was also Samples’ student and three of her classmates were finalists. Two of Samples’ students were finalists in 2009.

Runners Training for the Peachtree Wear UWG Art Student's Design

The AJC Peachtree Road Race is a few weeks away and several hundred people training for it throughout metro Atlanta are wearing T-shirts bearing a UWG’s student design.

Mary Schanzle-Stack’s T-shirt design – a red, white and blue running shoe in motion – was chosen by the Atlanta Track Club for participants of its In-Training for Peachtree program.

“They had already picked [the finalists] for the road race. I didn’t realize that there would be other opportunities. So it was a pleasant surprise,” said Schanzle-Stack, who lives in Douglasville. “All the hard work paid off.”

The 11-week program gets runners ready for the annual Fourth of July 10K, said Tracy Lott, the club’s director of marketing and communications. The program is designed for novice and intermediate runners who want to improve their times. About 500 T-shirts for the runners and their coaches have been printed.

Schanzle-Stack, an interior design major, is the latest UWG art student whose work was picked up by the club. A design by Lisa Bailey, an art education major, was chosen for the Peachtree Health & Fitness Expo. Bailey’s T-shirts will be on sale at the expo at the AmericasMart in downtown Atlanta on July 2 and 3.

Both were students in a “Digital Media for Artists” course this year taught by UWG Assistant Professor of Art Clint Samples. As part of the class, students submitted designs for the AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt Design Contest. Three of the five finalists – Jessica Ferguson, Alyssa Chitwood and Barbie Klimaszewski – came from the class. The winning design will be announced the day of the race. A second design submitted by Chitwood was chosen for the volunteer T-shirts.

“The class has done such amazing things for us,” Lott said.

This was the third consecutive year that Samples’ were finalists in the design contest. Allison Bennett, another one of Samples’ students, was the winner of the Peachtree design contest in 2010. Also last year, the track club picked Samples’ design for the volunteer T-shirts.

“Between him and students, they have done wonderful things,” Lott said.

For more information on the Atlanta Track Club: http://www.atlantatrackclub.org/

Student’s T-shirt Design to be Used in the Peachtree Health & Fitness Expo

A T-shirt created by a UWG art student has been selected for the Peachtree Health & Fitness Expo.

Lisa Bailey, an art education major, was a student in a “Digital Media for Artists” course this year taught by UWG assistant professor of art Clint Samples. As part of that class, students submitted T-shirt design entries for another event, the AJC Peachtree Road Race. In that contest, three of the five finalists came from the UWG art class. Bailey's entry was not among them. But she received a call last week from the Atlanta Track Club asking to use it for the expo.

“I was excited,” said Bailey, 22, a senior from Tucker. “I wasn’t used to working with computers and graphic design before. I paint and draw normally.”

This is Bailey’s first paying gig, $250, as an artist.

About 250 commemorative T-shirts will be printed and sold during the expo, featuring Bailey’s design, a stylized peach in red, white and blue. The expo, on July 2 and 3 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the AmericasMart in downtown Atlanta, is free and open to the public. It features athletic vendors, food sampling and seminars. Some runners of the road race also pick up their race packs at the expo and are available to answer questions. Bill Thorn, who has run every race since it started in 1970, will speak at one of the seminars.

“If you are into running, exercise or anything like that, this is where you want to go,” said Janet Monk, the special project manager for the Atlanta Track Club.

This is the second year of the expo. Last year, a design submitted by Samples was used for the expo’s T-shirt, Monk said.

“Clint has done an amazing job,” Monk said. “All the kids that are coming out of his class are really talented kids and whatever profession they are pursuing, they should do well.”

In Focus: UWG Art Student Barbie Klimaszewski

Barbie Klimaszewski is among the finalists in the 2011 AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt Design Contest. Two of her classmates are also finalists.

Here's a snapshot of Barbie and her design.

Follow the link to hear her talk about her work on YouTube.

Also, follow the link below to see all of the designs and to vote for your favorite.

The last day to vote is Saturday, April 30.

http://ajc.upickem.net/engine/Welcome.aspx?contestid=27651.

You will have to register with the site before you can vote, but you will be able to vote more than once.

Barbie Klimaszewski, 47.
Hometown: Grew up in Lithia Springs, lives in Newnan.
High School: Lithia Springs High School, 1982.
Major: Interior Design.
Design: She runs the Peachtree and used the numbered bibs the runners wear as her inspiration.
Quote: “The two things that you treasure the most when you run in the Peachtree are your t-shirt and your number.”
To hear Barbie talk about her design:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyYSY4--_74&feature=related

In Focus: UWG Art Student Jessica Ferguson

Jessica Ferguson is among the finalists in the 2011 AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt Design Contest. Two of her classmates are also finalists.

Here's a snapshot of Jessica and her design.

Follow the link to hear her talk about her work on YouTube.

Also, follow the link below to see all of the designs and to vote for your favorite.

The last day to vote is Saturday, April 30.

http://ajc.upickem.net/engine/Welcome.aspx?contestid=27651.

You will have to register with the site before you can vote, but you will be able to vote more than once.

Jessica Ferguson, 21.

Hometown: Originally from Staten Island, N.Y., moved to Kennesaw in her freshman year of high school.

High School: Harrison High School, 2007.

Major: Pre-medical illustration.

Design: Loaded her palette knife with red, orange, yellow and white paint and mixed them all together. Each letter of the word “Peachtree” was scanned into the computer to make the final image. The “C” is partial peach with a leaf on top.

Quote: “I just played around with it until I liked it.”

To hear Jessica talk about her design: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipKu6TrtThs

In Focus: UWG Art Student Alyssa Chitwood

Alyssa Chitwood is among the finalists in the 2011 AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt Design Contest. Two of her classmates are also finalists. Here's a snapshot of Alyssa and her design.

Follow the link to hear her talk about her work on YouTube.

Also, follow the link below to see all of the designs and to vote for your favorite.

The last day to vote is Saturday, April 30.

http://ajc.upickem.net/engine/Welcome.aspx?contestid=27651.

You will have to register with the site before you can vote, but you will be able to vote more than once.

Alyssa Chitwood, 23.

Hometown: Newnan

High School: East Coweta High School, 2006.

Major: Art Education, senior.

Design: An Independence Day theme with blue stars, red and white stripes and the word “Peachtree” in bold, black letters.

Quote: “I wanted the stars and stripes, like the American flag. The words, I wanted them to be really readable.…Kind of funky and fun, but still readable.”

To hear Alyssa talk about her design: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La2ovFZCg64

Three for Three

Clint Samples beamed when he walked into his “Digital Media for Artists” course just after spring break. The classroom was packed with students. Some chatted; others were already working on their projects.

Samples came with good news. But a few already knew: three of their classmates were among the five finalists in the 2011 AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt Design Contest.

Alyssa Chitwood, Jessica Ferguson and Barbie Klimaszewski sat quietly as the students whooped, clapped and cheered their approval.

“I’m proud of you guys,” Samples said. “This is great. It’s a big achievement.”

Big achievement indeed: this is the third straight year Samples’ students have placed in the contest.

In 2010, four of Samples’ students were among the five finalists. The winner was Allison Bennett, who is now a senior. Two of Samples students were finalists in 2009.

Twenty of the students in the class submitted 30 designs for this year’s contest.

“It makes us all look good. It makes you as a student look good. It makes this class look good,” Samples said.

“It makes West Georgia look good. It makes the department look good. It says a lot about you guys.”

Samples, who describes his teaching style as “friendly yet firm,” uses the Peachtree assignment to give the students a taste of the real world.

“They have to compete with professionals in the Atlanta area,” Samples said.

The design contest is the first assignment he gives and he uses it to teach his students how to use Adobe Illustrator.

He also wants them to understand the creative process. “One of the things I really try to stress is process and understanding – that students can’t just settle for the first idea that they come up with,” he said.

The students critiqued each other’s work. Several revisions and final touches followed.

There were 122 entries in the contest this year, said Tracy Lott, the director of marketing and communications for the Atlanta Track Club, the organizer of the Independence Day race.

The race is a premier event and a July 4th tradition in Atlanta. The winning designer receives $1,000. The victor will be unveiled the day of the race, when some 60,000 t-shirts will bear the design, Lott said. Another 2,500 to 3,000 t-shirts will be given out at the overseas editions of the Peachtree in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, where most of the runners are U.S. military personnel.

The other finalists are: Matt Ankerich, 33, a graphic designer from Atlanta; and Adam Houston, 35, a graphic designer and marketing consultant from Cumming.

The Peachtree Road Race draws the most entrants among running events of any distance in the United States and is among the most prestigious events in the sport.

Members of the public have until April 30th to vote for their favorite designs.

To view all of the designs and to vote go to: http://ajc.upickem.net/engine/Welcome.aspx?contestid=27651.

You will have to register with the site before you can vote, but you will be able to vote more than once.

Hear Clint Samples talk about his class:
http://www.youtube.com/user/uwgucm?feature=mhum#p/u/10/OwNkW1SDcrU