The Challenge

The “East in Eden” exhibition examined and interpreted the Pomona Valley through the eyes of its contemporary artists. Students in Art 452, a senior level Graphic Design course at Cal Poly Pomona, were given the challenge of designing promotional material for the exhibit including the catalog and announcement. Their goals in designing these materials were to communicate the above premise along with their own visual interpretation of Pomona Valley as “Place.”

An important beginning to the project included a preface from Patrick Merrill during which he explained his research and thoughts on the topic. The students research included reading about the Valley's farming and ranching history as well as its past and present politics. The students were also required to visit and photograph the area for inspiration. An interesting twist to the assignment was that the students did not have access to any of the art work until well into the quarter as much of it was being created specifically for the show. Students shared their own interesting stories about growing up and/or working in the area as part of the dialog.

Along with creatively interpreting the exhibit’s theme, students had to: develop a successful/ flexible grid for multiple pages; work effectively with all aspects of text and type; use the ABA relationship as a methodology for improved page sequencing; create original imagery; and understand the relationship between form and content.

I would like to acknowledge all the students who worked on this project. Their input and contributions were invaluable. Christine Anderson, Casey Caputo, Emily Chen, Kai Cheng, Chiang Iyun, Catherine Chuang, Diana Chuang, Yesenia Diaz, Oscar Galilea, Lisa Greenlea, Aaron Halopoff, Jason Han, Sabra Haskell, Phillip Kauffman, Kelly Kuramoto, Albert Lam, Wenchi Liu, Cortney Mcgerty, Don Nguyen, Kanayo Nworji, Sevana Pashaian, Pisey Phe, Daniel Skelton, Colby Su, Nicholas Tam, Adriana Tang, You-Chen Tsai, Kim Ung, Eric Yang, Phillip Yniguez, Herbert Yun.

I would like to especially thank Emily Chen for her work on the printed catalog and Sevana Pashaian, Daniel Skelton and Eric Yang for their hard work and perseverance in creating the digital website. I’d also like to thank Cal Poly Graphic Designer Ani Markarian for her Indesign expertise.

Babette Mayor, Professor and Chair