Tash Mahnokaren

Staff Writer

Idaho State University students Noi Thannoi and Gabrielle Boyd were recently recognized for their work in graphic competitions for the Simplot Games and ASISU T-shirts, respectively, within the university.

The Idaho State University James E. Rogers Department of Communication, Media and Persuasion (CMP) is in its fifth year of collaboration with Simplot for the Simplot Games poster competition.

The CMP department is a recent establishment of the merger of the mass communication and communication and rhetorical studies departments. It is now a fully integrated department that includes four emphasis areas.

According to Department Chair Jim DiSanza, the Simplot Games is one of the largest high school track and field meets in the country. The 2015 Simplot Games will be held next spring inside Holt Arena.

“Usually there are a couple of Olympic medalists from track and field that come to talk to the students,” said DiSanza. “People come from all over the country and sometimes all over the world to participate.”

The Simplot poster competition, apart from its creative value, also provides practical experience for the students of the CMP department. Companies often have an idea of what they want out of an advertisement but don’t always know how to convey their vision to the designers. In the reality of graphic design, individuals must possess the right design acumen to create advertisements tailored to the needs and targets of companies.

The winner of this year’s competition was CMP major Thannoi with his poster emphasizing the games’ theme, “Farther, Faster, Higher.”

Simplot will use this winning design from the poster competition for all of its advertising purposes worldwide. 

The poster competition, open exclusively to students of the CMP department, provides a learning opportunity for participating students to better tailor their designs in accordance to the purpose they will serve.

The Board of Directors of Simplot normally collects completed poster designs for the competition.

“Not only do they judge them and pick a winner but they also do a little critique for each poster,” said DiSanza. “Then during one of the classes in the morning, they go through each and every poster and offer a critique.”

The winning poster, and all competition submissions, were created as part of Professor Paula Jull’s Advanced Issues in Design and Illustration classes.

Boyd, also of the CMP department, was the winner of this year’s t-shirt design contest organized by the Associated Students of Idaho State University.

“For me it gave me something new to work with,” said Boyd. “I’m a Photoshop graphic designer not a vector designer but I used all vector and illustrator with this so it was a different experience for me and I was able to get out of my comfort zone.”