Creative Director & Lead Designer
After Effects, Illustrator, Procreate
Marketing Animation, Keychain Design, Name Scroll Animation, Gallery Wall Mural
Connect was the undergraduate senior exhibition for the Class of 2025. It was a full-scale, student-led design production built around a single idea: that good design brings people together. Named to reflect the diverse mix of cultures, personalities, and perspectives behind it, the exhibition invited over 100 family, friends, faculty, and local professionals to experience that belief firsthand across environmental, print, and digital touchpoints. At its core, Connect was a love letter to community and the creative spark that links us all.
Connect needed marketing that felt like the exhibition itself, not just a promotional post. The Send This To animation did that by turning the call-to-action into part of the concept by prompting followers to send it to someone they were glad they connected with. The animation reached 855 views and 15 shares on an account with 118 followers, a reach roughly 7x our existing audience!
The keychains were designed as part of a welcome tote given to the first 50 attendees on opening night as a small thank you for showing up. Each one featured a nodosona, mascot characters designed after a node.
The name scroll was one of the first things attendees saw when they walked through the door, a looping animation displayed on the gallery lobby screen throughout the night. It was a way of featuring every person behind the exhibition before guests even stepped into the gallery, and quietly one of the most personal touches of the night. Designers could pull their guests aside, point at the screen, and say, "That one's me!"
The gallery wall was the centerpiece of Connect (and dare I say, the piece I'm most proud of). It was the first thing guests saw when they walked into the main space, and the place where almost every photo from the night was taken. Every person behind the exhibition made visible the moment you walked in. By the end of the night it had become exactly what it was designed to be: a backdrop for celebration, the place where designers grabbed their guests, squeezed in close, and smiled for the camera.
Opening night was the moment months of work became something real. Over 100 attendees filled the space; including family, friends, faculty, and local professionals; moving through an environment that every person in our cohort had a hand in building. People laughed, cried, pointed at walls, pulled loved ones in for photos, and lingered long after the night was supposed to end. For one evening, Connect was exactly what its name promised.
Go on, drag the photos around!
Go on, tap the photos!
