Minimalism | Spring 2026 Roster Poster

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For the past couple weeks, I have been working on the roster poster showing off the spring 2026 STAs. The overall theme for these posters is “art gallery,” and specifically for my half of the roster, it is “minimalism.” The roster I have been tasked to work on includes the video, audio, and computer support STAs.

Ideation

I began by finding references and inspiration images to direct me in this task. I also was interested in the concept of including perspective in this poster, as seen below.

Initial Drafting

However, after several attempts and receiving feedback, I found that the inclusion of perspective in this project would skew the photos and affect the legibility of the overall poster. I kept these reference images as my central inspiration still, though. From here, I began various iterations of a poster, considering feedback I received along the way. Seen below are various versions of this first idea as I continued.

(at this point, I learned that the official orientation for the roster posters had been switched to horizontal)

More Ideation

From here, based on feedback I received, I began to work on a few other options for this brief using these images as my main inspiration.

I proceeded to sketch out some ideas.

From here, I began these versions in Illustrator.

Initial Drafting

I was advised to stick with the last iteration of this design.

So I began tweaking it to make the frames bigger, try thinner lines throughout, and play around with the style of the color key. I also experimented with what this layout would look like with the stylized frames previously used.

From here, I changed the stroke around the frames in order to not lose the specific dimensions required to fully represent each STA (1.2×1 in), while also testing how they would look actually showing an STA.

I then pulled the color block text style I initially used on the first iteration on this current title to see how it would look with this layout.

Some feedback I received based on this iteration:

• change the font of the “2026”
• eliminate the stylized frames
• make the lines thinner than the frames
• experiment further with color key style

At this point, I was making super tiny edits. And I mean tiny. Such as changing lines around slightly, as seen in this reference showing which specific lines to edit.

From here, I also tried an iteration with “Student Technology Assistants” fully spelled out in the color block style.

This helped us land on some final final edits, including:

• keep the shorter title, just rearrange to say “Spring 2026 STAs”
• bring the text of the color key in a little bit to not be aligned with the title
• increase frame sizes to 1.1w x 1.32h

Current iterations:

2026 Summer Marketing: Halloween Post

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Over the past couple months, I have worked on the 2026 summer marketing Halloween post.

Ideation

Based on the ideas offered in the brief and by Nicholas, I began finding inspiration for color palette and composition. I found that I wanted to focus on portraying various Texas school mascots “trick-or-treating.”

After receiving feedback, I decided to focus in on the first direction.

Some of the feedback I received:

• a bit hard to tell which mascot is which
• to reconsider the overall perspective considering the alignment of the fence/sidewalk/skyline/door height
• maybe use less specific colors for the mascots in order to still convey the Halloween atmosphere.

Based on this feedback, I tried changing directions completely and creating graphics with a lot less color range and detail. However, I was encouraged to return to my original design as the mascots being in full color meant it was clear exactly who they are. So it was back to the drawing board.

Here is before and after another round of feedback.

• eliminated the ghost costume in order to show the entirety of Reveille
• switched Bevo to be the one offering treats in order to better communicate that other schools are visiting UT to take our classes
• changed the UNT mascot to the SMU stallion
• portrayed Reveille on all fours
• added trick-or-treating baskets with school logos to be extra clear which school is which
• mocked up placement for a banner with the main text

A few more tweaks.

• added red to Reveille’s costume to more clearly communicate that is it meant to be a vampire costume
• added hair, tail, and more stitches to SMU Stallion
• changed fence color
• added candy to Bevo’s bucket

Final Design!!

Training: Course + Studio Graphics

For this training, I was tasked to create a set of course and studio graphics for any course, real or imagined, at UT. I chose to come up with a course that I would like to take in an ideal world, and I called it ARH319: Queer Expression in the Visual Arts, taught by Prof Holly James Johnson.

My goal was to create a cohesive set of graphics that communicated the informative tone of the class while still keeping the energy a little playful. I feel like there is such a range of emotion conveyed in queer art throughout history, and I didn’t want the initial impression of this class to be too somber.

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Tier 1: Course Graphics

I began with the course graphics that would appear on the canvas page and powerpoint backgrounds. Creating a range of options, some with solid color layouts, and some with online imagery usage, allowed for options to reference as I continued and options for the professor who would be using them.

Seen here are the solid color and online imagery compositions for the canvas dashboard and powerpoint background.

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Tier 2: Studio Graphics

Next, I began to work on the studio graphics. For a digital backdrop, I began with this initial design (left) and after receiving feedback, redirected slightly to an option with dividers and less images (right).

Full Course + Studio Graphics Set:

Now I was able to complete a full set of course and studio graphics, with wall and vertical monitors, canvas aspects, powerpoint aspects, stingers, and an iPad overlay.

Final Thoughts:

I had a lot of fun with these trainings. There was just enough direction that I felt like I was able to easily follow along and complete each step while also having a say in what the final result would be. It was really cool to see every piece come together in a cohesive way. I feel like my intention and design direction is communicated efficiently.

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Tier 3: Animated Course Graphics

For this part of training, I got to have my first taste of animation!! Which was super exciting for me, as I have never touched Adobe After Effects before. Here I was tasked to create animated stingers, a pre-roll animation, and an animated intro for the class.

Animated Stingers

Seen here are my animated stingers. These were pretty straightforward, and didn’t take me too long once I adjusted to the After Effects setup.

Pre-Roll Graphic

Next was the pre-roll graphic. This part took me a little bit longer because I had to first edit the file directly in Photoshop before touching After Effects. I had to make sure the translation between the two programs worked efficiently, but as soon as I figured that out, this part was very satisfying to see come to life.

Animated Intro

The last part of this tier was to create an animated intro for the class. This was the part that required the most planning, as I was tasked to come up with an exact vision for what I wanted it to look like via storyboard (seen below).

I really wanted each element to stand out in its own way, and try out various AE effects at the same time. This concept made that possible.

Final Thoughts:

This tier was a lot of fun. I learned a lot about After Effects and how many details go into even the shortest animation through that program. I feel very satisfied with how the results of each training tier align with each other to make this class feel like a real class here at UT.

Post-Orientation Thoughts

Two weeks ago, I completed my STA orientation. A few of the projects involved included an “all about me” bio page, a banner for this blog, and a caricature for the 2025-2026 STA overall blog. I lovedddd working on the caricature specifically.

I had a lot of fun with these tasks! It was an interesting challenge to decide how to represent myself with a limited amount of time and set information to include.