Skip To Content
Filter search
Cal Poly Pomona
  • LIBRARY
  • ONLINE SERVICES
  • DIRECTORY
  • MAPS
  • CALENDAR
  • About Cal Poly Pomona
  • Cal Poly Pomona Overview
  • Visitor Information
  • Campus Maps & Tours
  • News
  • Events
  • Administration
  • Annual Security Report
  • Campus Safety Plan
  • Admissions
  • Undergraduate Admissions
  • Graduate Admissions
  • International Admissions
  • Continuing Education Admissions
  • Military & Veterans Admissions
  • Financial Aid & Scholarships
  • Student Accounts & Fees
  • Outreach, Recruitment, & Educational Partnerships
  • Academics
  • Colleges & Departments
  • Majors & Degrees
  • University Catalog & Academic Schedules
  • University Library
  • Research
  • Academic Resources
  • Registrar
  • Campus Life
  • Student Services
  • Student Activities
  • Recreation & Fitness
  • Health & Wellness
  • Housing & Dining
  • Diversity
  • Calendars & Events
  • Campus Safety & Emergency Info
  • Athletics
  • Visit Athletics Website
  • Alumni
  • Visit Alumni Website
  • Giving
  • Why Give
  • Ways to Give
  • Where to Give

PolyCentric University News Center

Main Menu
  • About Our University
  • Admissions
  • Academics
  • Campus Life
  • Athletics
  • Giving
  • Expand/Collapse Menu
Browse: Home / 2015 / December / Graphic Design Students Create Posters in Memory of CSULB Terror Victim

PolyCentric

University News Center

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
    • Submissions
    • Contact
    • Department of Strategic Communications
    • PolyCentric
  • News
    • Browse by Topic
    • View All Stories
    • In Memoriam
    • Archives
  • Achievements
  • Announcements
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photos
  • Social Media Directory
  • Events
  • For the Media

Graphic Design Students Create Posters in Memory of CSULB Terror Victim

Posted on December 18, 2015

One of the poster designs Cal Poly Pomona graphic design students made for a CSULB student killed in the Paris terror attacks.

Graphic design student Mark Sutton and most of his peers at the Department of Art never met Nohemi Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, a Cal State Long Beach industrial design student, was among the 129 victims that died in the Nov. 13 Paris terror attacks. She was in Paris as part of a study abroad program with the State School of Design.

Sutton and a group of classmates were determined to express the grief shared by design students across the California State University system. The message to the CSULB community was simple, Sutton says: “We’re sorry you lost a designer; we all lost a designer.”

In the aftermath of the attacks, he initiated a memorial project in remembrance of Gonzalez. Five student teams designed posters that encouraged faculty, students and staff at the College of Environmental to sign at Buildings 7 and 13 before they were delivered to CSULB on Dec. 1 by Sutton and classmates Nathen Ruiz, Sean Gardner and Ciara Maher.

“We were all in tears,” says Martin Herman, chair of the Department of Design at CSULB. “It was very moving. They’re phenomenal designers. It was student generated, and we feel very close to the people there [Cal Poly Pomona Department of Art]. For me, what it brought out is that we often don’t have an occasion to express our closeness with the other CSUs. This makes us feel very aware of the friendship among CSUs.”

The posters were incorporated into the memorial display at the Duncan Anderson Gallery on campus before they were presented on Dec. 4 to Gonzalez’s family at her public funeral in Downey.

The students completed the project within four days, says Art Professor Daniel Sorrell.

“I gave them free rein because it should come from their hearts,” he says. “It wasn’t hard work, it was heart work.”

Sutton, along with nearly a dozen other students from Sorrell’s graphic design and typography classes, worked on the posters with the understanding that it was a voluntary exercise that won’t count towards their grades. Each design played to the strengths of the student designers involved: Sutton, Ruiz and classmates Douglas Leon, Sean Gardner and Jocelyn Chung created a multimedia poster incorporating oils, watercolor and Chung’s specialty, calligraphy.

“Her name is simple and yet meaningful,” Chung says. “This is the name her mom gave her; this is the name her friends called. This was a living, breathing person. I hope her family and loved ones know that we stand in solidarity. She’s so representative of the Paris attacks that made the event tangible and closer to home.”

The iconic outline of the Eiffel Tower, and the red, white and blue colors of the French national flag figured prominently in the four designs produced by Brooke Emmet, Ray Marquez, Christopher Rosa and Jasper Chou. The tri-color scheme visually signified and unified the ties between France and the United States. Jarrett Bridges’ piece, maps of California and France, marked Long Beach and Paris. The cost of printing the posters – each measuring three by six feet — was covered by Rodney Oda, owner of Santa Ana-based design studio Red Graphics.

“I think they really rose to the occasion,” says Sarah Meyer, chair of the Department of Art in the College of Environmental Design. “I think the fact that they delivered it as peers, it’s huge. It speaks not only to the value of their education, but the values of how they were raised. This is all from their hearts and it speaks to the power of visual communication to cross barriers and to inspire healing.”

Posted in News | Tags art, Cal State Long Beach, College of Environmental Design, csulb, ENV, environmental design, graphic design, memorial

POPULAR

  • CLASS Dean Iris Levine

    CLASS Act: Dean Levine Sets High Bar for Herself and Others

    542 views / Posted January 11, 2021
  • A group photo of Cal Poly Pomona’s Reading, Advising, and Mentoring Program

    RAMP Receives $2.2 Million Grant For Underrepresented Students

    312 views / Posted January 15, 2021
  • Graphic with illustration of Martin Luther King Jr.

    MLK Day Celebrations Include Student-Centric Volunteer Opportunities

    259 views / Posted January 14, 2021
  • 10 rock stars with impressive college degrees

    64 views / Posted January 12, 2021
  • Photo credit: Liquor Store Theatre, 2014-2019, video still courtesy Maya Stovall.

    Liberal Studies Professor’s New Book Offering Insight into Detroit Neighborhood

    59 views / Posted January 22, 2021

Picture of the Day »

Toy Drive

Toy Drive

Cal Poly Pomona in the News »

College students reflect on their first semester experiences

Mailani Matsuno, who is taking classes from her home in Guam, interviewed about her reasons for studying from home and adjusting to the time differences between home and her classes.…

Honoring California architecture students through scholarship at the 2020 2×8 Virtual Exhibition


NMSU student research outlines problems in private immigration detention facilities


Out of work during the pandemic, Riverside woman starts charcuterie business, Mel’s Boozy Bites


10 rock stars with impressive college degrees


Tags
art, Cal State Long Beach, College of Environmental Design, csulb, ENV, environmental design, graphic design, memorial
About Cal Poly Pomona Feedback Privacy Accessibility Document Readers

3801 West Temple Avenue,Pomona, CA 91768

©2018 California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

All Rights Reserved