Design I Collaborative Vinyl Public Installation

First off, I just read I now have 635 followers on this blog.  Is this real life?!  Thank you to everyone who likes to read what I post!

My Design I class at Mississippi State University is composed of 4 students.  That may seem small, but they are mighty!  We have had a good time together this semester.  The art department encourages basic design classes to work on a collaborative project.  When I was thinking of project ideas, I remembered seeing Louisiana Tech University design classes make vinyl sticker installations on their classroom floor.  They also placed vinyl stickers on windows and along stairways.

I thought that the window entrance of the building we have class in, Howell Hall, would look great with a splash of color!  We have access to a vinyl cutter, so we got to work.

Each of my students filled 4 sheets of paper with clean, abstract, geometric and organic doodles with Sharpies or Micron pens. Next I scanned the sheets into the computer, enlarged the imagery to fill the width of the vinyl roll, and imported the shapes into the Cutting Master software. This software communicated to the vinyl cutter where to cut shapes into the vinyl sheets.

The machine took about 30 minutes to cut out each student’s design sheets. Then I picked the negative space vinyl with a tiny tool so I could pull it away and discard it.

Then it was ready to install! My students were a little skeptical at first, as the stickers were really sticky and it took them awhile to get in the hang of it. But before the first day of installing was over, they really got into the process! They found it freeing to make quick decisions, and the repetitive nature of picking and sticking allowed them to be reflective in mind. The colors reminded them of Nickelodeon and Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine van. As time moved on, they carried on in fun conversation while they worked. My tiny, quiet class became more talkative as they learned about each other and worked together to create their public installation.

A lot was accomplished that first day of installment! Today they finished up, and felt very proud of their hard work.

Students, left to right: George Kinsey (interior design), Melanie Moore (art), Katie Fretesi (interior design) Not pictured– Haley Beckham (interior design)

It will be on display for two months! Go check it out and enjoy!