Montana State students place in national competition for magazine design

BOZEMAN - Three Montana State University seniors earned national recognition for their magazine spreads on June 11 from the Society of Publication Designers.

The graphic design seniors held two of the three top spots in SPD's collegiate design competition, plus one honorable mention. They created two-page spreads on topics including sports, "how-to" and travel. SPD honored awardees at a gala in New York City, its home base since 1965 for events, career information, competitions and community for design professionals and students.

"The SPD contest is one of the most respected student awards for publication design in the U.S. and beyond," said Jeffrey Conger, graphic design professor in the College of Arts and Architecture, whose students developed their submissions in his publication design class. "We are honored to have three MSU students from the graphic design program receive these national accolades."

An unconventional take on the competition's sports category earned Chase Helmer second place. His magazine cover features an illustrated sumo wrestler shoving the word "sumo" with the palm of his hand, squishing the letters to the edge of the page. Helmer, who is from Billings, said he decided to play to his strengths as an illustrator while pursuing a topic of personal interest. He does martial arts in his free time and took inspiration from his experience studying abroad in Japan four years ago.

Helmer said he didn't believe layout and type design were his strengths upon entering Conger's class, but he possesses a competitive streak that manifested itself in a detailed final product. He found it valuable to share his work with peers in class and vice versa, realizing where he could improve his layout with spacing or the hierarchy of elements on each page.

"For a while, I felt like design in itself wasn't really a strength of mine because I was very focused on illustration and art. But recently, especially with this win in a national magazine competition, my confidence is growing," he said. "I was amped when I got the email. I had all sorts of adrenaline pumping the day after that."

SPD will display his magazine on its website, and Helmer will receive a 20-minute portfolio review session with design professionals for winning second place. In the future, he hopes to explore career paths at the intersection of art and design, such as film animation or book cover art.

Izzi Rukavina, who is from Great Falls, will receive the same winner's perks for her competition submission, a "how-to" spread that earned third place.

Her magazine demonstrates how readers can grow their own salsa garden, from preparing a garden bed to tending peppers, cilantro, onions and tomatoes. Rukavina, inspired by her hometown greenhouse where she works during the summer, illustrated each design element with pops of green, red and gold, including a seed packet drawing used to border her gardening instructions.

Rukavina said her professors often encourage students to submit work outside their "college bubble" and beyond what they think is realistic for their skill level. Though she first ventured into graphic design as a member of her high school yearbook team, she is looking forward to pursuing brand identity development after college.

"It was cool to see how my skills placed at a national level rather than just within the classroom, and it's a good picture of how my designs will do after college," Rukavina said. "I'm mind-blown a little bit."

Sadye Young, who is from Seattle, called her mom immediately after receiving an honorable mention for her travel magazine, which will be showcased on SPD's website. She said the recognition is meaningful after spending weeks reworking her design in the digital platform Procreate and reading travel books and magazines for inspiration.

Her spreads include sightseeing to-dos in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a hand-illustrated Christ the Redeemer statue, bowl of feijoada stew and more. Her magazine cover tucks the words "Rio de Janeiro" into a colorful network of homes called favela, which are stacked on Brazilian hillsides.

The project confirmed Young's plan to pursue publication design after college, one that began during her first magazine cover assignment in Conger's class. She said she appreciates how her professors take time to sit down with students individually, not only to provide constructive feedback, but also to discuss their professional and personal goals in a way that boosts their confidence. When Young started her degree-focused classes during her sophomore year, this encouragement helped assuage her worries that graphic design wasn't the right path for her.

"With graphic design, I get to see a little bit of the business world, a lot of the art world, how my designs get out into the real world and the impact I can make," she said. "That, I think, is the biggest thing for me: the impact."