Though the museum is closed to the public, we are always open for collaboration. Therefore, when a graphic design class approached us for a class project, we jumped at the chance to get involved.
The students in Peter Lusch’s Graphic Design 200 class at Penn State were each assigned a specimen in the Frost’s collection to examine and sketch with the goal of transforming their drawings into a simplified graphic. These graphics will highlight the important features of each particular insect’s structure and be used in further projects in the course.
This exercise both provided students a chance to research their subjects in 3D as well as for the insect collection to be utilized with an artistic goal in mind. As a lab that focuses on insect morphology, it was interesting to see how graphic designers perceived the insects’ structure in terms of conveying their form in a simple visual. Their goal is to take their preliminary drawings, which depict the details of the specimens, and turn them into the most basic elements that compose these particular insects.
We look forward to seeing the finished products of this class. Do you have any cool ideas for a collaboration with the Frost? We would love to hear about it!
Hello,
That’s so cool! I tried many times to find a Illustration course at PSU or somewhere near by, but never found it!
How can I subscribe to know when this kind of course/activity will happen again?
Thanks!
Thanks João! We enjoyed this project as well. This collaboration was a single lesson of a graphic design class. It sounds like other classes do similar natural illustration projects, so I would suggest contacting the graphic design/visual arts programs at Penn State to find other courses like this one.