“Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month,” an exhibit featuring posters designed by Penn State students in the University’s 28th annual MLK poster competition, will be displayed from Jan. 11 to Feb. 28, in the entry lobby of Pattee Library. This year’s theme is “Let Justice Lead and Freedom Roar.”

The student posters were created in professor Lanny Sommese’s Graphic Design 400 Time and Sequence course. This annual exercise for Sommese’s students exposes them to real-world design with a fixed deadline and client and prescribed project specifications. It also gets the students involved in a public service project –something that is very important to Sommese.

The display illustrates a variety of approaches to this year’s theme and demonstrates the abilities of Penn State design students, including Alicia Adamerovich, Erika Fischerkeller, Arielle Goft, Dana Heller, Leah Herman, Spencer Kimble, Kate Kreisher, Jaclyn McKay, Michael Morris, Kim Price, Darcy Rose, Robby Sherman, Kat Simpson, Jingjing Wu and Asia Wynar.

Judges from the commemorations planning committee selected a design by senior graphic design major Arielle Goft as the winning poster (shown above). Her poster features a band drum major leading a large group of people. Goft’s design has been duplicated on buttons and posters to be distributed for Penn State’s 2013 celebration.