Left to right: Emilie Reed, Amy Haldeman, Emily Calhoun.
SK
Designing
ATEBO
ARDS
Jim Howard
Having my students buy in
to the relevance of a lesson
is always a challenge, even
in a graphic design classroom. Making logos and posters is
certainly part of what we do, but output is typically just an 8½ x 11" ( 21. 25
x 27. 5 cm) print. I’ve done stickers,
40 May/June 2009 SchoolArts
postcards, and even had movie posters
printed by a local sign shop. None of
these products, though, can compare
with the success of my skateboard
design project.
Dealing with illustration and print
design, this project sparked quite an
interest and allowed my students to
create something tangible. Its rele-
vance to youth and counterculture
gives it instant appeal for high-school students. When I introduced
the assignment, many students
wanted to get to work immediately,
but we took time to research skateboard art and artists and attempted
to track trends in skateboard art over
time.
