WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., June 29, 2018 — West Liberty University graphic design student Kelsey Hayden’s work is now part of a Colorado advertising campaign. The rising junior recently entered and won the 2018 Image Contest for the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival.
Like Wheeling’s Dragon Boat event, the festival is a chance to watch the excitement of Dragon Boat races. But this festival, held at Sloan Lake in Denver, also includes dancing, food and shopping. It’s billed as “Colorado’s annual celebration of Asian and Asian American heritage, the biggest pan-Asian Dragon Boat Festival in the U.S.”
“This assignment was made in Digital Imaging class last semester and the national contest was one of our class projects. It is very gratifying that one of my students won and her design is now being seen by so many people,” said Professor Moonjung Kang. Hayden received a $300 prize as part of her award.
Approximately 120,000 people attended last year’s festival in Denver.
“I feel honored that such a big event is now using my design,” said Hayden who is from Charles Town, W.Va. and is a Visual Communications Design major with a minor in Advertising Communications.
Kang’s class also nabbed a third place award. Mimi Albon, also of Charles Town, earned $100 for her design.
The winning design was featured as the official 2018 festival poster and was used everywhere on promotional materials. It also was announced on the festival’s webpage and social media pages.
Winners of the design contest were invited to attend the July festival and pick up their prize in person on the main stage, but neither WLU student is able to attend and will instead receive their prize via the U.S. Postal Service.
Hayden is working a summer job in her field at Prison Fellowship this summer. Prison Fellowship is an organization that advocates for restorative justice, located in Lansdowne, Va. and she serves as a graphic design assistant intern. She was selected for this position after submitting a portfolio and resumé recently.
The Visual Communications program is just one of the majors offered in the College of Arts and Communication and for more information, please visit WLU’s Visual Art webpage at westliberty.edu/art.