WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., February 26, 2024 — West Liberty University graphic design students had the opportunity to work on a branding project with The Gallery at 2265, a local gallery in Wheeling’s Centre Market.
Moonjung Kang is a Professor of Visual Communication Design at WLU. Dr. David Kappel, a retired plastic & reconstructive surgery specialist and one of the creators of The Gallery at 2265, asked Kang if she could get graphic design students involved with the gallery branding.
Kappel and Dr. Phil Polack, a Wheeling plastic surgeon and the gallery’s co-owner, opened the spot not as a money-making project, but rather as a way to give back to the Wheeling community.
“Dr. Polack and I have worked here (Wheeling) our entire career, and the city has been a wonderful place to raise children and have a career. So, we’ve always felt that we owed something to the people in town and region in the state as well. So, it was a wonderful opportunity to give back,” said Kappel.
In addition to giving back to the community, they wanted to build their brand with the talent of local university students. Both Kappel and Polack love art, and they’ve been great supporters of the WLU Arts & Design and Music program for many years.
Kang assigned the project to her Advanced Computer Graphics class with 19 students in total. Although only one student’s logo would be used for the gallery, Dr. David Kappel and Dr. Phil Polack awarded the top three students with prize money.
WLU junior Jaqueline Pena won first place. Sydney Bodak won second place and Nicole Walker won third.
“Winning The Gallery 2265’s logo competition was an amazing experience. Seeing my design go out into the real world and become the face of such a beautiful space dedicated to community, where my work was able to represent what they are, feels incredibly rewarding,” said Pena.
Pena’s logo was utilized to create branding materials to promote the gallery’s third show, Ken McCollum’s Ceramics, which opened on February 24.
“Nothing is as beneficial for design students as real-world situations. A few words from a real client contribute significantly to the improvement of students’ design skills, much more than feedback from their teacher in the classroom,” said Kang. “Dr. Kappel understood this very well and willingly accepted to conduct the project in a competition format. Students were already doing their best to develop their designs, but after hearing about the purpose of establishing that gallery, they jumped in with even more enthusiasm.”
More information on WLU’s Visual Communication program can be found here.
West Liberty University is West Virginia’s oldest public university, and it offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and 12 graduate programs, both online and on campus. Learn more at westliberty.edu.