By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
"Out of Pocket," the Fort Hays State University graphic design bachelor of fine arts exhibit is now on display at the Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art on campus.
The exhibit will run through March 24. The gallery is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
The exhibit includes projects from the various students' classes, including games, stamps, restaurant branding, packaging and posters.
Paige Polika-Denson, junior in graphic design from Hays, was the winner of the American Democracy Project and History of Graphic Design Poster Series contest.
Students are asked to consider important current social issues and design posters based on historic graphic design styles on those themes.
Polifka-Denson addressed rape. Her poster shares the message that 1 in 16 women lose their virginity to rape. 56 percent of them were verbally pressured. The poster also has moveable sayings of possible offender verbal abuse.
The poster challenges viewers to "Go ahead take a piece if you have said or have been told one of the following quotes."
"As a woman myself and having friends who have dealt with situations that weren't necessarily ideal with their partners, I felt like it was a very easy cause for me to pick to focus on. It hit home, and I had a lot of people who I could reach out to as far as getting their testimonies and their quotes and their stories."
She said she was lucky enough to have people around her who were willing to trust her with their stories.
"The result was pretty powerful," she said. "I was happy to see I was able to hit the spot I was wanting to hit, and people were able to relate."
Polifka-Denson also had a stamp series in the exhibit that portrayed women and their insecurities. She created fictional female artists to focus on those insecurities.
She said after graduating in 2024 she hopes to do advocacy work with youth, the disabled or LGBTQ+ individuals.
"I want to help people or disenfranchised people find a place where art can make a difference," she said. "Although some might think that art is not powerful to people, it can make a difference in day-to-day life."
Ian Will, a senior in graphic design from Hays, said he was proud of a matchbox design he created that allows someone to open the matchbox and strike in with one hand.
"We're showing all of the work we've done over the years. We have pedestals with all of our different projects and our posters that we designed last semester," he said.
The sign-in wall installation and the catalogs were also designed by graphic arts students.
The students chose the exhibit name "Out of Pocket" because it is something random or unexpected. Will said all of the students have their own personalities but work well together.
"When we work late at night in the lab, we talk about all kinds of random things," he said, "and we have all kinds of out-of-pocket discussions."
Jacob Basye, graphic design student from Hoisington, had his card game, Wind Up Apt, featured in the show. The game is based around an apartment with tenants who have bad habits.
He also had his Lousiana gumbo-style barbecue brand, Crockie Charlie's featured in the show. The branding features a smiling frog.
His domino sets each included mystery vinyl albums from a decade in music history.
"When you pull out the records, they have the lyrics on them, so you can sing along and get groovy," he said.
Basye said he hopes to do package and logo design after he graduates.
Lauryn Becker's paint line was mixed with recycled material, which created a textured wall treatment.
Becker, junior in graphic design from Cheney, also participated in a group project to create a restaurant brand, Spud Murphy's. The restaurant serves spicy potatoes that have been created by crossing potatoes with peppers.
Other FHSU students featured in the show include Makenna Hammond, Maria Neale, Brandon Karlin, Travis Wierman, Tyler Boomer, Avery Jones, Riley Tinder, David Guzman, Secily Cruse, Brittany Wheeler, Spencer Bergstrom, Moriah Debey and Riley Judd.