Clear Channel Spectacolor is displaying the designs of six students from NYC’s High School of Art and Design on its HD screen at 47th and Broadway, directly across from the TKTS booth in Duffy Square in NYC. The designs were created as part of Create! Don’t Hate., a Design Ignites Change mentoring initiative where professional designers from AIGA’s New York chapter helped the students create billboard designs that addressed the theme of tolerance. Worldstudio, an NYC-based marketing and design firm, conceived and implemented the program. Twenty-two students participated. The selected designs covered such topics as cross-racial acceptance and gay rights.
On Tuesday, July 6, from 10:30 to 10:35 a.m., the six billboard designs will appear on the screen, and they’ll run through July, once every hour.
Additionally, all 22 designs are displayed in an exhibition at the AIGA National Design Center Gallery (164 Fifth Ave.), through July 22.
As part of the mentoring process, the students were taken on a fieldtrip to Clear Channel Spectacolor’s Time Square office to see where their billboards would be displayed and get an inside look into the business of outdoor advertising. Mike McGraw, VP of Creative and Marketing for Clear Channel Spectacolor, discussed what makes a successful billboard and took questions from the students to help guide them in their design process.
Karin Satrom, a program mentor, worked with high school junior Deanita Redwood, on a billboard about gay marriage that was selected for display. Redwood said, “I think that having my design displayed in Times Square is the most incredible opportunity I could have hoped for. Hopefully the message will catch someone’s eye and change their mind. If only one person’s mind is changed about gay marriage then that’s enough for me, because that means Karin’s efforts and my efforts were truly worthwhile.”
Melanie Carnsew, who mentored Sara Ott, said, “I learned just as much from Sara as she could have learned from me. The students are very smart, hard working and always make me laugh; they offer a fresh perspective on the world. The project was also a great networking opportunity with other professionals in my field.”