Lake Erie College students winners of National Graphic Design USA Competition

Dec. 7—Lake Erie College visual communication and graphic design majors Brittney Alfieri, Abrar Ghazy and Holly Wright-Fletcher have been named winners of the 59th Graphic Design USA graphic design award competition, school officials recently announced.

The competition drew more than 10,000 entries this year, with only the top 10 percent selected as winners, the college confirmed.

Assistant Professor Anthony Ezzo submitted pieces created by the students to the competition — the winning pieces will be featured in the New York City-based organization's "Design Annual."

Alfieri and Wright-Fletcher will also be presenting their bachelor of fine arts final projects in May.

The winners

Ghazy is a dual major in visual communication and graphic design and sports management, with a minor in business administration.

Her piece, "A Silent Voice," was created for a class project, where she learned, through the process, to use type in art to express a message.

"It speaks about social justice and expressing unity, addressing the silent voices of the minority group," she explained.

Wright-Fletcher noted her piece, titled "Contain the (Unordinary)," ties in with her marketing minor.

Citing her sense of humor as a driving force behind her concept, she describes her work within certain containers that contain unordinary things.

"I feel that I learned from this experience how passionate I am about graphic design and where I would love it to take me in a career," Wright-Fletcher said. "I love that Graphic Design picked me as well as other Lake Erie College students to show that the (visual communication and graphic design) program creates great designers."

Alfieri also has a double minor in business administration and marketing and hopes to use her business and graphic design skills to become an executive creative director.

Her piece, "Experience The Science Museum," is based on the concept of the architectural structure of the London Underground railroad map and how it relates to constellations in space.

"This piece gave me the experience of expressing myself in a creative way, executing a meaningful and conceptualized relationship," Alfieri said. "I learned that a strong concept within a design gives another level of meaning to a creative expression."

Two years ago, visual communication and graphic design alumna Marina Puhalj also placed as a winner in the competition.

According to the college, Puhalj now works as a designer for On3 Sports, based in Brentwood, Tennessee.

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