LCCTC students design dog tag forms
Oct. 16—The Lawrence County treasurer's office annually sends thousands of dog tag applications out to pet owners.
This year, Treasurer Richard Rapone wanted to do something special with the applications — so he teamed up with his alma mater.
Commercial art students from the Lawrence County Career and Technical Center designed the application forms sent out to residents.
"Mr. Rapone is an alumnus and (LCCTC) Hall of Fame inductee, so he knew very well what an asset the LCCTC is for our community," said commercial art instructor Anthony DeRosa.
DeRosa said once Rapone approached him about this idea, his students met with their "clients" at the treasurer's office to review the scope of the project.
The two sides agreed the theme of the form, to appeal as wide a demographic as possible, would be from the "Peanuts." Due to copyright, they weren't able to use the cartoon characters.
Fortunately, LCCTC science teacher Julie Brown, who is friends with Rapone, happens to be the owner of a dog named Charlie Brown who then became the mascot for the advertisements and forms.
Junior student Catalina Binder, from the Ellwood City Area School District, helped organize Charlie Brown's photoshoot and took the photos for the flyers.
"The design had to be approved first by the treasurer's office and then by the Department of Agriculture," DeRosa said. "The design has now been approved and is moving into the final stages of production to be mailed out to dog owners in our county in the new year."
Binder said at first she was nervous about leading the project but became more comfortable as she worked and got lost in the creative process.
"The photography process was a learning experience working with various lighting techniques and camera settings, but working with my subject was less complex since Charlie Brown was very obedient," Binder said. "This isn't my first time being a team leader, but I learn more about leading each time I work on community projects at the LCCTC."
Binder said they took hundreds of photos of Charlie Brown, leading to a lengthy editing process to choose the right images.
She also said it was a challenge for the layout with all the information in a limited amount of space.
Still, she said she had fun, thanks in no small part to Charlie Brown.
"Charlie Brown was an exceptional model. He was a very obedient, playful and fun dog," Binder said. "I think Charlie had a good time because he got treats throughout and had no trouble being the center of attention. I don't think I'll have any other dog as good as Charlie Brown."
Rapone said the tags need to be ready by Dec. 1 for the treasurer's office to prepare for the licenses. The county distributes an average of 13,000 to 15,000 tags every year, he said.
