Barry McNamara  |  Published April 18, 2018

Scholars Day

Logo design winner Jones now a professional graphic artist
MONMOUTH, Ill. – Throughout her time as a Monmouth College student, 2017 graduate Miranda Jones wanted to try her hand at graphic arts.

The public relations major finally had the opportunity to take a design class her senior year. She did so well in the class that she not only won the 2018 Scholars Day logo contest, but she has also made graphic design her first post-Monmouth profession.

Jones’s winning logo design accompanies promotional materials for the April 24 event at Monmouth College – a day devoted to scholarship, arts presentations and academic discussions. Scholars Day highlights will include the annual Honors Convocation at 10 a.m. in Dahl Chapel and Auditorium. Also, more than 100 students will be featured during poster displays, exhibits and oral presentations scheduled for the day. The public is invited.

“Funny enough, my only art background at Monmouth was senior year when I took ‘Typography and Logo’ with (art professor) Stephanie Baugh,” said Jones, who works as a graphic designer at AlphaGraphics in North Liberty, Iowa. “The course was recommended for students in public relations if they were interested in graphic communication, so it was a course I was interested in since freshman year.”

Through the class, Jones learned about the logo contest. Baugh had her students work on logos, not for a grade, but as a chance to develop their skills.

“Stephanie always recommended that students sketch before diving into designing anything on the computer,” Jones said of her creative process. “I knew I wanted to incorporate the Monmouth College cupola since that, to me, represents the academic side of Monmouth. Something else I knew I wanted the logo to have was icons that related to academics, which is why I chose the book and quill.”

Jones said her exploratory work included “a number of icons such as a light bulb, graduation cap and diploma, but including so many elements ended up being too distracting, so the book and quill won out.”

“Being new to graphic design, I was very excited to have won the logo contest,” she said. “I put a lot of time into the logo and made many changes from start to finish. Looking at my logo now I am still pleased with what I designed a year ago, although I would make small tweaks if I could.”

In addition to it having provided a rewarding exercise for what turned out to be the start of her graphic arts career, Jones also is a strong supporter of Scholars Day itself.

“I always enjoyed attending the Honors Convocation,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to recognize fellow students’ accomplishments as well as your own, so that is definitely a fond memory.”

During the afternoon session of Scholars Day, Jones had the opportunity to show her work from “Typography and Logo.”

“That was a proud moment for me since I had never had a project to share on Scholars Day until senior year,” she said.

Today, Jones has a job that allows her to continue challenging her creative abilities.

“Every day I use what I learned in ‘Typography and Logo,’ and I’m so happy that Monmouth College gave me the tools I needed to do a job I love,” she said.
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