FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, Dec. 10, 2007
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications (304) 696-7153
 

Julia Urban wins first Holiday Card Design Contest

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Julia Urban of Chesapeake, Ohio, a May 2007 graduate in Marshall University’s College of Fine Arts and a current MU graduate student majoring in graphic design, is the winner of the first Holiday Card Design Contest sponsored by Marshall President and Mrs. Stephen J. Kopp.

The contest is the first of a series of student design competitions initiated by President and Mrs. Kopp, according to Byron Clercx, chair of Marshall’s Department of Art and Design.

“We are grateful to President and Mrs. Kopp for recognizing and rewarding the creative acumen art and design students bring to a practical visual challenge,” Clercx said.

“Jane and I decided to initiate and support this competition as a way of recognizing and showcasing the amazing artistic talent of our students,” President Kopp said. “The holiday card that Julia designed will be mailed to everyone on our list and she is featured as the card creator.”

Clercx said more than 50 students ranging from freshman to graduate students entered the Holiday Card Design Contest.

“The art and design faculty was instrumental in the high number of quality student responses to the competition, which made choosing a winner challenging for the design selection committee,” Clercx said.

Urban won $700 for her holiday card design. It features a buffalo covered in snow walking above the words, “There is snow place like MARSHALL.” Mika Kanai of Huntington took second place and was awarded $400, and Tonya Rayburn of Eleanor, W.Va., took third place and received $150.

Mary Grassell, a professor of design in Marshall’s Department of Art and Design, worked closely with Urban, helping her with the production side of the contest.

“Julia is a good, solid designer, a very competent designer,” Grassell said. “Winning this competition gives her a push into the limelight and shows her that she does do good work. It has put a smile on her face and given her confidence to know that she was the best in this contest.”

Urban said she wanted to portray a snowy scene with an image of a buffalo on her card.

“I soon developed the idea of a snow buffalo instead of your ordinary snowman,” she said. Urban created snowflakes throughout the card, then added the phrase, “There is snow place like Marshall,” which she said connects the idea of snow and Marshall University to the snow buffalo.

Grassell agreed with Clercx that the contest received a positive response from Marshall’s students.

“They liked it; they seemed to enjoy the competition,” she said. “It’s been good for them. It helps them feel more like they are important to the university.”

###