Students showcase OU’s biological preserve in sustainable design course

This semester, graphic design students showcased Oakland University’s biological preserve through original art and poetry, weaving in themes of conservation, climate change, invasive species and more. 

Taught by Graphic Design Professor Maria Smith Bohannon, students in the DES 3900 Sustainable Design course created broadsides (posters) and zines (booklets) celebrating the preserve, a lush expanse of forests, streams, meadows and wetlands nestled along the southwest end of campus.

According to Bohannon, the projects promote awareness of the preserve’s beauty, its abundance of life and the importance of healthy ecosystems. “They’re also meant to celebrate our good fortune of having a living laboratory on our campus,” she added.

Senior graphic design major Lauren Kotowski said the class broadened her perspective on the role of a graphic designer. 

“What's so interesting about this class is that while it’s a design class, and one that's shaping our entire futures in the field, it does something that not many others offer – it requires us to get out from behind the computer and into the world,” Kotowski shared. “When you work entirely digitally, you forget to take that step outside away from the computer and into the world you're creating for, and I think this class does a really great job of allowing for that.”

Prior to embarking on their projects, students toured the biological preserve to learn about the diverse plant and animal species that call it home. Biology Professor Scott Tiegs led the tour, detailing the history of the preserve and its importance to OU’s campus.

“Walking through the preserve, everything feels so much larger than you. Not only in the physicality of the trees and wildlife that stretch and sprawl high above your head, but in the much grander future and history of the land,” Kotowski reflected. “It instills a personal responsibility to help maintain it, to live respectfully with the land, not just on it. I think there's a general understanding that nature preservation is important, but it isn't until you're standing in it that you feel the weight of that importance.”  

Kotowski’s project featured images from the preserve and a poem about the wonders of nature. 

“I took my sketches of rocks, plants, grasses, bat houses, bridges, trees, and frogs, and scanned them in to make them digital renderings,” she explained. “Then I took those individual pieces and arranged them to create two 11x17 full-page landscapes of the preserve on Adobe Illustrator to later be printed on one page, double sided and folded in thirds to create a zine.” 

Senior graphic design major Kariann DeGhetto created a zine based on the different species of fish in the preserve’s creek.

“I think sustainable design is extremely important in our current environment,” she said. “Climate change is a serious and pressing issue, and I think anything we can do to help the planet is so important.” 

To help protect the environment, students produced their projects with a special printer that uses soy inks and banana paper (made from discarded banana stems), avoiding the use of harmful pigments, chemicals and non-renewable resources. 

The Sustainable Design course included collaboration with English Professor Katie Hartsock’s Workshop in Poetry class. Shannon Waite, a student in Dr. Hartsock’s class, featured a poem in graphic design student Heather Opperthauser’s project. Titled “What It Takes to Survive,” the poem centers on the theme of survival in the face of invasion, with allusions to femininity and women’s rights. 

“As I was going through my notes to write the poem, one of the things that stood out to me was characteristics of femininity in the plants and bugs, and what they experience,” said Waite, a creative writing major. “This piece was not originally going to be about women's rights, but as I was exploring ideas through writing, it turned into a poem about invasive species in nature, but also about the perseverance of women.”

Waite also touted writing as a powerful tool to promote sustainability efforts. 

“Writing is a way to communicate and can effectively convey information about sustainability practices and why they are needed and important,” she said. “Also, poetry can move people, and with sustainability being such an important practice, poetry can help express this in ways that intrigue or speak to people on a more personal level.”