February 24, 2023
Students in Professor Meaghan Barry’s Graphic Design 2 class at Oakland University recently collaborated with HOPE Shelters in Pontiac, Mich. to rebrand the shelter to better reflect the work they are doing in the Oakland County community and beyond.
“Collaborations such as this allow students to envision another career path that they might not have thought about before,” said Barry, an associate professor of graphic design and chair of the Department of Art and Art History at OU.
“I think it’s really been helpful for me as a faculty member to be able to show my students how many great things are happening already in our community and how they can fit in with their skillset as a designer to uplift that. I also think it’s been really beneficial in terms of giving our students access to real-world experience.”
The collaboration was the result of a conversation last summer between Barry and Dr. Jason Wasserman, a professor in the Department of Foundational Medical Studies in the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. Wasserman is also chair of the Board of Directors at HOPE Shelters.
“As a non-profit trying to serve the needs of the large number of individuals in Oakland County who are struggling with homelessness, we often don't have the resources for the kind of professional quality services that a for-profit company can access,” Wasserman said. “But that's precisely what we got from the Oakland University students — high quality graphic design assets that we can use to rebrand our organization, and enhance its visibility.
“As a faculty member at OU, I couldn't be prouder and more impressed with the work these students have done and give so much credit to Dr. Barry and the entire department for providing them what is obviously top-notch training,” he added. “I'm so grateful that Dr. Barry and her students picked us as the organization to work with this past semester. It will really make a difference.”
Divided up into four teams, students in Professor Barry’s class assessed HOPE Shelters’ organization, mission and methods of communication. Each team developed marketing materials based on a creative brief and presented their ideas to the Board of Directors in December 2022.
“All of their presentations were exceptional,” said Brian Wright, executive director of HOPE Shelters. “All four groups offered very strong social media campaigns, but we were challenged to assess them all and award one the bragging rights of being called the winner.”
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| Carmen Corona |
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| Benjamin Dack |
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| Ryan Neubacher |
OU students Carmen Corona, Benjamin Dack and Ryan Neubacher were ultimately selected as the winning team for their presentation, which included a new logo in a calming green that focused around butterfly imagery.
“It won our hearts and communicated subtly about the transformative work we do,” Wright said. “We will be publicly using a version of that logo very soon.”
As a members of the chosen team, Corona, Dack and Neubacher said the process of working with HOPE Shelters was “the most exciting project of the semester” because it was their first time working with a real client.
“Working together as a group for many weeks in a row, we eventually became really good friends, which made the design collaboration even more fun for all of us,” they said. “It felt great to have our hard work recognized by the Board of Directors and our professor; all the hours we put in paid off. We thank HOPE Shelters for choosing us to be the new face to their amazing shelter, and thank Professor Barry for the constant support and guidance she provided throughout the entire process, and for making this an amazing experience.”
Barry said experiential service-based learning projects like this are important because they allow students to see that their future is still unwritten.
“I think a lot of students, especially in graphic design, think that their job in the future is going to be selling things or working for a big corporate company,” she said. “What I like to drive home to them is that they have this skillset that can really make their community better. These ‘design superpowers’ can really be used for good, not just selling soda or water or whatever.
“I think this collaboration is a great example of how you can be a good citizen and do work that is really impactful,” Barry added. “As the same time, it also gives our students the experience of what it’s like to think about a budget, to design something as a team, and to make a polished presentation to a client. I think these are things that make this project very important, beyond just driving by and seeing the results in the community.”
Wright said he hopes HOPE Shelters will continue to collaborate with Oakland University on future projects.
“Collaborative relationships help HOPE Shelters focus on sheltering and advocating for guests rather than trying to become experts at all things,” he said. “So, we value student and faculty engagement at the shelter and hope to continue to build collaborations with more and more aspects of the educational process. If any professor has a suggestion of how we can work together, we will welcome the conversation.”
For more information about HOPE Shelters, visit www.hopeshelters.org.