
The top 6 finalist in the "Love Nests" Exhibition shown above.
In lieu of each of you being at MODA on Thursday morning I tried to capture the process so you could see for yourself how the selection process for the "Love Nests" exhibition occurred. I packaged your work in 3 box sets with a cover page in each box giving credit to your name and the number of posters you were presenting.
It took 2 hours to narrow down the 63 Poster concepts and as many museum cards. I think MODA was expecting only 20 poster designs, so needless to say they were a bit overwhelmed by the quantity and quantity of the work. I was very proud of your hard work and creativity as I stood watch to answer any questions they might have. I tried to answer them as best I could referring to your creative briefs for specific answers.
Each poster design was laid out (below) in their conference room which covered the tables and most of the floor area. Brenda and Raja both went through them thoroughly.
They both expressed their personal and professional choices as they went through each design. Sometimes they got into great debates over imagery or typography. Brenda ultimately had the final say in whatever conversation took place.



Once every design was laid out (below) for viewing and some immediate conversation, Brenda and Raja began editing the designs they felt might not represent the exhibition in their best opinion. Each step of the process left the designs they felt would be the best representation of the exhibition. Their comments ranged from being "too literal in terms of the name "Love Nests" to some of the designs being too geared towards photography or not obvious enough...and yes, at times they contradicted themselves which confused me.

Choosing the top 30+ designs below and the selection process gets a bit more intense.It was exhausting for me to watch as the process continued to narrow these gorgeous designs down to a few.


Choosing the final 14 designs below:

The Final 9 designs below:

The Final 6 chosen below:

The Museum Card process basically went the same way as the poster design process. However, after stickers were placed on the images they felt would not sell or did not represent the exhibition, then each prototype card you prepared was pulled out of the back pocket and laid on the table and they looked at what these various images by different designers in class would look like as a packaged set. They went for images only and then some that also had the name of the exhibition. This selection process got a little heated at times as conversations arose about who would possibly purchase these cards and how they might be used. They increased the box set number from 20 to 24 so they could include more images from each of you. Again, some of the top poster designs made it into the cards selected but some did not for whatever reason. Again, no names were mentioned during this process to keep it fair and unbiased. See below.



I hope this gives you a sense of what the selection process was like with all your beautiful work. Truly there were no weak designs only designs they felt would best represent the exhibition. I wanted to be as transparent with you about this process since you could not be present. Congrats again.
Next up is Camp MODA and the process begins again with the exception that the design for the poster will be the same for the larger mailer (no museum cards.)
PLEASE NOTE: This project was NOT a contest. It is real project with real consequences regarding work that a client could possibly use for their exhibition. Since this is a non-profit museum there would be no monetary reimbursement regardless. The client could have decided not to use any of the work and for all we know they still might change their minds before the exhibition. Anything can happen. Each of you have your own strengths and your own creative voices and I wouldn't wish you to change that one bit. Instead, build on it and make it stronger regardless of what your critics, classmates, professors or even clients might say. Each of you are coming into your own and it's time that you start listening to your inner creative self. With that said, each of you, and myself as well, cannot afford to let your ego get in the way of your success. Listen to others and take what each offer to you in a most respectful way and learn from it. Support each other no matter what. You will need each other more than ever when you graduate and get out into the daily routine of the working world of visual communication.