Visual Designer & Illustrator

Photos by Tessa Voccola

Vindagua Issue 5: The Renaissance Issue
Working as Lead Designer for Lee University’s Vindagua has been a dream come true. Through each of the 130+ pages of Vindagua Issue 4, I helped tell the story of Spring 2018 through the perspectives of students and faculty who reside on our campus. Vindagua has always held a special place in my heart, so being able to take the design reigns and steer a wonderful brand in a new and exciting direction has been an amazing experience for me. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
In honor of the Renaissance, we featured students and faculty who are known around campus for the ways in which they are innovating in each of their fields. Through clever storytelling, beautiful photography and stunning illustration, Vindagua encapsulates what it feels like to be a student on the Lee University in Fall of 2018.
Illustration
With Issues 3 & 4, we introduced guest illustrators and we have been slowly turning up the number of illustrations in each issue. With The Renaissance Issue, however, the number of illustrations featured was turned up to 100.

While many of the illustrations in Issue 5 were created by contributing artists, many of the illustrations were my own. Whether a spread was a little bare and needed a little more visual interest or an entire story was centered around the illustration, each piece has a unique relationship with the story it accompanies. With this issue, I experimented with layering illustration over top of photography and creating completely typography based illustrations.
Style Guide
Issue 5 was inspired by well known magazines such as Anxy, Another Escape, and Frankie as well as the feeling of the Renaissance period and the colors of Italian culture. I wanted the color palette to be more mature and masculine than it has been in the past. The rust, coral, and yellow communicate the feeling of a sunrise or rebirth that the Renaissance represent. 
Release Day Poster 
Our contributors have always been a huge part of Vindagua's mission. We want to involve Lee students in the telling of their own stories, so Vindagua offers college credit to writers who conduct interviews and write pieces for the book, and we offer the publishing of the work of guest photographers and illustrators. With this year's release poster, I wanted to place our contributors front and center. I came up with the hashtag "We Are Vindagua" and placed these posters with the names of every contributor all around campus to announce the Renaissance Issue. Vindagua celebrates the amazing diversity of those we feature as well as the creators who make this publication possible. 
Issue 5 Contributors
Zach Camp - Photographer
Mitchell Hartley - Photographer
James Mears - Photographer
Olivia Blandin - Illustrator
Katie Carroll - Illustrator
Allie Collier - Illustrator
Ryan Davison - Illustrator
Hannah Elster - Illustrator and Writer
Gina Merson - Illustrator
Sophie Perry - Illustrator
Amanda Turnbo - Illustrator
Adrianna Barry - Writer
Kennedy Blair - Writer
Kiley Brock - Writer
Ashlyn Brooks - Writer
Aaron Campbell - Writer
Tori Francis - Writer
Alexa Hill - Writer
Brannan Humphreys - Writer
Megan Jones - Writer
Albian Johnson - Writer
Allie Carnes - Writer
Kyung-Woo Lee - Writer
Ellie Kassabaum - Writer
Valerie O'Hare - Writer
Leticia Olvera - Writer
Rachel Pickett - Writer
Chandler Redding - Writer
Megan Wallace - Writer
Brook VanderSteeg - Writer
Marah Whitaker - Writer
Mallory Wickam - Writer
Taylor Woodruff - Writer
Gallery Cards
As part of our commitment to our contributors, we released a set of eight gallery cards with photography and illustration from the past three issues. Each book had one of these cards inside, and we encouraged our readers to complete their sets to decorate their homes, offices, or wherever.
Long Live Print
My final contribution to distribution day this year was the creation of a design around a saying we have been throwing around the office for months. "Long Live Print" encapsulates my own love for print design and the value of a tangible publication. There is something about holding a real artifact of history in your own two hands. Nothing could ever replace the cognitive reward of a physical manifestation of a project, even if created visually. 
I chose to center the typography inside a window because Vindagua's roots come from the Norse word for window "Vindauga" which is what our student publication used to be called until someone spelled it wrong, and the new word "Vindagua" stuck as a completely unique brand. I wanted the design to feel regal and timeless, but also be easy to print and loved by all students.
Staff of Issue 5
The Fall 2018 staff is absolutely the most amazing and talented team I have ever had the privilege to work with. We were always collaborating and innovating together and this book is as much my baby as it is there. This team works tireless hours with an amazingly quick turnaround for any publication to pull off, especially a student-run publication. We have under 2 months to plan, gather, write and design the entire publication. These people make this work so enjoyable. I will truly miss the family I have gained through this publication. 
Fall 2018 Staff
Savannah Stone - Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director
Kaitlyn Anderson - Senior Designer
Tyler Puckett - Head of Copy
Lisa Zimmer - Campus Section Editor
Naudia O'Steen - Community Section Editor
Forrest McFarland - Feature Section Editor
Jordan Crocker - Head of Marketing
Tessa Voccola - Senior Photographer
James Cocks - Photographer
We're winners, baby!!

I have been honored to be a part of a communication program at my alma mater, Lee University, who values student success. We have taken home many ADDY awards through the years. The 2 issues of Vindagua that I had the privilege to design have both racked up more than 8 local awards and Issue 5 went on to score 2 Gold at the national ADDY awards in Florida, the highest honor the American Advertising Federation offers.