Kristofer D. Layon

One of the projects I coordinated for my class was design work for one of Minnesota's most famous sons, WIll Steger, the international polar explorer. He has a new arctic expedition, Baffin Island 2007, scheduled for spring 2007.

This expedition is to promote his Global Warming 101 initiative, which is designed to draw attention to global warming in a new and dramatic way: how it is intimately affecting the lives of the Inuit people today.

The class designed page templates and logos for GW101 educational materials, as well as the expedition patch above that will be featured on all of the expedition communications, outer wear, and other gear. Visit www.globalwarming101.com for their summary of our involvement.

My favorite project to assign to my graphic design students is an assignment that I came up with in fall 2003: redesign the United States dollar bill, but using another theme or genre. The creative ideas that the students come up with are always surprising and often well-executed. And while I take on the role of design director by helping to bring out the best in their idea and design development, I also enjoy stepping back and allowing their concepts to blossom.

Some of my favorite designs from the three semesters that I have taught this assignment are below (click to enlarge):