Every summer in New York City, there is a huge celebration of Mississippi Culture and  People in Central Park. This festival is known as Mississippi in the Park and features authentic Mississippi cuisine, like watermelons and crawfish, Southern Businesses and Institutions who have affiliates in the Big Apple, and live Music from Southern Musicians who live up north. After the big day in the park, President of The University of Southern Mississippi, Martha D. Saunders, invites special guest and dignitaries to a private dinner at a landmark New York City establishment.

In 2009, President Saunders invited guest to the 21 Club in New York for a night on the town. To invite her guest, she requested a fun yet formal invitation that incorporated the location of the event with the University’s spirit.

I hand drew three lawn jockeys, that could be found at the historic 21 Club, in the University’s school colors, black and gold. The invitation was a four panel accordion fold printed with all of the text in Silver metallic ink.

To kick off the 89th season of the The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, I art directed, scouted, edited, and designed the calendar that would make a splash in Southern Mississippi.

The calendar was planned around the season’s biggest and most glamorous guest, Renee Fleming. Fleming is world renowned for her impeccable style and beautiful voice. We wanted to present her in a calendar that would be just as fashionable as she.

The calendar’s photographs are intriguing. Each setting entails designer gowns, stunning hair and make-up coupled with naturalistic settings. A closer look reveals instruments of the symphony cleverly placed. On first glance it appears models, photographers and hair and make-up teams must have been flown around the world to capture these stunning images. But what makes this calendar even more special is that even a person familiar with the area would most likely not recognize the setting as Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Each model was a student at Southern Miss or Hattiesburg local and were photographed in and around the city.

Over the course of about 6 months, with help from Symphony Marketing Director, Mike Lopinto, and University photographer, Danny Rawls, I scouted the city of Hattiesburg, MS for locations, props, models, and inspiration to build this stunning calendar. Several months of the calendar feature hair, makeup, and dresses designed and executed by me. As we went to each location to shoot the photos, I hand placed the models and props to achieve the final look. To make everything better, we were able to complete the printed calendar for basically free. We had donors in the area to donate the beautiful gowns and props, models who donated their time, locations that were totally free, and set crew that were students at the University who wanted to help out. The printing cost were even covered by local businesses in support of the arts at Southern Miss.

To celebrate the beginning of The University of Southern Mississippi’s Centennial Celebration, world renowned classical soprano Renee Fleming came to Jackson, Mississippi, to perform with The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. The event received much publicity and featured the images and signage that I designed for the event.

Large banners and posters were designed and distributed across much of the Gulf South, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida. More personal invitations were sent to select individuals while postcards were mailed out all over the South. Full page ads ran in national magazines like Opera America and Symphony Magazine as well as in many local publications.

President Martha D. Saunders at the University of Southern Mississippi requested personal Christmas and Birthday Cards to send to faculty, staff, and other constituents. These cards feature a pen and ink drawing of the Administration Building on the campus of the University. The bottom edge of the card was die-cut with a scalloped edge to add a slight feminine touch.

The Christmas card also was printed with a high gloss, clear raised litho-varnish to resemble snow on the building and ground. Both of the illustrations were drawn by me.

Currently under construction, milkandhoneybaltimore.com is for a new local Market and Deli in Mt.Vernon, Baltimore. This cool new hangout has an awesome Coffee Bar, Meat & Cheese department, locally grown produce counter, hand crafted deli sandwiches, and of course Milk & Honey.

This hip new grocery was much needed in Baltimore and is sure to be a predominant fixture in such an active revitalization of the historic Mt. Vernon district of Baltimore.

Hazel’s Vintage & Gifts, a small vintage clothing and gift boutique in Southern Mississippi, opened in 2008. The store was named in honor of the owner’s great-aunt Hazel. Hazel was as cooky as an owl and kept random stuff stored in her attic.

A pair of owls became the iconic symbol for Hazel’s. One owl was drawn to be used for men’s fashion while the other was for the ladies. The logo could be broken apart and used separately, or left alone and used jointly.

The logo ended up being just black and white so that the owner could use a rubber stamp to place the logo on tags, bags, and signage throughout the store and to stay on budget.

These posters were used to promote the 2010 Theatre Season at The University of Southern Mississippi(USM). The theater department at USM is know for their excellent modern interpretations of classic plays. I wanted the posters that promote their plays to be just as modern while still capturing the essence of each of the season’s performances.

By using a variety of type treatments, the posters came alive and made a bold statement when hung around the campus and town.

The University of Southern Mississippi Department of Theatre & Dance wanted a fresh look for the 2009-10 Season.

Stunning photographs from previous productions are great to look back upon what they have done, but doesn’t speak much of the current season. Once the photos were placed into the text, they no longer looked as if they were representing the current season, but instead representing the level of excellence that the department routinely achieves each season. Displaying photos in this way also allowed both areas of the department to have equal representation when first viewed. Which is important because traditionally, the Theatre has more performances than Dance each year.

The Shangri-la Symphony Gala was a spectacle to see that one would usually expect find in places Las Vegas or Los Angeles, not in Southern Mississippi. To help raise money to support The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, the Shangri-la Symphony Gala transported people through time and space to the mystical land of Shangri-la. The event was full of music being performed by the Orchestra, while performers dangled from the ceiling from fabric and ropes.

The invitation that was sent out featured simple black and white illustrations that were spiked with punches of vibrant red. The invitation was a self mailer that once opened, reviled an illustration of a Chinese gate. Once the gate was opened, one would find a peaceful pagoda next to a cherry tree in full bloom, and red lanterns draped across the page.

As a massive fund raising effort for the College of Arts and Letters at The University of Southern Mississippi, the Moulin Rouge Arts Gala captured the feel of the french burlesque in a night of music, dance, theatre, and art. The Arts Gala was highly received as the must see event of the year in Southern Mississippi as soon as the invitations went out.

I art directed and photographed the images used and designed the Gala Invitation suite. The suite included invitations, thank you cards, and posters.