In 2017, Hillsdale College External Affairs experienced the Shanna Cote effect. Hired as art director, the self-taught graphic design artist brought years’ worth of experience and a uniquely creative eye to the job, transforming how the department markets Center for Constructive Alternatives’ regular lecture series.
Center for Constructive Alternatives hosts the special lectures scheduled twice a semester at Hillsdale. Its invitations used to look similar to the stoic and classically color-themed elements of a typical Imprimis edition. Once Cote was hired, though, her creative team ditched navy and white. The posters came to life.
“It’s funny because now we’ll be at a President’s Club reception on Parent’s Weekend and somebody will introduce me. They’ll say, ‘Oh, you do the CCA designs?’ and get really excited about it,” Cote said. “I just love designing.”
Over the summer, the CCA design team received a list of the upcoming lecture series topics and got to work. This first series of the academic year will feature Russian history, literature, music, politics, and foreign policy, according to the course description. So with an itinerary in hand and Adobe Illustrator open, Cote and her team set to work.
With a nation as large and impactful as Russia, they weren’t grasping at straws for inspiration. But what spurred the design process might be smaller than you’d think. In fact, it was the size of a doll.
“For this one, we’re not just talking about the terrible things about Russia,” Cote said. “I kept thinking of those little Russian nesting dolls and their design which is how we got to this point. It was really fun.”
Armed with cluttered mood boards and Matryoshka dolls in mind, the poster design process began. Cote’s right-hand woman for this project, senior student designer Alexandra Mulet, helped bring this creative vision to fruition.
“I drew inspiration from classic examples like ballerina Anna Pavlova and imperial Russian architecture, weaving modern fonts and design trends to match the existing Hillsdale design modus,” Mulet said. “While our early ideas are just as heavy on form, line, and shape as the final product, Shanna contributed much of the dimensionality and storybook whimsy that completed the look.”
The final product is an intricate blend of varying shades of deep reds, yellows, and blues. The poster features the simple title of “Russia” in creme lettering on top of some floral embellishments and above a double-headed eagle with a banner that reads “CCA 1.”
Both Cote and Mulet agreed that their favorite detail of the poster was the eagle.
“It’s interesting to me that the imperial crown, which began as the primary inspiration for the poster, appears only subtly—but powerfully—in the final design,” Mulet said. “The double-headed eagle is a widely used symbol throughout history and across many national identities, but a uniquely Russian identity emerges from this eagle on a backdrop of rich color and intricate decals.”
The Russia poster is similar to that of the Inklings CCA hosted in the fall of last year, which had an emerald color with gold lettering and resembled an old storybook. According to Cote, they took special care in printing those to make the lettering look as embossed as possible, despite merely being printed. The Film Noir poster of this past spring also accurately represented the media it was discussing, featuring sketch-like stills from some of the movies featured. The compelling designs of the CCA posters have helped draw people in, reflecting a sliver of the various topics’ richness.
“My brother is adopted from Russia,” senior Hannah Douthitt said. “I’m taking the CCA because even though I’ve been to Russia twice, I was very young. I think it’ll give me some insight into Russian culture. The curved edges and floral details of the poster are very Russian.”
It might be impossible to capture Russia’s aesthetic in one poster, but Cote and her team surely got the gist. With three more CCA events for the year, people can look forward to seeing what new ideas the nesting doll of the design team has to hatch.