I have always loved peeling back covers on new publications. Flipping through and reading the stories of adventures and admiring the photos, oogling over the layouts and looking at all the glossy, beautiful logos. These publications are what brought me to design in the first place, to my education at MICA and ultimately to my future. This realization gave me a dead ringer solution for my Senior Degree Project. Essentially I would take on the roll of being editor and chief and art director for a lifestyle publication. 

I have always found that working off of something that inspires you is what produces the greatest and most satisfying work. For this publication, I chose the people that interest me, inspire me and excite me as a designer. People who I consider to be Catalysts for the "new": the people who are initiators, fearless, adventurous and daring. The ones who are always after something and who stop for nothing–except maybe to smell the flowers on the side of Highway 1 every once in awhile or to crack a beer at the local dive with some old friends.

So I began this project by reaching out to these people. Some were friends or siblings and some were acquaintances or unknown. 

With their help, I was able to study individual personality and through this; I have told their stories and shared their passions through my designs. I have complied them and their experiences into a 200+ page publication experimenting with various types and styles of designs to create one thrilling piece of art as creative as the people who have inspired it. Enjoy. 

With the help from my good friend Christina Hyrkas and Meg Thomas, we screen printed multiple bags and tee shirts with the Catalyst Logo on them. Feeling that staging the products in a photo room was not enough for the spirit of the project, I took the goods on vacation with me and shot a mini photo shoot with the help of my sisters. 

The culmination of the project was an exhibit presentation in the Brown Gallery at MICA. Upon realizing I just had a book to present, I felt I had to somehow expand my project to allow the audience to experience my brand and publication. I decided on constructing an office space that the Editor and Chief of Catalyst would reside and work in on a daily basis. From a semi cluttered desk to an original hand painted and hand drawn wall mural, I presented my work both digitally and hard copy. 

I could not have completed this project without the overwhelming support and enthusiasm of my friends who contributed their ideas, thoughts, words and pictures. A huge thank you to you all for helping me make this project come to life. 

Thanks!