Instead of the traditional paper-and-pencil way to take midterm exams students in multimedia teacher Josephine Braun’s multimedia class created posters for the Digital Arts Film and Television (DAFT) organization. 

“I just wanted to give them a real world experience. It was something that I knew that needed to be done,” multimedia teacher Josephine Braun said. “It’s something that they would have to do in the real world. They’ve learned the skills in Illustrator; they’ve learned skills in photoshop; they’ve learned how to use Lightroom; and I think by pulling all of those things together they can demonstrate their knowledge through this poster contest.”

Students made a poster with a theme of their choosing to represent DAFT and be the cover page for the competition. Five to ten of the best posters chosen by Braun get the opportunity to win scholarships, money or tools, such as: cameras, lighting equipment, getting their names out there to be recognized and getting feedback from professionals. They also have opportunities to get time spent in a professional studio.

“[My theme] was more 90s retro. It’s just something I really like the aesthetic of and how it looks. It was cool to play around with Illustrator when making my poster,” senior Isabella Lee said.

The creation process of the posters was done using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Photoshop Lightroom to edit and share photos securely. The posters range from traditional to abstract creations.

“[The process] is more of looking at inspiration and things that resonate with you; everyone’s posters are extremely different in the class and you can definitely see where everyones’ creative backgrounds are coming from and the things that they like, which I think is really cool. So it’s really just about inspiration and the things that you find appealing,” Lee said. ”I really was lost for a little bit [coming up with inspiration] because I saw everyone else doing really cool things. I noticed that some of the posters that have won in the previous years weren’t too abstract to the point where it wasn’t something that I could come up with.”

For the multimedia students, participating in events, such as DAFT and getting their name out there, prepare the students for real world experiences. 

“I think [the students] need to see that there is a professional organization and that we’re not just doing things in the classroom because it’s school,” Braun said. ”[That] there is some validity to coming here everyday and I’m preparing them for a career, a trade that they can make very good money in.”