Buies Creek, N.C.—Campbell University student Megan Eskridge wanted to capture the cartoon quality of the characters for the fall musical, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” but she didn’t want to draw a cartoon. So she found another way to design the poster.The result was the winning poster design for the Department of Theatre Arts fall production.
“Cartooning isn’t my thing,” Eskridge said, “I tried to incorporate the characters and their names and make the design come together in a more textual way.”
In order to accomplish this goal, Eskridge, whose poster was selected out of a field of other graphic design students, filled the main character’s silhouette with the names of characters and sayings from the strip using a handwriting comic strip font.
Eskridge, a junior graphic design/elementary education major from Delaware, discovered she wanted to be a graphic designer when she took a course in high school.
“Both of my parents are teachers, so I knew I wanted to go the education route, but then I got interested in doing design,” Eskridge said. “Now I would like to find some way to combine the two fields like working as a designer for an organization that helps children.”
Eskridge credits the graphic design program at Campbell for helping her develop the skills to realize her career goal. “I really love the program,” she said. “The different projects, activities and skills that I’ve learned have helped make me a better student and a better graphic designer.”
To be a graphic designer, one must know the different technologies and principles of design and be able to combine them in a way that fulfills a specific message. But you must also be persistent, Eskridge added.
“A designer always has to keep refining the design, trying to make it better, to make it more interesting,” she said.
Eskridge is the daughter of Patty and Jeff Eskridge of Laurel, Del.
Campbell University in association with the Cape Fear Friends of the Fine Arts will present “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” Friday and Saturday, Oct. 15-16, and Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21-23, at 8 p.m. in Ellis Theatre of the Taylor Bott Rogers Fine Arts Center. Tickets are $7 general admission and $3 for students, children and seniors. For more information, call 910.893.1495.
Photo Copy: Megan Eskridge and her winning poster for Campbell University season opener “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”