May 6, 2024 – When Veronica Orellana gets an artistic idea in her head, she tries to visualize it until the piece comes to life. That’s exactly what she did when she created a “retro yet southern styled” artwork for the Lexington Farmers Market poster design competition – a competition she won. Her artwork is now featured not only at the Farmers Market, but also in storefronts in downtown Lexington.
Orellana, of Lexington who is studying information technology and digital media production, will graduate May 9. She plans to add the poster design to her portfolio to highlight her creative talent when she’s job hunting.
Orellana explains she found out about the competition during a class with Jeffrey Pubantz, who teaches digital media at Davidson-Davie. Pubantz explains Davidson-Davie has partnered with the Lexington Farmers Market for the past seven years – and the poster creation serves as a capstone project for students enrolled in the Digital Media Systems Project course.
“Each year, one of our poster designs has been chosen to represent the Market,” he says. “The Farmers Market provides our students with a list of criteria and guidelines for the poster design. From year-to-year, the Market has looked for designs that are welcoming, friendly, and vibrant with accurate representations of products actually sold at the Market.”
Excited about making a unique creation, she brainstormed ideas that would combine a southern but retro feel. “I really wanted to do something different that they haven’t seen,” Orellana says. “I was working on my first design, and I kept pushing through, but felt that it wasn’t working. I scrapped the entire thing and started over. I had an idea in my head, but I really needed to get a vision of it; it helps me see the design through.”
Once she felt she had a solid idea, she started with the illustration using Adobe Illustrator. After, she added the text with Adobe Express. In the PowerPoint she presented to class, she explained the thinking behind her design. “I focused on making each item look either fresh, appetizing or handmade. Some examples are the wooden bowl and spoons that have a wood organic grain in them, and a fresh thick, juicy cut steak … along with a blueberry pie that has a golden-brown, buttery looking crust.”
She says learning all the tips and tricks of the Adobe suite in class really helped her in creating the design. “Jeffrey Pubantz was a great instructor. We had assignments to learn individual tools (for Adobe),” Orellana notes. “After learning each tool, we kind of built on from that.”
Orellana says the design took her around a week and a half to complete, and she learned that her poster had been selected as the winner during a zoom class. “I was surprised. I could not believe it.”
Pubantz adds that seven students participated in this year’s poster competition, and that the winning design is judged and voted on by board members of the Lexington Farmers Market.
Orellana now has a copy of her winning poster framed at home – a shining example of her success. And she’s proud to share it with her two kids. “They were so excited for me,” she adds, noting that both kids love art just as much as she does. “When I make an art project, I take the color out and make copies for them to color.”
Orellana says she’s unsure of her plans after graduation but would love to continue working with digital media. She hopes to build a social media presence to share her art and creativity with others.
“I’d really like to thank the Lexington Farmers Market for this opportunity,” she adds. “I never thought I’d be picked to win.”
Davidson-Davie Community College (www.DavidsonDavie.edu), which incorporated Davie County into its name in 2021, is a fully accredited, multi-campus college where students of all ages and backgrounds pursue academic and career-focused education in order to build successful futures. As one of 58 institutions within the North Carolina Community College System, Davidson-Davie offers more than 40 degree and professional certificate programs, as well as affordable college-credit coursework to students who plan to transfer to four-year schools. With a mission to serve the changing needs of students competing in a global environment, Davidson-Davie is committed to quality education, innovative and equitable learning experiences, training, and support across a wide range of 21st-century career fields.
Jared Bowman
Associate Vice President, Marketing & Communications
336.224.4664
Jared_Bowman@DavidsonDavie.edu