About The Artist

Maggie Sichter, Student Creative Director

The idea

Energy. Paint. Exploration. Lines. Chaos. Rich colors. Whimsy. A concern for craft. Oh, and abstract animals. You'll find each of these elements in this year's Manifest Urban Arts Festival identity. The student artist behind Manifest 2011's design is junior art and design major Maggie Sichter.

Last year, it was Landry Miller's conceptual and literal take on the Manifest slogan, "Make it!" The year before was Rachal Duggan's fantastical and humorous illustrated characters (i.e. "Unicycle Guy"). This year, Maggie's Manifest design theme revolves around the creative process and the fruition of ideas.

Her illustrated patterned lion poster submission and savvy social media skills won Maggie the majority vote in this year's Manifest Design Competition and served as the foundation for her "sketchbook" page concept.

The art

Influenced by folk art and an advocate for handmade art and goods, Maggie relates more to a "craftsperson" than a fine artist. Her adoration for lines and for experimenting with the "infinite ways" she can manipulate them (using her 005 liner paintbrush and black ink as her "weapon of choice") is apparent in the Manifest 2011 identity. "There's an energy and chaos to the final designs," she described. "Paint splatters dance across an array of line work, animal figures give them form and focus, but throughout you just get the feeling that this was an idea coming to life, right there on the page," she said.

The process

To fully develop her design concept and pieces while meeting the college's standards, Maggie's designs went through multiple revisions and edits. Relying on the "technical expertise" and guidance of The Office of Student Communications and Creative Services, Maggie found the experience "fascinating" and said it was the great part about working on a team of professionals. "I was awarded the opportunity to work on such an amazing project that I just felt it necessary to really absorb all that I could and not let the experience go to waste," she reflected. "At this point, every Manifest design that you'll see originated from my sketchbook or my desktop. I love that."