Region One Conference

On March 15 & 16, 2019, Region One hosted 24 educators over two days to bring together current topics, new ideas, and great camaraderie. The host on Friday morning was Tom Loch, at Harper College, Palatine, IL. Tom presented on logo creation and today’s forces that drive brand identity. Both from Harper College, Amanda Loch used original photos and Adobe XD for prototyping and app design to share a new project and Adobe’s latest tools; and Larry Zabinski, brought the group together to discuss the understanding of lighting and color balance software that ever photographer should understand and use. The group department to Xeikon Headquarters showroom in Itasca, IL for the afternoon. Donna Covannon, Director Marketing North America Digital Solutions and Ryan Pieratt, Xeikon Demo Room Technicianshared Xeikon’s vision of digital presses that printed  labels to wall graphics, and some with inline finishing on a wide variety of substrates.


Saturday’s session were hosted by Dan McCluskey and Courtney Vala, WIillowbrook High School, Villa Park, IL. A full day sessions of learning. Shaun Dudek, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI advanced the logo presentation from the day prior to discuss brand identity and color management used in the creation of any logo by having students creating a persona or style-tile for their identity that includes colors, fonts, and  patterns.

 Dan Wilson, Illinois State University, Normal, IL had great insights for authentic learning by sharing the how to teach all of graphic communications in one project through an omni-channel publication. Mike Schumann from Warren High School, Gurnee, IL, shared a great take-away and the use of screen printed pennants for marketing his program. Michael Cermak, Rockford Guilford, Oregon, IL, gave ideas and uses for soft vinyl garment decorating via Adobe Illustrator and Plug-ins, and the use for distressed heat press numbers and letters that can be used in conjunction with screen printing to give a unique and vintage look. Lexa Browning-Needham JB Johnson Career Center, Alton, IL and Bernice Schopf, Argo High School, Summit, IL .

All projects can be found on the GCEA website through your login under the Region > Region One.