As a sponsor of ICON5, held July 2 – 5 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, Xerox Corporation worked in partnership with ICON5 to produce a deck of cards as a commemorative gift for the more than 400 illustrators who attended. ICON5 organizers arranged for top students from three New York design schools – the Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons The New School for Design and the School of Visual Arts – and the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, to contribute original illustrations and designs by 52 students.

“As illustrators, we don’t go to an office every day, so ICON5 is a great opportunity to be around people who do what we do, to talk about trends and issues and to get re-inspired,” said Whitney Sherman, president of ICON5 and chair of the Illustration Department, Maryland Institute College of Art. “It’s important for ICON5 to use projects like the deck of cards to engage our future attendees. And for the students, it’s a great opportunity to get exposure to a few hundred of the world’s top illustrators, designers and others who can influence their careers.”

She added: “From an academic perspective, the project fits well with contemporary educational models of  blending creativity and professional development. It gave students creative freedom and realistic deadlines.”

To develop the cards, each school was assigned one suit – clubs (FIT), diamonds (MICA), hearts (Parsons) and spades (SVA) – and the school’s chairpersons or deans overseeing illustration programs selected 13 students to provide card designs.

Congratulations and thanks to all of the students involved in this unique project: Cat Lauigan, Arlette Espaillat, Emmanuel Tavares, Nick Gannon, Lindsay Podd, Jesse Tise, WoonHye Bae, Christine Young, Sae-am Lee, Jasmine Wigandt, Roxanna Vizcarra, Toby Liebowitz, and Lindsey Balbierz.

[photo of Jasmine Wigandt with her contribution to the deck]