Background Thanks, in part, to a generous gift from the Raintree Foundation and in recognition of the support of the Frank family, the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture is creating a “maker space” on the ground floor of Dana Hall known as the Frank Innovation Zone (FIZ). In brief, this space will provide students with the resources to transform their ideas into things. This space is not directly tied to any of the formal curriculum but will enable the translation of theory learned throughout the curriculum into practice. Students will have a venue in which to create prototypes or designs, interact with other students and with student clubs, and develop various hands-on skills.

The FIZ will consist of multiple rooms. We need signage to identify the individual rooms while tying the rooms together as belonging to the FIZ. (Details regarding the purpose of the individual rooms are given below.) Some preliminary drafts have been developed for one particular room, namely the “Community Studio.” These drafts look good, but we have not committed to them. Before going forward, we want to give students an opportunity to have more “ownership” of this space by providing them the chance to have a direct role in developing the branding/signage.

Thus, we are pleased to present the Frank Innovation Zone Signage Contest. The rules are as follows:

• Questions regarding this contest should be sent to John Schneider, john_schneider@wsu.edu.
• Submissions must be submitted before the close of business (5:00 p.m.) on Friday, September 19th.
• You may work (and submit) as a group or individually. Submissions are not restricted to students. (Anybody other than the judges and their relatives may submit.)
• Submission may be in electronic or hardcopy form. Hardcopy submissions should be delivered to Dana 138. Electronic submissions should be mailed to Mistie Larch, mistie.larch@wsu.edu. Be sure to clearly identify the submitter(s) and that the submission is for the “Frank Innovation Zone Signage Contest.”
• Electronic submissions should be in a “common” file format such as PDF, JPEG, TIFF, or PostScript. The true desired aspect ratio is either 36″ (w) by 24″ (h) or 48″ (w) by 24″ (h), but using letter paper in landscape mode (11″ by 8.5″) is acceptable. (Hardcopy submissions should be on nothing less “substantial” than a standard 11″ by 8.5″ piece of paper.)
• Submissions may be generated using whatever means deemed appropriate (i.e., either using software or drawn by hand or some mix thereof). Submissions should completely convey all aspects of the design: layout, fonts, color scheme, etc.
• Submissions must include the words “Frank Innovation Zone,” the name of the room, and either the official logo of WSU or the Voiland College (see below for where these can be obtained). As described below, ultimately there will be signs for different rooms, but, for the sake of comparison with others, your submission should use the “Community Studio” as the room. If you would like to include design elements that are unique for each room, that is permissible. In that case your submission should specify how the design differs for each room.
• Multiple designs are allowed, but they should be “sufficiently distinct” from each other. So, for example, you should not merely change the font and consider that a completely different entry. If you have multiple designs, please bundle them together as one submission. (All designs within a submission should share the same creators. If you collaborate with different people on different designs, it is possible for you to be associated with multiple submissions.)
• Submissions will be judged by a panel consisting of at least five people (no fewer than three faculty and staff and two students). Judges will be selected by the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs.
• The creator or creators of the best submission as determined by the panel will be awarded a $100 Amazon Gift Card if it is determined to be better than the draft signage we currently have available (see below). If there is more than one creator associated with the winning submission, the division of the winning proceeds among the creators is their responsibility.
• We plan to use the winning submission as the basis for the actual signage for the FIZ. (However, this must ultimately be approved by University Communications. The creators must relinquish all claims to their submission insofar as Copyright and Trademark.)

Resources and Additional Information

• Current drafts (click to obtain PDF version):
  
  
  
• Rooms currently planned for FIZ:
  • Dana 15, Community Studio: A study and meeting space available to all individuals and groups. Both study tables and temporary work spaces will be available. Also included in this space will be a “Service Center” which will provide support for use of equipment in other studios, training for use of other studio equipment, and CougarCard purchase of materials and services.
  • Dana 14, Wood Fabrication Studio: A space for equipment suited for fabrication of projects from woods, plastics, and other similar materials. A large table space for project assembly and cabinets for longer term storage for projects. Safety training will be required for supervised use of this space and equipment.
  • Dana 18, Desktop Fabrication Studio: This space will initially include two 3D printers and a CNC Laser and Engraving machine. Training will be required for use of this equipment. This will require recording materials used, correct use of equipment, experience to help guide new users in appropriate design recommendations that affect how efficiently equipment or materials are used.
  • Dana 22, Metal Fabrication Studio: Limited metal fabrication (no welding). A space for equipment suited for fabrication of projects from metal and other similar materials. A large table space for project assembly and cabinets for longer term storage for projects. Safety training will be required for supervised use of this space and equipment.
  • Dana 21, Electrical Testing and Fabrication Studio: We are developing the list of equipment and samples of materials that should be available in the Service Center. Safety training will be required for supervised use of this space and equipment.
• Location of logos for WSU (provided as Encapsulated PostScript files):
  http://brand.wsu.edu/wp-content/themes/brand/downloads/university/WSU-Univ-wide_Logos.zip
• Location of logos for Voiland College (provided as Encapsulated PostScript files):
  http://brand.wsu.edu/wp-content/themes/brand/downloads/college/WSU-Engr-Arch_Logos.zip
• A wonderful online site for converting from one file format to another (so that you can convert from, say, Encapsulated PostScript [EPS] to JPG or PNG or TIFF or ...):
  https://cloudconvert.org/

As you let your skills of an artist flow, it may help to keep in mind this video.