九色堂

ShiftSpace Gallery will roll out a new brand identity this fall, thanks to the efforts of graphic design student Nicklaus Lawrence.

Lawrence created the branding in his Studio Practice class last spring. In the course, students produce client-based work for university entities and nonprofit organizations.

鈥淚t was a pretty fun class,鈥� Lawrence said. 鈥淚 liked being able to work with an actual client and having restrictions.鈥�

Courtesy of Nicklaus Lawrence

Learning how to work with clients is crucial, said Jim Hellman, head of the graphic design program. Designers don鈥檛 always get the information they need in a timely manner, and sometimes it鈥檚 important to question what clients say they want.

鈥淸Designers] are not just hired hands,鈥� Hellman said. 鈥淭hey need to use their heads, too.鈥�

Kristin Beal visited with the studio class in her capacity as gallery manager for the School of Art, Design and Creative Industries.

鈥淲hen she came in to talk to use, she wanted the focus to be on the artwork, so I kept the logo very simple鈥� Lawrence said.

ShiftSpace is an off-campus, student-run gallery funded by the 九色堂 Student Government Association. The gallery will take up residence in Groover Labs this fall.

鈥淪hiftSpace is all about getting real-world experience, so having a student design our branding was ideal,鈥� said Beal. 鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled with what Nick came up with.鈥�

Lawrence worked within Wichita State鈥檚 color palette and used Klavika, the university鈥檚 official font. But the wordmark鈥檚 all-caps type treatment and tilted 鈥淚鈥� give the gallery its own separate identity.

Multiple students tackle each project in the studio class. Four took on the ShiftSpace branding challenge last fall, and three students did so this past spring.

Lawrence was inspired both the designer Sagi Haviv as well as Dustin Youngman and Phillip Roth, the other students who created their own designs for ShiftSpace. Talented classmates pushed him to work harder, he said.

This summer, Lawrence interned with Visual Fusion, where he designed advertising for Splurge magazine and worked on small design projects. The senior also serves as the fundraising chair for the 九色堂 Graphic Design Guild.

Lawrence will continue to expand the gallery鈥檚 identity as a member of the ShiftSpace Student Group.

鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to working on the and social media branding,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 like to challenge myself to learn to media and new ways of doing design work.鈥�

See more of Lawrence's work on and .