By Dennis Shin '96
In Marcelle Lapow Toor's graphic design class, students learn more than how to communicate effectively through desktop publishing. They also give back to the local community.
"Each semester I have my students take on the real assignment of designing ad campaigns for local nonprofits here in Ithaca," Toor said. "It's been a real success, and it enables the class to get a sense of what it's like to work directly with a client."
For the past eight years, Toor has been teaching "The Art of Publication," a communications course within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Students first learn the basics of graphic design and desktop publishing, and then, with local organizations serving as clients, the class takes on the role of an advertising agency.
Last semester, one of Toor's classes designed a poster campaign for the Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service of Tompkins County. Nancy Rosen, the agency's executive director, said the posters have been instrumental in increasing awareness of her organization's services.
"When people are in crisis, they are not focused. These posters reach out to people with positive imagery and convey the message that using our service is a sign of strength," said Rosen.
After attending Toor's community workshop on design last fall, Rosen approached the communications instructor and volunteered to act as a client for her class. Rosen met with students to discuss the nature and the goals of the Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service.
"We explored some really tough issues related to suicide and discussed how to effectively reach people without projecting terrifying images," Rosen said. "I was really impressed with the striking results of their work."
Toor's students find that they are equally impressed by what they accomplish throughout the semester.
"Although her students come from all academic backgrounds and different levels of design ability, Marcelle demands and expects a lot from all of us, and the result is that we end up producing quality work," said Kirsten Carroll, a communications major who took Toor's class last year and intends to apply the skills she acquired in a multimedia development and design career.
"One of the reasons students take the class is because it provides real hands-on experience," said Toor. "What I am teaching is some thing that they're all going to be doing at one point or another."
Besides learning practical graphic design skills, students gain experience in creative problem-solving. For example, the team of students working with Rosen identified target groups and effective communication strategies for the crisis hotline.
They then developed a series of posters, with each addressing a specific demographic audience. One poster, depicting a confused -looking young woman, was particularly useful, following a recent suicide at a local high school, Rosen said.
Most of the posters emphasize that using the service is a sign of strength and self-empowerment. Rosen believes conveying such a message breaks through the stigma of calling for help.
"Even surrounded by people, a person can feel alone," she said. "The posters identify with people's emotions and offer the crisis line as an outlet for those feelings."
All of the posters list the number of the confidential 24-hour crisis line, where callers can reach a trained volunteer any day of the week. Volunteers complete 50 hours of training in crisis counseling, which teaches them to engage in the technique of active listening without making any assumptions about the caller.
The Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service started 27 years ago, Rosen said, but now they are receiving more calls than ever. She attributed this to increased awareness and understanding of the service, rather than an increase in suicide rates. "Our message and the message behind the posters is that we're always there," said Rosen. "By getting that point across, we hope to make it more acceptable to talk about crisis issues."