Electronic Portfolio

graphic design & game development

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Noises Off Noises Off is a fast paced, comedic, “sexual farce”. It tells the story of a traveling acting troupe and their troubles in trying to stage a play with minimal practice time. I was approached by the Whitmer Drama Department to create a poster for their fall production of Noises Off. I designed the poster to reflect the nature of the play. The skewed border around the poster makes it feel off center, and the slightly cartoonish imagery reflects the comedic air of the play.

Whitmer High School proudly presents

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Self Portrait This self portrait was created to reflect my personality and events that were happening in my life. It was meant to illustrate regret and all the people who depend on me to do things for them. The tendrils coming from the silhouette show how people depend on me for many things, and the poem symbolizes regret.

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Washington Local Branding

Washington Local Schools

Washington Local Schools is the school district that my high school belonged to. For quite some time they had no cohesive identity. Our schools Graphic Design program decided to try and create an identity for the Washington Local School District. This is the logo I created for the school district. It’s comprised of strong, subtle imagery that conveys the story of Washington Local Schools. I based the design off the image of a tree. A tree shows stability, structure, and tradition. The arrows that are the branches of the tree represent the many different opportunities that students who go to the WLS district are presented with. A stationary package was created with the logo design. It consists of a letter head, an envelope design and a business card.

Washington Local Schools 3 5 0 5 L i c o l n s h i r e B l v d T o l e d o OH 43 6 03 -129 9 P h o ne : 419.473.8251 F a x : 419. 473 . 827

Washington Local Schools

3 5 0 5 L i c o l n s h i r e B l v d | T o l e d o OH 43 6 03 -129 9 | P h o ne : 419.473.8251 | F a x : 419. 473 . 8 27 | W a s h i n g t o n L o c a l S c h o o l s

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Patrick C. H ickey Superintendant Washington L ocal S chools P hickey @ washloc . k 12. oh . us

35 0 5 L i c o l n s h i r e B lv d T o l e d o OH 43 6 03 -12 9 9 P h o n e : 419. 473 . 8 2 51 F a x : 419. 473 . 8 247

Affirmative Action in College Admissions

“Has the long debate over affirmative action been defused by a policy gimmick?”

Magazine Spread

There are other problems with the X Percent Solution

There are other problems with the X Percent Solution

An Alternative to Race Based Preferences? PG. 9

It’s official: The problem

Over the past week, in rapid succession, the editorial pages of both the New York Times and the Washington Post endorsed what the Post called a “disarmingly simple alternative to traditional affirmative action” when it comes to college admissions. The solution? Guaranteed admission to college for a fixed percentage of the top students in each high school, regardless of grades or SAT scores. Although race-blind, this policy has the effect of boosting minority admissions--basically because it admits the top students at predominantly black high schools even if those students score lower than white students who aren’t at the top of other (generally richer and whiter) schools. Call it the X Percent Solution. In Texas, where race-based admissions at the University of Texas were struck down by the courts in 1996, the state guaranteed admission to the top 10 percent of each public high school--and black admissions at UT rebounded. California adopted a 4 percent rule after a voter initiative, Prop. 209, banned race preferences at state colleges and universities. More recently, in Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush issued an executive order guaranteeing state university admission to the top 20 percent of each high school graduating class--again, as a replacement for a race-based affirmative action program. The Times hailed the Texas policy in an editorial last Saturday (even though last year it dismissed the idea as “tinkering”). The Post followed on Monday, saying that if the X Percent Solution “turns out to get the job done without explicit resort to race or ethnicity . . . why not?” The Solution also has support on the right--from governors George and Jeb Bush, most obviously, but also (at least in its diluted, 4 percent form) from Ward Connerly, the University of California regent who has led the fight against race Richard Kahlenb has been a writer for GOOD for 2 years.

in education becoming an instrument for furthering residential segregation, So, hey, everybody’s happy! as black families with high-performing But has anyone really thought through students decide to keep their kids in allthe full implications of this convenient black neighborhoods because that will fix? Has the divisive, decades-long de- virtually guarantee their kids a ticket bate over affirmative action really been to college. This dilemma is particularly acute defused by a clever policy gimmick? It’s not impossible. But there’s at least one for supporters of school choice (mostly obvious problem: The gimmick depends on the right) who hope that vouchers, or other choice on high school mechanisms segregation. If “There are problems with there weren’t the X Percent Solution.” such as charter schools, will all-black ghetto high schools, then admitting the top X encourage motivated black students to Percent of each school wouldn’t have leave bad schools and attend better ones. the effect of admitting so many blacks. But why would a black student who is Indeed, if schools were perfectly in- near the top of his class at a lousy public tegrated by race, and equal in quality, high school--and therefore guaranteed then automatically admitting the top 10 college admission under the X Percent percent at each school probably wouldn’t Solution--leave to go to a much better make much difference in admissions high school where he’s apt to rank in the at all (when compared with a straight middle of the class? Indeed, why would policy of simply admitting “top” students any good student, black or white, leave a regardless of where they went to school.) bad school for a good school if he ranks The Post seems to think this con- much higher at the former than at the tradiction is really a delicious irony. latter? The X Percent Solution seems (“The residential segregation that per- to subvert the basic mechanism that is supposed to make school choice work. sists in so much of the nation becomes What’s your answer, Gov. Bush? (Either one of you!) There are other problems with the X Percent Solution: Even if there’s no school choice, won’t it remove a major incentive for poor schools to improve? After all, their top 10 or 20 percent get into college anyway! And what happens should society become more integrated, and the need for an X Percent set-aside diminish? Do you want to be the politician who tries to take away a neighborhood high school’s traditional X percent quota? The guaranteed-admission slots could become an unassailable entitlement, as hard to cut as a

Social

Affirmative Action has always been a heated subject in the United States. On one hand, people feel that raced based preferences are immoral, and on the other hand people feel like race based incentives help stop poverty from transferring from generation to generation. I created a design for a magazine spread that talks about an alternative to Affirmative Action as it stands today. The artwork in the spread is inspired by the designs of Mark Stephen. I chose to design a spread around a serious issue, and as such I chose serious imagery. The color choices and the usage of black and white compliment the feeling that the article creates.

Security

COLA. Time for public-policy journalists,

espe-

cially on the right,

GOOD magazine

Thursday, December 2, 2009

PG. 10

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Sketchbook A few excerpts from my sketchbook. These were sketches I did to improve my ability to draw shapes and forms.

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Yearbook Cover This is a design created for the cover of Whitmer High School’s yearbook. I used a timeline to evoke feelings of nostalgia. This design shows three past decades of graduates, and uses Whitmer High School’s alma mater to reinforce the concept. The subtle texture on the cover makes the book more interesting visually, and the thumbtacks are used to show the school colors.

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Special Thanks Whitmer 2009 Prom Bid Design An African theme was chosen for Whitmer High School’s 2009 senior prom. The client who requested that we design the prom bid asked for the bid to reflect the African theme of the prom.

Prom committee

The design reflects the theme by focusing on nature. Much of the design uses leaves, and a central image for the bid is the heart wreath. The usage of leaves comes off elegant, while still keeping the African theme. The type face used also reflects the theme.

Christopher Baker Callie Clark Heather Compton Bailey Cunningham Tara Hineline Brianne Knight Alicia Riley Blythe Worstell Shelby Kretz

Whitmer High School Senior Class Presents



Prom Two Thousand Nine

Can you feel the love Tonight

May Sixteenth

“Be the change you wish to See in the world”

-Ghandi

Class Colors Turquoise & Green

6 to 10.30 pm

Class Flower

Nairobi Pavilion

Tiger Lily

At the Toledo Zoo Train & Carousel till 6.30

Class Song

Parking on Anthony Wayne Trail

“You’re Gonna Miss This” - Trace Adkins

prom 09

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Urban Mural A mural created as a project in my graphic design class at Whitmer High School. I designed it to try and break away from the usual way I do artwork. It was inspired by graffiti murals I had seen in Newark, New Jersey.

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Dallas Hotspots Website Every year, the Business Professionals of America holds competitions for a variety of different college preparatory programs. I participated in the competition by creating a website for their website competition. It was made to advertise the top ten things to do in Dallas, Texas. I collaborated with two people, Steven Lloyd and Samantha Wagoner, to create it. I handled basic design issues and all of the websites coding. The website was targeted toward teens, so we gave the website a nightlife feel. The colors we chose and the city scape illustrate the nightlife concept. We used Polaroids because they are a common symbol of tourism. I designed the website using mainly CSS to keep file size down and to keep the website looking clean.

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Into the Sun This design was created for a project in the Graphic Design program at my school. I had to illustrate the concept of freedom. I chose to use birds to display the concept because birds are animals that are usually linked to freedom. The birds are flying away from a darker area in the design towards a lighter area to further show the concept. The sun is an uplifting figure and is also linked to freedom. Textures are used heavily in the project

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Alpha War This is a video game created for my senior project in Graphic Design. The game is inspired by other creations such as Gradius and Geometry Wars. I collaborated with my classmate Aaron Bronson to create the game. I handled more of the programming of the game while Aaron handled much of the visual design. It was designed as a game that would be easy to pick up and play, but with elements that would allow someone who had some extra time to delve deeper into the game. A high score system and an upgrade system give the player incentive to keep playing, even after they finish their first play through.

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Lighthouse Community Center Logo This is a logo created for the Lighthouse Community Center. The logo was designed to be a hopeful and dependable symbol. I chose to make a negative image of a lighthouse as the client requested a lighthouse in the logo, and the idea of the negative image lighthouse was a somewhat unique symbol. The blue used is a hopeful color, and works well with the lighthouse symbol itself. The text was chosen because it would work well with many more common typefaces that could be used on print and on the web.

LIGHTHOUSE Community Center

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

Washington Local Website A website created for the new Washington Local identity. The website was designed to fit around the new logo. It uses the colors of the logo heavily to stay cohesive with the new identity. It has a streamlined to design to allow for easy access to each of the pages, with as little confusion as possible. The website is playful while still being professional, and displays the atmosphere of the school.

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123

The Lost Boys T-Shirt Design The Lost Boys of Sudan are a group of refugee’s whose parents were killed. They were forced to walk across the Sudanese desert to find a safe place to live. A few of the Lost Boys have come to America and are trying to build a well to aid their old villages in Sudan. I created this design to raise awareness for the Lost Boys of Sudan, and to help them in their struggles. The design is inspired by the artwork of Felix Sockwell. The T-shirt was designed to capture the struggle of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Images such as the sun and the tears show their pain, while the colors chosen are reminiscent of African colors and culture. The shirt would either be on black, teal. or red material.

original artwork and t-shirt placement

Matthew Fearrington - [email protected] - (419)508-6123