Gee-o-Lantern?

President Gordon Gee got a chance to meet his look-alike the other day, when sophomore design student Katie Merritt introduced him to a pumpkin sporting Gee's image. Merritt was one of about 60 design students who carved creative Jack-o-Lanterns for a design class taught by lecturer Tony Reynaldo, and she chose the university president as her subject. The students were using the seasonal gourds to explore the role of lighting and tonal values in 3D perception. A few other examples of the students' carving skills are below.

Notable News

Not so long ago, music came on vinyl records encased in cardboard record covers . . . and the covers themselves were sources of design creativity and imagination. One of the artists was John Berg, who designed and commissioned record covers for musicians from Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen to Dave Brubeck. Paul Nini (Design) had the enviable opportunity to interview Berg recently for an article, Across the Graphic Universe: An Interview with John Berg for the AIGA journal, Voice. To read it, click here.

On a beautiful fall Friday, the center of the OSU Oval was the perfect place for a little rehearsal by the beloved Men's Glee Club. The guys entertained a group of passers-by with OSU standards like Hang on Sloopy and Carmen Ohio.

Raymond Caldwell and Elizabeth Yerian (Theatre), at left, are two of the cast members in the current production of The Trojan Women 2.0, being staged by the Department of Theatre through Nov 17 in Roy Bowen Theatre. The play, by Charles Mee, uses music -- including torch songs, blues and rock -- and drama to update the ancient Greek play. It is directed by Jeanine Thompson and Maureen Ryan. See details at right.

Bruce Mau, the visionary designer and creative mind behind the global sustanability project Massive Change, will give the fifth annual DeeDee and Herb Glimcher Lecture at the Wexner Center on Weds, Nov 7, at 7 pm in Mershon Auditorium. The talk is free and open to all; Mau also will sign books in the Mershon lobby at 6 pm. The lecture is co-sponsored by Design and the Knowlton School of Architecture.

Design students Sara Demetroff and Dena Snyder (above) presented research findings last summer at "A Green Bauhaus," a collaborative conference in Loccum, Germany, that examined issues of sustainability. They were part of a group of undergraduate and graduate design students that attended the conference to discuss their research on campus eateries and consumer culture at Ohio State. Tony Reynaldo (Design) was invited to give the keynote address; he and and faculty members Peter Chan, Paul Nini and Heike Goeller assisted with the students' research.

Design alumnus Matt Hughes is opening a new local business, Matt Hughes Interior Design LLC. After leaving an 11-year career at Nationwide Insurance, he says he is happy to make the move to entrepreneurship. He also worked in interiors for Nordstrom on the west coast. Hughes also has a side business of gift baskets and holiday decorating.

Ohio State is seeking design proposals for Brutus on Parade, a project created to raise funds for the renovation of the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library. For information, click here.