STARKVILLE, Miss.--Two graphic design majors at Mississippi State University have created winning art for the university's annual research magazine.
One photograph submitted by Keith McCoy of Starkville and two by Sheena Aranas of Vicksburg will be featured as cover art over the next three years, said Colin Scanes, MSU vice president for research and graduate studies.
"Both were students last spring in a class taught by Kate Bingaman, associate professor of art," Scanes explained. "Her class took on the assignment of trying to design images that capture visually the energy and breadth of research at Mississippi State."
Selected by Scanes, the winning designs earned each student $250, as well as a chance to display their work.
McCoy, 24, said he knew as soon as the class received the assignment that the project would be unlike any other he had undertaken.
"I experimented several times before I found something I felt reflected the ideas that this magazine represented," he said.
His photograph of the "motherboard" of a computer involves his concept of "moving forward in all fields of science and technology," he said. "This photograph represents the mind of a computer and the movement of research into the future."
Aranas used vibrant color to represent the energy of research at Mississippi State. In one of her winning photographs, circles emerge from a yellow background, while in the other blues, greens and yellows blend.
"I think the images give the MSU Research Magazine a new and effective look," she said.
"Their work is highly creative and is an excellent reflection of the talent of our students," Scanes said. "We're pleased to give their photographs a national audience through the MSU Research Magazine."