The illustration on the cover of the February 2017 issue of Technical Communication is the creation of Aram Johnson-Wilson, a student at Kennesaw State University in Georgia who is studying Interactive Design.
As Aram explains,
I have always been passionate about graphic design and have been making projects both in and out of class. After the journal cover competition was presented to me by my Applied Graphics teacher, I decided that I wanted to submit a design that related to minimalist writing. Technical communication largely deals with computers so I decided that I wanted a minimal computer to go on the cover. The design, inspired by the minimal computer and desk designs that I searched for online, also includes common other items that one would expect to find on a personal desk. With the addition of these objects, I hoped that the cover would feel more friendly and inviting.
While putting the project together in Adobe Illustrator, the first issue that arose was adding depth to the computer and desk. Unlike the other objects in the project, the computer and desk didn’t look great being completely flat. I decided that there would need to be a few light shadows in order to separate the different segments of the desk and to separate the computer’s stand from the bottom bezel around the display. Besides struggling to decide on what exactly the lamp should look like, I thought the rest of the project went smoothly. After reviewing my work, I believed that it captured what I wanted it to. Much can be learned about technical communication by simply accessing your home computer and searching online. I wanted to capture this idea in the journal cover.
Aram hopes to complement his academic training with a job or internship in technical communication prior to graduating in 2019. He is available at aramjw@gmail.com.