JCA

Because of my heritage, I was heavily involved with the Japanese Cultural Association at Virginia Tech during my college years.

It started in the year I served as their PR chair. One of my responsibilities included designing T-shirts for the JCA officers to wear. I wanted this shirt to communicate that us officers are tough, hardworking, and dedicated to JCA, yet we are approachable and fun to be around. Hence, the big and strong sumo wrestler and a little joke on the back. (Did you get the joke?)

Following year, I won the members T-shirt design contest. My design featured a simple red circle from Japanese flag and an elegant koi fish hugging the edge of the red circle. This back design was popular enough that it become the first official logo of JCA, and it was used on their social media sites.

In my last year of college, I participated and won another T-shirt contest. This design mimics my previous design, except I focused more on the theme of “fun” rather than “elegance” this time; I experimented more with typography and texture to make my design pop.

I fully enjoyed designing their T-shirts; these were great projects for me to nurture my graphic design skills.