graphic design & game development

Matthew Fearrington - Link234w@gmail.com - (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 - Link234w@gmail.com - (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 il-
lustrate 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 - Link234w@gmail.com - (419)508-6123

 Washington Local Schools Washington Local Branding
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 com-
prised of strong, subtle imagery that conveys the story of
Washington Local Schools. I based the design off the im-
age of a tree. A tree shows stability, structure, and tradi-
tion. The arrows that are the branches of the tree repre-
sent 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 busi-
ness 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

Patrick C. H ickey 35 0 5 L i c o l n s h i r e B lv d
Superintendant T o l e d o OH 43 6 03 -12 9 9
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 Washington L ocal S chools P h o n e : 419. 473 . 8 2 51
P hickey @ washloc . k 12. oh . us F a x : 419. 473 . 8 247

Matthew Fearrington - Link234w@gmail.com - (419)508-6123


It’s official: The problem
Affirmative Action in
“Has the long debate over affirmative action been defused by a policy gimmick?”
Over the past week, in rapid suc-
cession, the editorial pages of both the
New York Times and the Washington
Post endorsed what the Post called
College Admissions a “disarmingly simple alternative to
traditional affirmative action” when
it comes to college admissions. The
solution? Guaranteed admission to col-
lege for a fixed percentage of the top
students in each high school, regard-
less 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
There are other problems with the X
if those students score lower than white
students who aren’t at the top of other
Percent Solution (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 guaran-
There are other problems with the X teed admission to the top 10 percent
Percent Solution 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 prefer-
ences 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 graduat-
ing 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 “tinker-
ing”). 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 Solu-
tion also has support
on the right--from
governors George
An Alternative to and Jeb Bush, most
obviously, but also
(at least in its diluted,
Race Based Preferences?
4 percent form) from
Ward Connerly, the
University of Califor-
nia regent who has led
the fight against race
Richard Kahlenb has been a
PG. 9
writer for GOOD for 2 years.
Matthew Fearrington - Link234w@gmail.com - (419)508-6123
Magazine Spread
Affirmative Action has always been a heated subject in the
in education becoming an instrument
for furthering residential segregation,
United States. On one hand, people feel that raced based
preferences are immoral, and on the other hand people
So, hey, everybody’s happy! as black families with high-performing
But has anyone really thought through students decide to keep their kids in all-
the full implications of this convenient black neighborhoods because that will feel like race based incentives help stop poverty from
fix? Has the divisive, decades-long de- virtually guarantee their kids a ticket
bate over affirmative action really been to college.
defused by a clever policy gimmick? It’s This dilemma is particularly acute
not impossible. But there’s at least one for supporters of school choice (mostly
transferring from generation to generation. I created a
design for a magazine spread that talks about an alterna-
obvious problem: The gimmick depends on the right) who hope that vouchers, or
on high school other choice tive to Affirmative Action as it stands today.
segregation. If “There are problems with mechanisms
there weren’t the X Percent Solution.” such as charter
all-black ghetto schools, will
high schools, then admitting the top X encourage motivated black students to
The artwork in the spread is inspired by the designs of
Percent of each school wouldn’t have leave bad schools and attend better ones. Mark Stephen. I chose to design a spread around a seri-
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 ous issue, and as such I chose serious imagery. The color
tegrated by race, and equal in quality, high school--and therefore guaranteed
then automatically admitting the top 10 college admission under the X Percent choices and the usage of black and white compliment the
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
feeling that the article creates.
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 politi-
cian who tries to take away a neighbor-
hood high school’s traditional X percent
quota? The guaranteed-admission slots
could become
an unassailable
entitlement, as
hard to cut as a
Social Security
COLA. Time for
public-policy
journalists, espe-
cially on the right,
GOOD magazine Thursday, December 2, 2009 PG. 10
 Sketchbook
A few excerpts from my sketchbook. These were sketches
I did to improve my ability to draw shapes and forms.

Matthew Fearrington - Link234w@gmail.com - (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 gradu-
ates, and uses Whitmer High School’s alma mater to rein-
force the concept.

The subtle texture on the cover makes the book more in-
teresting visually, and the thumbtacks are used to show
the school colors.

Matthew Fearrington - Link234w@gmail.com - (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 de-
sign 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
Christopher Baker of the design uses leaves, and a central image for the bid
Callie Clark is the heart wreath. The usage of leaves comes off elegant,
while still keeping the African theme. The type face used
Heather Compton
also reflects the theme.
Bailey Cunningham
Tara Hineline
Brianne Knight
Alicia Riley
Blythe Worstell
Shelby Kretz

Whitmer High School “Be the change you wish

Senior Class Presents to See in the world”
-Ghandi

Prom Two Thousand Nine

Class Colors
Turquoise & Green
May Sixteenth

Can you feel 6 to 10.30 pm

Nairobi Pavilion
Class Flower

the love Tonight

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 - Link234w@gmail.com - (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 - Link234w@gmail.com - (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 col-
laborated 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 - Link234w@gmail.com - (419)508-6123

 Into the Sun
This design was created for a project in the Graphic De-
sign program at my school. I had to illustrate the concept
of freedom. I chose to use birds to display the concept be-
cause 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 - Link234w@gmail.com - (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 han-
dled 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 in-
centive to keep playing, even after they finish their first
play through.

Matthew Fearrington - Link234w@gmail.com - (419)508-6123

 Lighthouse Community Center Logo
This is a logo created for the Lighthouse Community Cen-
ter. 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 type-
faces that could be used on print and on the web.

LIGHTHOUSE
Community Center

Matthew Fearrington - Link234w@gmail.com - (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 profes-
sional, and displays the atmosphere of the school.

Matthew Fearrington - Link234w@gmail.com - (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 art-
work 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 - Link234w@gmail.com - (419)508-6123