Shannon Pallatta

For this (fictional) “Bringing Art to Life at the MoMA” ad campaign, I decided to paint directly on models and photograph them. After looking for well-known modern portraits that used expressive brush strokes, I planned the shoots and painted the backgrounds, clothing, and models with tempera.

The final application for these photographs is a series of three posters (each 18” by 24”). Replications are based on works by Picasso, Matisse, and van Gogh.

This project won Second Best in Show at AU’s 2017 Design Show, judged by three professional designers in the DC area.

In Fall 2017, I completed a semester-long project at American University that involved the production of an original book. Three of our five group members (Olivia Blomstrom, Alexis Cooney, and Stephanie Williams, with guidance from faculty member Anton Fedyashin) conducted original research on the topic while I, in collaboration with Jordan McCormack and with guidance from faculty member Anna Leithauser, designed the 72-page book. This design included all of the content spreads, chapter introductions, index/introduction sections, endsheets, a cover, and an original full-spread timeline. The copy of the book shown was hardcover perfect bound by my partner and I, and additional copies were made at Springfield Printers in Virginia.

Our focus was on designing a cohesive book with dynamic spreads that did not distract from the illustrations, but instead made the images and book structure more clear to the reader while still remaining visually interesting. Significant emphasis was placed on type hierarchy and creating and breaking rules for ourselves regarding grid and composition.

This project was selected for exhibition in American University’s 2019 Design Show.

Con Prisa ("with haste" in English) is a fast-casual tapas restaurant intended to serve to-go style food in the DC area. With a focus on fun and variety, I began with a hand-drawn logotype of mismatched letters that could be used in eight color combinations. I incorporated the style of the logotype further by creating a hand-drawn typeface in a similar mismatched style for each menu section, accompanied by a pattern of rectangles in the restaurant's color scheme. This pattern carries on to the to-go box which unfolds to reveal stacked mini containers, sized to fit small servings of tapas. The interiors of the box and container are lined with a hand-drawn pattern, and were constructed to be held together by stickers of the rectangle shapes and the yarn that is also used on the menu.

This project was one of five Best in Show pieces at American University’s 2019 Design Show, judged by three professional designers in the DC area.

Peer Beer is a variety pack of beers where each flavor is inspired by an archetype in a friend group. There’s the Irresponsible Friend (beer spiked with tequila), the Pretentious Friend (a craft IPA), and the Uptight Friend (a sensible lager), and the descriptions on the labels are all written in the points of view of these individuals. To add personality to the packaging, I created illustrations of the characters and hand wrote all of the typography.

This project was selected for exhibition in American University’s 2019 Design Show.

Practice is an art supply store with a focus on education and the idea that the brand can be beginner-friendly while still maintaining professional levels of expertise. The target audience is anyone who is interested in learning about and making art, whether they are just starting out or looking to deepen their practice.

I began with a logo and color palette that are based in the fundamental elements of art while still remaining friendly and experimental. I then included examples of the brand guidelines in potential practical applications.

This project was selected for exhibition in American University’s 2019 Design Show.

I am fascinated by moments that are unique to people and our interpersonal experiences and I explore these themes through process, using portraiture as a starting point. Interested in traces of human connection, I set out to test the idea that our personalities are fluid and largely obtained from the people around us; we unknowingly pick up mannerisms, traits, etc. from those we spend time with to the point that it can become unclear which traits originated where. Believing that portraiture may be able to serve as a form of self-portraiture, I began by drawing myself in charcoal for its malleable and impermanent qualities. I then transferred this drawing onto four sheets of paper that would each be used for a portrait of a person integral to my daily life at the moment. Using these portraits as references, I looked for ways to connect each subject with the rest by adding line drawings on top, removing the sense of volume and solidity from the original portraits. I did this multiple times, returning the line drawing to its original portrait, another step removed from the original. Then, using my obscured self portrait as a reference, I placed the drawings in the composition of a single portrait and used line to transfer my self portrait on the others. I used this self portrait as a form of research by going through the process of a universal human experience, and I found that this self portrait becomes more recognizable as others—blurred together in a way that makes it unclear where one personality ends and the next begins.

These drawings were selected for exhibition in American University’s 2018 Undergraduate Art Showcase.

These book covers are redesigns of a series of Taschen books on architects. Type and image treatment will remain consistent throughout the series but composition will vary. For the imagery, I cut white paper to create the architects' iconic building shapes, using space and depth as the driving theme for this series. The images would be unique to the individual architect, but always in white to remain consistent, with one color being used for the spine and title.