FALL 2024 | TOWER 19 Students love the intensity of the event, she says, and have even said, “This is like our prom!” Summer Doll-Myers, associate professor of communication design who also cohosts the event, serves as the liaison between student teams and team leaders, which are usually professors or alumni who volunteer to chaperone the students. “There are about four students per team, depending on the scope of the project,” Doll-Myers says. “Sometimes there are multiple parts to a client’s request, so that’s when I have to look at what each student’s strengths are and what professor would be best overseeing what group.” Clients are also required to fill out a Google form prior to the event, allowing Meloney to review the scope of the project and determine if it’s doable within the given timeframe. Not only does the event give back to the community, but this is a resumebuilder for the students who participate. “The benefits of Designation are innumerable. The connections, the realworld experience, the friends you make along the way, these are all things I’ve taken away from this amazing program,” says two-time Designathon participant and recent KU Communication Design graduate Robby Derr ’24. “Getting to work in the industry for a day is so affirming that this is my dream career, and I recommend all communication design students take part in Designathon at least once.” Approaching the $2 million mark The event first came to campus in 2005, thanks to Meloney and communication design professor Todd McFeely. “There were only a handful of students who did it that first year and there were only a couple of clients. We did it for 24 hours, and after that year, clients asked when we were doing the event again,” Meloney says. Even though they’ve moved away from the original 24-hour timeframe, Designathon has grown exponentially over the years. The 10-year anniversary of Designathon was their biggest turnout, bringing together about 130 student volunteers and 40 clients from the local community. This year, Design- athon – which is typically held in the spring semester – had a turnout of 94 students, 21 clients, 11 alumni and 10 faculty and staff volunteers. “We’ve done some really fun things for clients over the years. We’ve done a parade float design, and recently, someone asked us for a mascot – a unicorn playing bagpipes,” Doll-Myers says. The amount of time and effort that KU has donated in pro bono designs is even more impressive. “If you put an hourly rate on the students’ designs and what they would charge at an agency, the amount of money we’ve donated with our time is well over a million dollars,” Meloney says. “It might even be approaching the $2-million mark at this point.” The ultimate tripod “One of the reasons this event is successful is that we work really well together,” Meloney says.
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