Graphic Design Center

Franklin College students are now using state-of-the-art equipment and software for graphic design projects. A donation from Mr. and Mrs. Claus Faber (parents of Marc Faber ’07) and their business, CMF Advertising, along with a challenge gift from Trustee Paul Lowerre ’75 and his wife Ursula ’76, made the creation of the design center possible.

The Fabers first gave Franklin their vote of approval when their son Marc decided to pursue a degree at the College. The Lowerre’s involvement began when they were both students at Franklin in the 1970s and has continued ever since, including the graduation from the College of their daughter Lavinia in 2006. They have been closely engaged with Franklin; in addition to Paul serving as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Ursula starting the endowment fund and serving on the Alumni Council, they established a Distinguished Service Award to recognize active alumni and have constantly dedicated themselves to the College in countless other ways.

Mr. Faber was a guest speaker in the Fall 2006 Lecture Series, where he shared his passion for advertising and working with top brands in the industry. After the lecture he engaged in discussions underlining the importance for students to learn and be exposed to industry-standard software, hardware and equipment and was convinced that a design center would help students in their transition from the academic environment to the professional world. The two families came together to make this improvement for the education of current and future generations.

The new Graphic Design Center is located on the North Campus in the Academic Instruction Building on the second floor and provides 16 individual stations, software for movie production and graphic design, a printer and plotter for productions of projects, and equipment for instruction such as PowerPoint and book projector. During summer school the Graphic Design Center hosted its first class—Digital Photography. Students in the course exhibited their creations at the end of the first summer school session and the works were remarkable. For more information on how you could make a similar gift, please contact the Office of Advancement.

May 2008