If I Were a Designer...

This is a two-part assignment I completed for my Journalism 302: Introduction to Design and Visual Communications class. Just something to add to my body of work on here. I still have a lot to learn.

Before CMU's Exam Week, Sounds of Squeaking Sneakers and Bouncing Basketballs

Some Gus Macker teams played in front of Finch Fieldhouse on the Dream Court where Gus Macker founder Scott McNeal playfully did play-by-play announcing (below).

There was $18 on the line. That was a lot in 1974, when 18 kids gathered into a 3-on-3 basketball teams to play for the money on a driveway.

Scott McNeal expanded the tournament and traveled to five cities in 1987. More than 10,400 players played the tournament that year and propelled Mr. McNeal's brand — Gus Macker.

At Central Michigan University, where Scott McNeal graduated from in 1979, Gus Macker closed a street adjacent to the library on April 27 and 28. Amidst the sounds of bouncing basketballs, squeaking sneakers and cheers, Mr. McNeal speaks into the microphone at the Dream Court.

"There's Puke with the shot," Mr. McNeal said, referring to a player's nickname, "and it's too strong off the rim."

The Gus Macker was somewhat branded this year by CMU — it became the only college in the country to facilitate the tournament completely with students. The students said it was a semester project for a Recreation, Parks and Liesure class, a culmination of planning, coordination and planning the physical layout of hoops and court space.

Mr. McNeal donated $10,000 to CMU for the Dick Parfitt Gymnasium, a multi-sport practice facility near McGuirk Arena.

Today, Gus Macker tournaments are held in 75 cities in which nearly a quarter-million players participate. The tournaments, nationwide, draw nearly two million spectators. All-time, according to the Gus Macker website, it has drawn 2.2 million players ages 7 to older than 50, and 23 million spectators.

The tournament drew 174 teams in various age groups. Each team, according to Gus Macker rules, is guaranteed to play three scheduled games. 

Gus Macker was played on a street adjacent to the Charles V. Park Library on the campus of Central Michigan University.

Scott McNeal does play-by-play announcing during a Gus Macker tournament game on the campus of Central Michigan University on April 27, 2013.

Gus Macker founder Scott McNeal set out Toilet Bowl trophies on the table near the end of a tournament game on April 27, 2013, on the campus of Central Michigan University.

The Threads Fashion Show: Ooh's, Ahh's and Applause

Kristine Opaleski's work on display was driven by The Lion King.

The 15th annual Threads Fashion Show at Central Michigan University featured theme-based designs from movies like The Dark Knight, Black Swan and The Lion King.

Twenty-four C.M.U. students designed for the show on April 13 in the university's Warriner Hall. A collection of movie trailers at the beginning of the show introduced the audience to the themes used in the designs.

Kristine Opaleski's designs based on The Lion King were among the more talked about designs from the show. Her peers gave her more awards than the other designers. It was her third year designing for the show, she told Central Michigan Life.

“I was inspired by The Lion King,” Ms. Opaleski told Central Michigan Life. “I find the movie itself very majestic. It’s extremely moving. There (are) incredible themes I never caught on to as a kid, and every kid watches that movie and loves it, and when you get older, you love it for different reasons and that’s what I wanted to personify.”
Opaleski created six designs that she spent about $400 to make, along with some sleepless nights, according to an interview with C.M.U. Some students paired together to work on designs from a theme.

Opaleski's designs were made with basic earthly colors assembled in unique patterns.

Jason Gagnon's collection, "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Kristine Opaleski's "The Lion King."

Kristine Opaleski's "The Lion King."

Kristine Opaleski's "The Lion King."

Dress by Shermane Fouche, a C.M.U. apparel design faculty.