Main Street has a new look thanks to an ISU student’s winning banner design.

Marie Bushbaum, a senior in graphic design, won the Main Street Cultural District’s 2005 banner contest with her “Many Windows, One Community” design.

Angela Moore, director of the Main Street Cultural District, said participants, including local artists, students and Ames community members, submitted more than 50 designs to a committee between November 2004 and January 2005.

The committee offered no guidelines but worked with finalists to help modify their designs to best fit Main Street. Bushbaum and another ISU student were finalists, and the winner was chosen in April, she said. The banners are currently flying on Main Street and Fifth Street but will soon be added on Sixth Street .

Bushbaum said the idea behind her designs developed as she tried to convey how, though cities are different, they share a common symbol — a cityscape.

“I chose to create a banner with that in mind, and the other focused on the idea that Main Street represents Ames as a community, and even though all windows have their own characteristics and lead to something different inside, they all represent the community as a whole,” she said.

Bushbaum’s original idea, “Many Windows, One Neighborhood,” was changed to its present design after working with the committee.

“Merging the ideas of the windows and the cityscape was actually easy since they go hand-in-hand, and the committee was really easy to get along with, and they all had great input,” she said.

Moore said a joint decision in picking the winner was one of the main purposes behind the committee’s formation.

“We want these to fly for many years, so we didn’t want one person making the decision for everybody,” she said.

Committee member Brian Smith, co-owner of Everts Flowers & Gifts, 329 Main St., said when the committee was making its decision, Bushbaum’s design stood out because of a combination of things — it was easily read, bright and colorful and the meaning behind the design matched what the cultural district was looking for.

Smith said the banners are a permanent addition to the cultural district and are expected to last until they wear out or a new competition is held.

Bushbaum has won several other design competitions in the past, including the Social Justice Through the Arts Competition in 2004 and the Latino Heritage Poster Competition, which will allow her to work with the organization to create posters for 2006.

“I love entering competitions because it’s a good break from my homework and it gives me an opportunity to do what I love — design,” Bushbaum said.

Bushbaum is currently interning at Hanna Design Limited in Colorado.

She has not had a chance to see her work on display but said her parents have already taken photos of the banners.