From the show itself, you’d never know that anything was different about this year’s annual exhibit by juniors in graphic design.

The exhibit, in the Pioneer Room of the Memorial Union, opened Wednesday and will run until Feb. 1 – but it almost didn’t run at all.

“Every year the juniors in the graphic design program . have an exhibit,” said Carrie Scott, senior in graphic design. “Juniors” means those who are in their third year of the program, like her, but not necessarily those who are juniors by credit, she said.

But this year, “the faculty decided not to have a show,” said Lisa Fontaine, associate professor of art and design. Fontaine said she was in charge of the annual exhibit for “many years,” until another professor took over last year.

Since that professor is on sabbatical at Carnegie Mellon University this semester, and “the students don’t really want to do it most of the time,” the faculty decided the exhibit would be impractical, Fontaine said.

However, there was a “communication gap,” she said, and the Pioneer Room was automatically scheduled for the exhibit.

During finals week last semester, Scott, fine arts director for the Student Union Board, and her supervisor, Sarah Phillips, graduate assistant for the arts at the Union, “realized that the contact for the show was going to be on leave.”

Phillips said she e-mailed the College of Design to find out who would be taking over as the direct contacts.

She said that the college responded by saying “because they hadn’t collected any artwork, they didn’t think they could do it.”

However, the students decided to go ahead on their own. Phillips said Scott was optimistic despite the short time frame.

“She made it sound like the only thing they needed to do was print off a design they already had and mat it,” Phillips said.

Neil Pfeiffer, senior in graphic design, said he and his classmates found out about the exhibit in their studios on Monday or Wednesday of last week, and they had to turn something in on Friday or Tuesday when Phillips and Scott installed the exhibit.

The deadline was tight, but he and his classmates had “tons of work so it wasn’t a problem.”

Each of the 60 members of the junior class was invited to exhibit. Scott said usually all of the students contribute.

“But because of the time restraint and lack of communication, not everyone is going to be exhibited, but everyone was invited to,” she added.

Around 20 students turned in artwork, Phillips said.

Students got to choose which project to submit, which is a change from in previous years, Scott said.

“It used to be more mandatory because it was put together by a teacher,” she said. “So the projects were all the same.”

But this year, Scott said, there are many different projects.

“We had pieces that ranged from CD cover design to logos to magazine covers to advertisement designs and more,” Phillips said.

The chance to see this variety is one reason why students should come see the exhibit, Pfeiffer said. “It’s a good chance to show we do more than logos.”

In the end, Phillips said she was more than satisfied.

“I feel that due to the short time we put this together and with the help of the College of Design, the show turned out really well.”