Liguori Flanagan, a third-year student in the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance, has been quite an active student since his arrival at IC. In addition to his work in the classroom, he has been actively involved with the Center for Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Social Change (IDEAS) and also is the proud founder of a burgeoning student business on campus, Mamaz Boy Apparel. Flanagan is passionate about building connections with others and firmly believes fashion is an amazing medium for doing so.
With his creative talent in apparel design, marketing and brand promotions, he was an ideal person to head up the planning and design for this year’s official MLK Campus-Wide Celebration shirt. Flanagan has delivered countless hours in support of this effort and the MLK Celebration Week Planning is extremely grateful for all of his efforts in support of this year’s celebration week.
Check out this Q&A with Liguori, as he shares more details about the design process and what he is looking forward to most about this year’s campus-wide celebration.
How did you first get involved with preparations for the upcoming 2023 MLK Campus-Wide Celebration?
I have been connected with the Center for IDEAS for a while now and the Director, Angelica Carrington, and many others have been so supportive of me during my time at IC, both as a student and providing a platform to build connections with other IC students. Being involved with office, I’ve used some of my design skills to help out with various promotions and updates on the website and was excited to get more involved!
How did you get to be the person to design this year’s t-shirt?
It was really exciting when I found out I’d be able to design this year’s shirt. It was something I was really interested in taking on and I was really grateful that Angelica and the planning committee reached out to see if I was interested. They have been really supportive of my clothing business and I am so happy they trusted me with this project of designing the shirt.
What does your design process look like?
For me the first step was talking with the planning group to get their thoughts and any guidelines I needed to operate with. From there, it was just a lot time just playing around in my Canva site experimenting with various colors and fonts. Trial and error just seeing what felt right to me and sharing with the committee.
Ultimately, I really like how the project came together. I think the color contrast with the gold on blue really evoked that feeling of eminence and distinction that I associate with MLK.
Was there something specific about the particular MLK quote that you highlighted on the shirt design that spoke to you?
My goal was really to just find the balance and create something that would really resonate with our entire IC community regardless of what background we might have. This particular quote really spoke to me just in reflection of all the challenges and dark moments we have experienced as a world, a country, and even within our IC community over recent years and how I’ve found comfort and strength in the support of others. A big part of my design philosophy is evoking that unifying sense of connection and creating something everyone can identify with and I think this quote really spoke to that.
What are you most looking forward to during the upcoming campus-wide celebration week?
I think I’m just most looking forward to being able to come together as an entire IC community and being able to unify and reflect on the many messages of MLK that still are so pertinent to this day. I also really can’t wait to see the shirt come to life and seeing people gathering together, connecting with each other and wearing something that I had the opportunity to create.
