In the Spring of 2013, the “real world” project I assigned to my students was to design for El Paso’s public bus system, Sun Metro. Working with their Marketing and Public Affairs Coordinator Laura Cruz-Acosta, we figured out a way that Sun Metro could honor UTEP’s 100th Centennial in 2014, not to mention all the students who ride their system to get to class, with a series of posters. Once again, the students competed against each other and my other design professor colleagues and I judged the posters. Six students’ posters were selected to be put on display in the waiting center at Sun Metro’s Downtown
El Paso Transfer Center, located at Santa Fe and Third Street, a facility that sees 30,000–40,000 people travel through it each day. The student designs were also installed in buses throughout the city. Sun Metro revealed the posters in grand fashion at the Transfer Center with El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser and UTEP President Diana Natalicio present for the ceremony. Local media was also there and the students got some real exposure for their work. An excellent article about the collaboration was featured in UTEP News.
