Students tell stories through annual Soul of Athens project

Students from the School of Visual Communication have published the annual student-led multimedia project called Soul of Athens. 

Soul of Athens consists of students from across campus, not just the School of Visual Communication, said Professor of Visual Communication Stan Alost.

Alost said the students go out, make their own projects and publish them. Soul of Athens is a coordination between a number of different classes. The project consists of interactive teams who build the websites and content creation teams who gather the material in the field. Then all of the teams learn to put together, create, run and manage their own publishing organization. The students learn to work in teams, work across disciplines, figure out deadlines and identify their audience.

“When you start looking at a larger publishing organization, most of those things are already in place,” Alost said.

Alost said students start the semester as a large group to determine what projects they want to do and what roles they will play.

“Each year is really different, and that’s part of the fun of this,” Alost said.

He said there have been years where everyone worked on one subject and years where there were different subjects. The 2021 Soul of Athens consists of different subjects.

One of the projects consisted of forming a marketing agency to help Zöe Fine Dining, an Athens restaurant. Kailee Slusser, a graduate student from the School of Visual Communication, said her team wanted to make a difference during COVID-19.

“Our team wanted to make a difference during COVID,” Slusser said. “With our commercial skills we knew we could make that difference for a business who had been impacted by closed doors.”

Slusser said she went through a phone book and made a list of businesses who needed web resources.

“From that, Scott Bradley at Zöe Fine Dining was the first business I actually called on behalf of the team, and it ended up being a perfect match.”

Slusser said her team used things such as photography, graphics, color, fonts and a brand platform to tell Zöe’s story. She said marketing professionals tell their clients’ stories through a certain choice of words and visual cues so customers know what a brand is about.

“I practiced my leadership and various marketing skills on this project outside of the classroom setting,” Slusser said. “I also worked with an amazing team and got to see everyone create on a high level.”

Amanda Weisbrod, a graduate student studying infographics and interactive design, was part of a group who covered Dan Copper, an Athens creator who is struggling financially because of the pandemic.

“To me, the Soul of Athens means looking out for your neighbors, celebrating creativity and valuing the local culture,” Weisbrod said.

Jack Hall, a rising senior studying photojournalism, said his friend told him about a man (Copper) who makes artwork out of recycled materials. Hall’s friend had had helped set up a Facebook marketplace to sell his artwork.

Weisbrod said they told Copper’s story using photos, video, text and a motion graphic. Hall said he did the video and was the main person who was in contact with Copper.

Weisbrod said she was responsible for recording audio, making a motion graphic of Copper’s mobile-making process and copyediting the body text and captions.

“I had a lot of fun making my motion graphic because it was a huge challenge as I only started working with motion graphics a few months ago,” Weisbrod said.

Hall said it was rewarding to work with someone who had never been given the kind of exposure they were giving him. Hall said a few people have told him they want to contact Copper to get a piece just from seeing what Hall’s team made. He said working as a team was the most beneficial part of the project for him.

“If I had tried to tell this story by myself, it wouldn’t be nearly as compelling or interesting as it turned out.”

Nate Swanson, a rising senior studying photojournalism, worked on a project about native cuisine and the story of Athens chef Anita Hajivandi.

“Anita’s background and connection to the staple meals that are rooted in Appalachia were perfect for what I wanted to portray,” Swanson said.

Swanson’s role in telling Hajivandi’s story was as a visual journalist. He and his team collaborated to tell the story through videography, photography and design. He wanted to tell the story through a live cooking session, sit-down interviews and a visual narrative that showcased the Southeastern Ohio atmosphere.

Swanson and his team members only communicated virtually throughout the semester, which taught him to work better by himself while maintaining consistent communication with his team. He said they expected a few obstacles, but they still succeeded because of the goals they set.

“In the end seeing the final product because of all the work that we created together mattered more than any problem that would arise,” Swanson said.

Alost said the project is an opportunity for students to use what they have learned. He enjoys that students are able to get out of the mindset of being a student and get to communicate with an audience to tell stories.

“It’s fun to watch the different groups understand what it’s like to work together and understand what other people need to do,” Alost said.