Graphic design professor’s poster earns national award

Assistant Professor of Graphic Design Dejan Mraović was selected for the Graphis Poster Awards 2026 in Manhattan and earned Honorable Mention for his poster promoting Campbell University’s spring play, Tartuffe.

A total of 446 posters created by artists from 36 countries were included in the competition.

According to Mraović, the assignment was to create a theatrical poster for the classic French comedy, Tartuffe, written by Molière that premiered in 1664.

“Since Tartuffe is a manipulator and dishonest person, I included a hand that acted as a force of chaos stirring the letters in the title which represents his numerous manipulations,” he said. “Both the hand and the huge comma were manually printed on a letterpress in a type shop at Ohio University. By using the letterpress, I wanted to evoke the French Baroque typographic design from the 17th century. The textual block is placed on the purple comma reminiscing the bubble from the comic books implying that the play is a comedy. Regarding the color combination, I deliberately chose vibrant green and purple to make the poster stand out and attract viewers’ attention.

A second self-promotion political poster also earned Honorable Mention.