NIcki Avena

The National Geographic Education Summit was an on-site, multi-day event in Washington, DC for educators to learn how to bring NGS values into the classroom. Within my team, I brainstormed a campaign of print and digital deliverables (name-tags, brochures, signage, etc.) for the event branding. If this design were selected, I intended to use color to distinguish between levels of participants.

Tomb of Christ was an exhibition housed at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C. The exhibition was popular because of the virtual reality feature, which allowed attendants to see the Holy Sepulcher in Israel up close, without having to be there in person. I helped concept the idea for the key art, and then was responsible for applying the key art across a myriad of deliverables, which were viewed nationally.

During my time with National Geographic Society I worked heavily in the education department. This included the marketing for Explorer Magazine. This piece was a trifold that I created to send to teacher’s classrooms across, educating teachers on the price model and benefits of subscribing to the print and digital magazine.

These materials were requested by National Geographic Explorer, Carlton Ward Jr. Carlton is trying to raise awareness for the Florida Wildlife Corridor—a migration route used by Florida Panthers and other wildlife, that is quickly disappearing.

Carlton plans to use this suite of items—a folder, brochure, map, and abbreviated copy of his story in the National Geographic Magazine—to ask lawmakers to vote “yes” on the Florida Wildlife Corridor act. The act will help secure this habitat for large ranging wildlife, protect headwaters of major watersheds, help sustain working farms, lands, forests, and protect coastal estuaries.

Every summer National Geographic Society welcomes interns to each department. This year (2021), because of Covid19, I created Zoom backgrounds that department heads could use to surprise their interns with remotely, as we were not able to greet them in person.

These are a series of illustrated social media posts for teachers to share while participating in NGS courses.

NGS human resources wanted to use Valentines Day to drum up some appreciative sentiments and camaraderie, as the organization rounded a full year on working remotely due to Covid19. Members of my design team each pitched some ideas for virtual Valentines cards, and my three designs were chosen from the bunch. Staff were able to send these cards to each other on February 14th.

In 2018 National Geographic Established the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team. I was asked to create a PDF that helps members, employees, and grantees of the society what the guiding principles are of our DEI strategy, distributed across the organization.

This digital PDF was developed for Earth Day 2021, as a way of guiding families through reading and activities that they can participate in from home. Our focus was on oceans, so I developed unique, hand-drawn coral elements to pair with textural images and color fields that help create a sense of whimsy and depth.

As the senior designer, I help out with developing visuals for our social channels. These requests come in quickly, with short timelines, and keep me on my toes. Even though the format is small, I am becoming more interested in exploring what can be done more creatively in social, using the parameters that the app allows, versus using static text over image.

In spring of 2019 the National Geographic Museum featured an exhibit on Egyptian Queens. The exhibit was so successful that we decided to keep it through the summer. At that time, a building next to our headquarters had been vacated and provided a massive, white wall that faced us.

We contacted the property owner who agreed to let us rent the wall. Excited, we brainstormed what eye-catching creative could be printed and mounted there. Here are my concepts—versus what was ultimately chosen— that lean on the lighthearted themes of ‘summer’ and ‘what makes a queen?’

I had been fascinated by the artifacts in the exhibit, which were strikingly similar to beauty tools I use today: hairbrushes, hand mirrors, lipstick, and more. Using this as inspiration, I gave my queens a more light-hearted and contemporary look, hoping to insight and reflect the queens with us, making the campaign more relatable and fun.

Sea to Source is a team of scientists who track the migration of trash, specifically plastics, and provide solutions for how to reduce the plastic crisis. This illustration was requested for an extensive report on trash migration through Bangladesh.

The data provided—where trash originates, pools up in water ways and streets, government laws, population habits and density—was extremely dense and complex. I met with the S2S team to strategize how we could visually simplify it, so that the government officials receiving these documents could quickly understand the content.

During CoVid, The Green Team, who studies and encourages healthy, sustainable practices, requested some designs for National Geographic Society bike jerseys for a potential bike team, or to sell online. These were some of my concepts.

The Green Team requested the seal be present.

The National Geographic GeoChallenge is a national competition. Teams of students gather to solve local environmental issues in their communities, and present their solutions to a board of judges once a year at NGS Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Using the GeoChallenge branding that I assisted the art director in creating, I developed this suite of items that would be sent to teachers at the beginning of the year, prompting them to sign up their students for the competition. The package included: a label, an iron-on patch—which we printed from vendors overseas—, an instructional sheet that the patch adhered to, a poster, and a formal letter.

GeoBee was an annual geography competition sponsored by National Geographic Society. (Think spelling bee, but flashier and for geography). Students from all over America compete school-wide, local, and state-wide to make it to nationals at NGS Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

I created the branding for the 2019 GeoBee, with guidance from my art director. Within branded color constraints, I used topographic lines overlaid on imagery and color fields to harken to geography and create a visually interesting aesthetic.

The branding was utilized across a massive series of materials, including: brochures, emails, apps, name tags, direct mail, t-shirts, signage, banners, lanyards, etc.

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference occurred in San Francisco in December 2019. National Geographic Society attended in order to promote the successful installation of the first weather tower on the highest shelf on Mount Everest. As the weather tower tracks and stores meteorological data 24/7, these findings are of great use to geologists and scientists alike.

National Geographic has partnered with Sumatran Rhino Rescue (SRR) over the years to help the conservation efforts in Sumatra, Indonesia. I help create print and digital materials for SRR’s presence at conferences, and also help to spread their content using our platform.

Using our branded National Geographic “mapping” aesthetic, I created these extensive and comprehensive brochures for the traveling museum team.

The brochures list all of our branded and sponsored exhibits and offerings. They are used to inform museums and curators on how to host our exhibits in their venues, nationally and internationally.

Stickers designed as promotional give-aways at education conferences for National Geographic Explorer Magazine. Each sticker is a fun variation on the theme of nature and exploration.

Sticker sheets printed and distributed to educators by the Education Team at various national conferences

The Education Team requested materials that they could distribute to schools and teachers, explaining all of our education offerings. Working with the art director, we devised a series of items that experimented with unusual, but interesting folds and creases, rather than providing regular, perfect bound brochures.

I devised a type of accordion fold here, so that teachers could display the poster-like image on the back of the brochure by setting it on their desk or hanging it on a classroom wall. The image uses the NGS branding mapping technique.

Each year the National Geographic Society attends the International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB). I was responsible for designing elements of the booth and materials used to to educate attendees on the programs and grants available in relation to conservation.

Materials created for a booth at the International Literacy Convention. The conference attracts teachers and educators on a national level. The purpose of the materials is to encourage educator’s to bring Explorer magazine to their school.

Literature that was distributed at International Marine Conservation Congress and the Association for Tropical Biology, in Kuching, Malaysia.

The piece encourages attendees of each conference to visit NationalGeographic.org/Grants to recruit potential future National Geographic Explorers.

Allies for Freedom was a photography based event held in the World Heritage site of Intramuros, in the Philippines. The photography show displayed iconic and never-before-seen images of World War II. And the event was held during the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Manila. The event sought to emphasize the resilience and camaraderie of Filipino and American soldiers. Filipino delegates, the United States Embassy, and World War II veterans attended to pay tribute. The show remained in Intramuros for approximately a month.

My job was to photo correct the 50 scanned images and prepare them for large-scale format. I was also responsible for typesetting the captions for each image and also for the large informational text panels. I developed a scheme for the many parts of the show to feel thematic throughout.

The show was documented by several news outlets:

GMANetwork.com

CanadianInquierer.net

In 2018 I took a 3 week trip to France, Portugal, and Iceland. While I was traveling I filled up three different sketch books with notes, poetry, scribbles, and drawings.

Returning home, I felt a sort of magic orbiting around me. I wanted to capture the essence and trap it on paper before it disappeared. I printed my photographs, notes, and drawings into these three zines that I went on to sell—successfully, might I add—at 2019 Zine Fest in Washington, D.C.

The experience was a blast and got me hooked on turning my literature and art into little gifts and vessels that I could share with my community. Because of this momentum, I went on to publish a memoir in 2020.

My neighborhood yoga studio, Past Tense Yoga, located in Washington, D.C., put out a call in 2018 for T-shirt designs. The winner of the city-wide design competition would be afforded a free year of yoga.

D.C. has a diverse population and, wanting to focus on inclusivity, I created these small sketches of people who might live in the neighborhood to show that yoga is for any person to enjoy. Though my submission didn’t win, I saved the design in my files. I forgot about it until it turned up on my computer in 2021, and thought it would be fun to experiment with animating the characters in Procreate.

While the API Composite List was formerly a print publication, it is now a downloadable PDF. It functions as a real-time directory of all licensed and registered companies supplying the oil and natural gas industry with products and services. It includes licensing, registration and product details of the organizations participating in the various API Certification Programs.

This project was initiated to rebrand the API Federal Tax forum. When creating a brand map, I looked to a dollar bill for textural and ornamental influence. I then created a logo for the conference, based on the API brand approved typefaces, and accompanying illustrative details to accent the text in Adobe Illustrator.

An email designed to educate recipients about the API Global blog. This email sends to anyone interacting with API—auditors, members, employees—or those potentially interested in connecting with API.

COS is abbreviated from Center for Offshore Safety. The timeline leads the viewer along the series of months and years that describe the evolution of COS. A key at the bottom of the graphics provides reference to the acronyms listed along the way.

An email designed to highlight API’s social networks. This email sends to anyone interacting with API—auditors, members, employees—or those potentially interested in interacting with API.

A tabloid size informational poster created for the oil and gas Standards Development team, in-house at API. The poster illustrates which standards fall under each tubular goods category. The piping and drill bit imagery illustrates specific equipment that is used in regards to these standards.

Instead of hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds, the suits that comprise this deck are broken up into 4 phylums of sea creatures: Mollusca, Chordates, Cnidarian, and Arthropods. Each suit is represented by either coral, clam, barnacle, and puffer fish. As the incremental value of the face cards increase, so does the threatening nature of each creature in that phylum.

The API Annual Meeting is held every year, exclusively for high ranking API board members.

ICP is abbreviated from “Individual Certification Programs.” This poster and ad were launched as a campaign to encourage those interested in working in the oil industry to take online courses in order to become certified for hire as an inspector.

AXIS is abbreviated from: API Exhibition on International Standards.