CHICAGO — The winner of the 2013 Chicago Latino Film Festival poster contest has been announced.
The winning design — part rainbow skull, part abstract peacock — was created by Jori Cicale, a senior graphic design major at Dominican University.
Cicale, 22, said she was inspired by the sugar skulls typically featured in Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico and Latin America.
As a graphic designer, she said she knew she wanted her poster to have dynamic color and incorporate the film festival text within the design itself.
"I was going more towards a logo design. It’s different than what anybody else has done. You need something in the design that grabs your attention,” she said.
Cicale, who commutes to Dominican University in Oak Park from Steger, Ill., said she was not aware of the magnitude of the poster contest until Thursday’s press conference.
“I had no idea how big this was until last night when we did the unveiling of the poster,” she said. “I’m very grateful for all the stuff that’s happening so we’ll see where it goes.”
Her design, chosen out of 150 submissions, will be the official logo for the 2013 Chicago Latino Film Festival and will also be on the cover of half-a-million program books, t-shirts, invitations and more.
Cicale also receives $1,000.
“I’ve been told to go to Vegas,” she said laughing. “I think I’m going to put it to good use and buy a computer.”
This is the 29th year for the festival, which runs April 11-25. The full film schedule will be announced in late March.
