Students in graphic and ad design classes have spent the past four weeks preparing designs to submit for the Haiti Poster Project, a nonprofit organization raising money to provide aid to those in Haiti.

“Every semester, we do a nonprofit community service project, and this semester we chose this one,” Andrea Micallef, ad and design instructor said.

The project was brought to her attention by student Ken Wantanabe. Micallef encourages students to think outside of themselves and use their art to impact others.

Each poster submitted will be sold online to raise money for international, medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders. Founded in 1971, the organization provides aid in over 60 countries to “people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe,” according to the Web site.

The Haiti project is the second relief effort by advertising agency Moxie Sozo, led by Leif Steiner. Steiner’s first project began in response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans according to the Haiti Poster Project’s Web site.

Artists and designers worldwide mailed submissions and raised $50,000 for relief efforts in New Orleans with purchases of 180 different posters. This second project hopes to raise $1 million for Doctors Without Borders.

“The purpose of the class project is to show students that one person can make a difference and what a person does is not about the tangible piece, but rather the effect it has on others,” Micallef said.

Students had freedom to design a poster they felt would raise awareness for Haiti. From elaborate designs of color and tone, to simple phrases with a powerful message.

“I really like modernism and I like to take emotions and apply that to my design. I wanted to express what I felt toward the Haiti earthquake,”

Wantanabe, 20, said.

Wantanabe discovered the project while researching online.

“I want to help out and I can do that by making a poster and doing what I love to do for a great cause,” Wantanabe said.

Only one student’s design will be submitted due to a lack of funds. Printing each poster costs $250 and Micallef, along with two other instructors are covering the expense themselves, Micallef said. Students’ posters can be seen at

www.vision218.com.

“The project inspires people to donate a timeless message of hope to Haiti,” high school student Catherine Renard, 17, said.

Written in a deep red, the word “Hope” is the central theme of her poster.

“Hope is achievable, Renard said, you just have to work for it.”