Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art – Arts Fest

On the first weekend of April, Illustration Professor A. T. Pratt and the students from his ARIL 312: Products & Zines course were exhibited at the MoCCA (Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) Arts Fest at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan.

MoCCA Fest has been going since 2002 and is put on by The Society of Illustrators. This year was the biggest one yet, with over 8,000 people in attendance. The Products & Zines course is held in the Fall and is dedicated to getting the students ready to present their work and represent MSU at the festival in the spring. This includes publishing several of their own original comics and zines, contributing to 2 group anthologies, and creating handmade (crocheted, embroidered, sewn creations) and/or mass-produced products (stickers, charms, prints).

Students learn how to showcase their artwork professionally in a convention setting as well as create an online store to continue their entrepreneurial efforts after this experience. Professor Pratt has been exhibiting at MoCCA Festival since he first started self-publishing comics in 2010 and feels lucky to share with students the empowering sensation of releasing one’s own work and selling it directly to customers. After the show, all students asked reported they plan to exhibit at more festivals like this in the future, and in fact, many will be having a table later this month at the Artist Alley of Chibicon, an event put on by MSU Japan Club.

Info about the course:

ARIL 312: Products and Zines In this course, students will create multiple projects associated with the illustration festival conventions. Throughout the class, students produce a group zine, an individual graphic book, and three packaged merchandise for selling to the public at a festival. This class challenges students in areas such as package design, visual layout, and creating commodities that will retail at conventions such as MoCCA Fest NYC.