Two students from the Design and Creative Technology department recently had an opportunity to work on a creative project for Colgate-Palmolive.
Over the summer, Olivia Stark ’25 and Sammie Zhu ‘25 worked with Senior Clinical Specialist of Design and Creative Technology Sorraya Brashear-Evans on a Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience (MUSE project) titled, Visualization of Microbiological Phenomena in Dental Hygiene. The goal of the project was to create a visual guide that Colgate-Palmolive’s marketing team could use to explain complex scientific concepts to non-scientific audiences in an easy-to-understand and engaging way.
This project was introduced to Brashear-Evans through a Professor of Journalism Kim Pearson and Lyndsay Schaeffer ’99, who is the senior principal scientist at Colgate-Palmolive.
“I think that this project represented my whole experience at TCNJ and why I got into this field,” Brashear-Evans said. “Aside from being an animator, I was also a journalism major so I have a heavy appreciation for data visualization and the way that we communicate more complex scientific ideals to the masses. I was super heavily into science reporting, both medical and environmental while I was at TCNJ and this project culminated in all those different things.”
Brashear-Evans brought her professional experience as an illustrator, animator, and designer to the project by guiding Stark and Zhu in working with clients. She said the communication between the artist and client is “the basis of the art industry,” describing it as a dance.
“Working with a client was very new. It was really cool to experience, but also kind of daunting because it’s like ‘I hope what we’re doing is what they are looking for.’ But I was really glad that our first client was really open to any ideas or creative liberties we had,” Stark said.
Zhu and Stark were already friends and have worked together previously. This project challenged both of them to try different things with their art and build upon existing skills.
Once finished, they were invited to present the final video to Colgate’s marketing team at its facilities in Piscataway.
“I think that’s one of the best parts about this industry is the final product. Seeing how impactful and excited people get seeing something like that. Being able to see that moment of Olivia and Sammie getting the praise that they absolutely deserve for this incredible body of work was really rewarding for me,” Brashear-Evans said.
Stark and Zhu are now working on more work for Colgate-Palmolive as part of their senior thesis with Brashear-Evans.
– Ashley Peng ’25