Allegiant Airlines showcases animations created by Missouri Southern students

(From Southern News Service)

Animations created as a class project at Missouri Southern State University recently soared to new heights when they were featured on a national airline’s social media.

Motion graphics created in a class taught by assistant art professor Taylor Moon were showcased late last month on Allegiant Airlines’ Facebook and Instagram accounts. The animations created by graphic design majors Mauricio Luna, Ashton McGeehee, Madalyn Richardson and Grace Sitton feature different perspectives of Allegiant’s planes taking off and soaring through the clouds.

A special credit at the end of the video thanks the MSSU graphic design students for their “creativity, originality and vision.”

Moon said she made contact with Allegiant’s social media manager through her former college roommate, who also works at the airline’s headquarters.

“I had my students make a motion graphic around the Allegiant brand, and their team selected four of our students to feature with a special thanks to MSSU,” she said. “They were very kind and complimented our students.”

“We were focused on learning the animation side of marketing a brand,” McGeehee said. “Our projects were supposed to have an Allegiant Airlines theme. I incorporated their color scheme, and featured a stewardess – I made sure I represented her by using the correct colors and clothing.”

While the motion graphics class wasn’t her first experience working with animation, it provided the first opportunity to showcase her work in front of a wide audience.

“I’m incredibly excited,” said McGeehee. “I’ve never had animation featured anywhere, so this means a lot.”

Sitton said the class was her first opportunity to create animated projects.

“I made a themed intro that had the Allegiant logo, another with a plane taking off from Washington, D.C., and flying into the sunset, and another set at a baggage claim,” she said

She said she was surprised to learn her work was picked by the airline to be featured.

“I was surprised because there were some really talented people in our class,” Sitton said.

Moon said the Allegiant staff was very complimentary of the Missouri Southern students’ talents.

“It was exciting to have MSSU represented on such a nationally recognized corporate scale,” she said.

Based in Las Vegas, Allegiant serves more than 120 cities, serving more than 450 routes across the country. Click here to see the airline’s social media post featuring the students’ animation projects.