Self-created map guides Clarkies through Worcester\u2019s trails and transit system<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nWhen Nick Mellis ’21\/M.A. ’22, arrived at Clark University’s Worcester campus, he was already familiar with the city’s trails and public transit having grown up nearby in Lancaster. That wasn’t the case for many of his peers.<\/p>\n
“I realized a lot of Clark students didn’t know where to go or what they could do in the area,” says Mellis.<\/p>\n
That led Mellis, who is in the fifth-year program pursuing a master’s in Community Development and Planning<\/a>, to develop what became “The Trails and Transit Map<\/a>” for Clark students.<\/p>\n Mellis came up with the idea for the map while majoring in geography<\/a> as an undergraduate. In a graphic design course, he undertook a class project that evolved into a directed study under Sherry Freyermuth<\/a>, assistant professor in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts<\/a>.<\/u><\/p>\n “To figure out what types of maps look good and look bad, I called more than one hundred offices of tourism and transit agencies to request their maps in the mail,” says Mellis, who now has a box replete with samples. “Some of the best examples were maps from places that surprised me like Iowa City, Iowa, or Eugene, Oregon.”<\/p>\n Some products inspired Mellis. Others showed him design elements he wanted to avoid.<\/p>\n “He called any place that would pick up the phone and talk with him about their maps and transit system,” says Freyermuth. “I helped with the design process, and I was proud of all the work he did.”<\/p>\n