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Kwamina Kurefi (K.K.) Edonu is headed into his final year of the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Communication Media Arts program with a big addition to his curriculum vitae (CV). Edonu recently won first place in Michigan State University’s Society of News Design (MSUSND) contest. He won in the promotions and advertising category for an entry about Civil War correspondence.

“My entry was a class project we did for Alden Library,” said Edonu. “We dug through the archives, reading letters written during the Civil War and picked out the important things. It was a lot of hard work to get those letters organized.”

“His work revolves around visualizing information, so he curated Civil War artifacts (letters, journals, etc.) and gathered data about the war (death rates, troop movements, etc.) and then created a stunning way to absorb all of it visually,” said MFA in Communication Media Arts Director Eric Williams

The MSUSND contest for college students began in 2000 as a way for students to enter work done not only for a campus publication but also projects done for a class, a job, or an internship.

“What’s fascinating about his work is that K.K. is fully dedicated to using communication arts to improve society. He’s a creator who really wants to give back to the community and he is using our program to sharpen his skills to do that,” said Williams. “But I’d say they’re pretty sharp now!”

Edonu came from Ghana where he was the head of the audio-visual unit at the University of Mines and Technology. Prior to working at the university, he was a visual arts teacher for many years. Edonu was also a visual arts examiner for the West African Examination Council. He is especially interested in combining his artistic background with educational technologies so that he can pursue a career in academia.

“I taught graphic art and design in high school for almost 13 years. I want to move ahead in academia. I plan to continue with my education and earn a doctorate. I want to get to the highest level. I hope to be able to use all I have learned to move in a user experience/user interface direction.”

“K.K. is a silent leader. He has ideas that will transform society for the better, but he prefers to let his work speak for itself,” said Williams. “I believe it speaks loudly.”