Student Uses His Illustration Degree to Capture the Essence of Small Towns

Up-and-coming artist Mitchell Bowen designed a set of postcards and posters that sold out at Winona Lake. What started as a student project became the foundation for his future as an artist.

Mitchell Bowen’s illustration degree opened the door to him discovering a niche style of posters and postcards, and eventually selling this work to local shops. As a Grace College senior, his first launch using this art style made a big splash in Winona Lake, Indiana, where his designs sold out at several local shops.

How did he go from art student to creative entrepreneur? Bowen’s love for art began at the age of four when he discovered the problem-solving that comes with building Legos. He channeled this passion into various art forms throughout the years and even attended a technical communication design program in high school.

While earning his illustration degree at Grace, Bowen fell in love with a specific postcard style inspired by the posters made during the Great Depression by the WPA (Works Project Administration), featuring Modernist typography, bold graphics, and a limited color palette.

“I’ve always been really interested in this style,” Bowen says. “It’s a niche style of art that I really appreciate.”  

Bowen always kept his eyes peeled for this style as he traveled, and his family trip to Pagosa Springs, Colorado last summer was no exception. After a long day searching for just the right postcard as a memento of his vacation, Bowen came back to the cabin empty-handed. That night in bed, his mind started to run; What if I traveled around the country, made these posters for small towns, and gave them to shops to sell? he thought. The idea immediately excited him.

“Growing up in Colorado, I’ve always had an itch to do exciting and new things, and I really love visiting new areas,” Bowen explains.

His career idea remained an idea until he returned to Grace College for his final year of his bachelor of visual communication design. When his professor for Illustration, Kim Reiff, announced that the final project for the course was to create some sort of publication, Bowen knew exactly what his project would be. 

The next several weeks, Bowen worked to create and refine a set of postcards that captured the unique college town he knew and loved — Winona Lake, Indiana — while embracing the style he had come to appreciate. Highlighting the charm of the town’s dining options, biking trails, and lake access, Bowen crafted a set of images that quickly evoked excitement from his friends at Grace. 

“After the reactions I received at Grace, I knew that these were something that people would really appreciate and enjoy,” Bowen says. “Whenever I place the prints in someone’s hands, I can tell that they really treasure them.”

“I’ve always been really interested in this style,” Bowen said. “It’s a niche style of art that I really appreciate.”  

One night in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, Bowen’s career dream was conceived. Bowen always kept his eyes peeled for his specific art style as he traveled, and his family’s trip to Pagosa Springs in the summer of 2019 was no exception. After a long day searching for just the right postcard as a memento of his vacation, Bowen came back to the cabin empty-handed. That night in bed, his mind started to run; What if I traveled around the country, made these posters for small towns, and gave them to shops to sell? he thought. The idea immediately excited him.

“Growing up in Colorado, I’ve always had an itch to do exciting and new things, and I really love visiting new areas,” Bowen explained.

His career idea did not become a reality until he returned to Grace College to finish his illustration degree. When his professor, Kim Reiff, announced that the final assignment for the course was to create some sort of publication, Bowen knew exactly what his project would be. 

Over the next several weeks, Bowen applied the skills he was learning in his illustration degree to create and refine a set of postcards that captured the unique college town he knew and loved — Winona Lake, Indiana — while embracing the style he had come to appreciate. Highlighting the charm of the town’s dining options, biking trails, and lake access, Bowen crafted a set of images that quickly evoked excitement from his friends at Grace. 

“After the reactions I received at Grace, I knew that these were something that people would really appreciate and enjoy,” Bowen said. “Whenever I place the prints in someone’s hands, I can tell that they really treasure them.”

While the reactions were encouraging, Bowen never expected what came next. 

As part of the final class for his degree in illustration, the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Grace gave each student $50 to print their publications, and Allegra Printing matched the amount. As a result, Bowen walked out of his final class with 15 posters and 30 sets of his postcards. 

Prints in hand, he walked down to The Village at Winona and went from shop to shop to talk with shop owners and managers and pitch his products. One hour later, LetterWood Paper Co. gave him a call. The owners, Amber and Mike, explained that they would like to purchase six sets of postcards and nearly all of Bowen’s posters. 

The weekend after Bowen delivered the product to LetterWood, he returned to his hometown, Golden, Colorado, to visit his family. Before his return on Monday, he received a text message from Amber that read: 

“Come in Monday. We need more inventory. We’ve sold almost all of your work.”

Bowen was stoked. 

”That was really confirming,” he said. “They said that many people came in that weekend and got excited about my postcards. After ordering additional copies, I couldn’t even keep them in stock because they were so popular.” 

It wasn’t long after that several other stores in the village jumped at his work; the Spice Merchant, Rocket Fizz, and the Winona Mercantile bought some as well. Bowen also started selling his work on his Instagram account.

New to the business side of things, Bowen continued to lean on his professor Amber, an experienced illustrator and her husband, Mike, for support. The couple took the budding artist under their wings, spending several hours helping Bowen figure out price points and packaging and exploring new ways for him to move forward. 

“I have Amber and Mike’s cell phone numbers, and I text them all the time,” Bowen said. “They are so generous to share their expertise with me.”

Amber and Mike enjoyed lending a hand throughout the process as well.

“Mitchell is an entrepreneur in the budding,” Mike said. “He’s a super creative young man who is going to be successful in whatever he does.” 

“It took me a while to find my artistic style,” explained Bowen, “but I think I’ve found it,” he said with a smile.

If you have a passion for art like Bowen, learn more about Grace College’s degree in illustration and graphic design.