For almost 40 years now, Lanny Sommese has been leaving his mark on the State College community.

As a graphic design professor and department head, he’s taught countless students to become experts in the field, some taking on major roles in New York City.

As a graphic designer, he’s done work around downtown State College for the likes of businesses and entrepreneurs.

His most well known client, though, is the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

Sommese has designed the Arts Festival poster every year for decades, and he tries to work in a different style and theme each time. There was the one celebrating Penn State’s birthday; another focused on a formerly annual hot air balloon race in Centre County; the end of the millennium brought in a poster which looked to the future.

“Each one has a mood, and some get some comments,” he said. But he works closely with the festival’s director -- currently Rick Bryant -- to make sure the product is what the festival was looking for. The relationship between client and graphic designer is rarely as strong as it is between Sommese and the festival.

Some directors have given him total freedom, others have given guidelines. But Sommese has always enjoyed working for the festival.

“Great graphic design is the result of a great client,” he said.

He knows of only a few people who might have a complete set of his festival posters (even he is missing some), but knows of only one group that definitely has them all: Penn State.

The Hetzel Lounge and Library in the HUB have his posters lining their walls. There students can also see other work Sommese has done for the festival, including calls for entries.

The strategies behind good graphic design have not changed much over the years, but the technology used to develop it has changed dramatically.

Holding up an older festival poster original, Sommese explained how he used to literally cut and paste (no ctrl-c here) to design his posters. Now computers have made the construction process easier, but they do not take away from the need to know good graphic design.

“Graphic design is about ideas and problem solving,” he said. “The magic graphic design machine can’t do strategies.”

With every design, Sommese consults with his wife and peer, Kristin. Kristin, a Penn State alumna who also teaches in her husband’s department, has worked directly with him on several posters, “but I always ask her what she thinks.”

The couple has a son and a daughter who love video games and sports, respectively. At ages 11 and 15, it’s tough to say whether they’ll follow in their parents’ footsteps. One thing is certain, Sommese said: “They make everything in your life a little brigher.”