Robbi and I went to Williams College, founded by Ephraim Williams, which makes us Ephs. Because we are Ephs, and because we make stuff together, Ashley Weeks Cart of the Williams College Office of Alumni Relations (and creative lifestyle blogger extraordinaire) asked us to create a poster detailing all the things that a Williams student “must do” before graduating. This list was compiled via a massive social media outreach to Williams alums. Some of you were kind enough to contribute memories and recommendations. Williams sent us a list of 450 items, and we picked the ones that were cited most often (thus most beloved, in our estimation). The result, a compilation of 80 or so things to do in the proverbial “Purple Valley.” We’ve dubbed it “The Williams Bucket List.”
The first draft of the poster is complete. We sent it to Ashley yesterday, and she gave us her blessing to share little bits of it with you. This post will surely be more exciting to those of you who actually went to Williams, but perhaps you’ll enjoy Robbi’s illustrations even if you didn’t.
Most of the poster is still in black and white, but Robbi did this small color study to give Ashley a sense of what it would look like.
How many of you Williams folk did, indeed, take a class on the fourth floor of Hopkins?
It was amazing how many items on the “must do” list had to do with mountains.
And food.
Here you go. Mountains AND food.
Good old Chapin Hall.
Here are two things I did not do. Three, actually.
I did not take a tutorial. I did not go tubing in the Green River. And I did not go tubing in the Green River naked.
I did, however, do this. As often as I could.
These are just a few sketches from a sprawling 18″ x 24″ jumble that vaguely resembles a scene from a “Where’s Waldo?” book.
The sketch approved, Robbi is moving on to the coloring. Which takes almost as long as drawing the thing in the first place. Wish her luck.
When it’s done, this poster will be handed out to all the first year students, a kind of challenge to them to make the most of their time at Williams.
It will also be available for anyone to purchase right here on Idiots’Books. We’re not quite sure when this will be, but probably some time early in the new year.
Ephoric!
Eph parent who can’t wait to get one for Eph child.
Love love love! I actually kind of like the mixed black + white/color approach.
So so SO excited about this. Is it weird that the “stand outside late at night and listen to the silence while it snows” gives me the chills. In the emotional, nostalgia inducing way – not just from the thought of standing in the snow. Great work, team!!
I agree with Sarah.
The mix of lovely line drawings with sporadic color creates a timeless look.
Makes me wonder about Williams of yore. Ages before I became a long-time visitor.
Also, has anyone thought of creating different versions? These previews look like puzzle pieces or tiles or postcards. Perhaps a potential coloring forms book…
Great work, Robbi, please reserve one for my eph!
(Sigh….now that he has graduated, I sure miss Williamstown …)
I am super excited about this. I will have to clear some wall space for it! Can’t wait to see the finished work.
This is awesome. I have never ‘pre-ordered’ anything, like an Ipad, but I would pre-order this.
Amazing! I definitely want one (and have several folks in mind to give them as gifts)! What a wonderful project, and per usual Robbi your illustration so perfectly captures whimsy and some deeper sense of meaning or nostalgia (or some other word I can’t think of right now).
Love it, Robbi and Matt! I think my office walls are calling out for something fun like that. No one knows Williams out here so it would be a nice lesson in its awesomeness.
Did you include “eat a grilled honey bun at the snack bar”? That’s the one thing I try to do every time I go back to Williamstown!
WANT! NOW! awesome as always
I may need to buy two for the start of my kids’ indoctrination. So what if they’re under three?
Thank you guys. I’m an eph alumn, and I find this wonderfully detailed and full of memories. (Like walking down Route 2 at 3 a.m. with the snow unbroken on the roads … and climbing Prospect in early fall.)
When the poster is available, I’d love to know. My brother is an eph too, and I think he’d enjoy it. (And I can ask him whether he’s ever gone tubing in the Green River… ;-)
I’m also the editor of Berkshires Week in the Berkshire Eagle, and this sounds like a story maybe. Any way, thank you.
I think this is just so neat. The quietude of snow and the Green River naked are particularly fond memories…and I’m looking forward to seeing which others appear.
Gotta have one. Be sure to let us know when it is available.
BRILLIANT and WONDERFUL… as is everything you two do :)
I love this! Your work makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Hello all: FYI, the poster is now available for pre-order. We can’t guarantee that it will be available in time for Christmas, but we will send you a PDF to print out and put under the tree until early January when the real thing arrives. If you’re interested, here’s the link to the pre-order page:
http://store.robbib5.sg-host.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=IB-WMS01
Are the posters available? This would be a perfect gift for my son who is a freshman.