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Digital Media Professors form Collaboration to Transform Inspiring Story of Communications

"Harvest of Wisdom," the inspiring historical film about graphic communication and its influence on civilization has been recently updated through a joint effort of the Nolan Moore Memorial Education Foundation and the Graphic Communication Institute at Cal Poly. The film is a statement on the relevance of print throughout the ages and the important and continuing accomplishments of the printing industry, ranging from the ancient forms of graphic and visual communications and the beginnings of true writing through the invention and perfection of the processes of printing, and the evolution of desktop publishing and digital media production.

Although "Harvest" was produced 20 years ago, the film has stood the test of time. Nolan Moore, a printing industry visionary and scholar, who passed away in 1995, created the film to be used in classrooms and demonstrate how written communication and print affected civilization and the dissemination of knowledge.

Since the last several minutes of the film were no longer current, the Trustees of the Nolan Moore Memorial Education Foundation, created by PIA MidAmerica after Moore’s death, made a decision to update the film. Led by Dr. Jerry Waite, Program Coordinator and Professor of Digital Media and Phil Snyder, Instructional Assistant Professor of Digital Media at the University Of Houston College Of Technology along with Harvey Levenson of the Graphic Communication Institute at Cal Poly, the film has been updated to reflect the massive changes in communications and print. Dr. Waite served as executive producer, working alongside Professor Snyder using current digital cinematography and editing to bring the film up to current digital media viewing standards. "While the first part of the film is historical and intriguing, we found out that students in the classrooms were laughing at both the technology used to produce the movie during the last half, the examples of contemporary technology," said Dr. Waite. "Preparing students to change the world means keeping pace with our technology, and we are honored to have been a part of making an impact," Waite added.

"It has been an honor and pleasure to work with such legendary leaders in the industry," said Snyder. "It’s truly eye-opening to see how selflessly they devote themselves to promoting education in this field."

"I am proud to have been part of the team," stated PIA MidAmerica’s Joe Polanco. "I was fortunate to have worked with Nolan Moore when he produced the film, and Harvey, Jerry, and Phil showed the same passion and incorporated many of the same ideas Nolan had in his original creation."

Levenson said, "This is an educational documentary for people of all ages and backgrounds. It provides a perspective on the role of written and printed communication on the development of civilization, particularly in the Western World. It clearly demonstrates how graphic communication, with its technology undergirding, falls within the realm of the liberal arts. It is about history and civilization, culture and values, communication and language knowledge and learning, writing and literacy, democracy and freedom, invention and technology, advances in digital imaging, evolution and genesis. It is a statement that all interested in or involved in graphic communication should view—students, employees, managers, practitioners, technology developers, and so on. The movie instills pride in one of the most important industries that has shaped civilization—the printing industry."

The Nolan Moore Educational Foundation plans to collaborate with other graphic arts organizations and media to distribute "Harvest" to the broadest audience possible.

The Graphic Communication Institute at Cal Poly is an outreach of the university's Graphic Communication Department, created to provide industry companies and professionals with corporate development and continuing education.

The Nolan Moore Memorial Education Foundation was created by the support of the members of the Printing & Imaging Association (PIA) of MidAmerica, a regional graphic arts trade association serving a diverse group of firms in Kansas, Western Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. The Foundation’s focus has been in providing grants and scholarships to students and graphic art programs in the four-state region.

The University of Houston Digital Media program prepares technologically savvy graduates to design and manage media projects that meet the visual communication needs of their clients. Nearly 300 students currently major in this program, which provides broad-based instruction in print, photography, videography, and management and allows students to pursue in-depth studies in print media, packaging, motion media, e-commerce, or e-media. For more information, please see click here.

Harvest of Wisdom Coverage