Evan Flores, 17, never thought that fiddling with Adobe PhotoShop and Adobe Illustrator four years ago would allow him to make history.
‘‘I taught myself about computer graphics design by using Adobe PhotoShop and Illustrator programs, which I still use today,” Flores said. ‘‘When I was first introducing myself to computer graphics design as a 13-year-old I would be on the computer for about five or six hours a day, now it’s like two or three.”
The 2007 Eleanor Roosevelt graduate became the first winner of County Superintendent John E. Deasy’s ‘‘Children Come First” logo contest at the June 28 school board meeting.
‘‘I have always been on the creative side. In high school I discovered my strong point was graphics design,” said the Beltsville resident. ‘‘I find computer graphics fun and enjoyable for me in and out of school because I’m able to create something with my own individuality in the creation.”
Flores is attending Arizona State University where he plans to major in cinematography.
Flores’ logo debuted last month on the county school’s Web site, this summer the logo will appear on publications and annual reports.
‘‘We thank Evan for his exceptional work and acknowledge that the response from our students was overwhelming to this opportunity to use their creativity to demonstrate their pride in their schools,” Deasy said in a statement. ‘‘We will use the new Children Come First logo to symbolize our focus on meeting the needs of every child and providing new rigorous academic challenges in every classroom.”
Flores said his winning design of an apple came easily to him.
‘‘I wanted to keep the logo simple and basic...not making it complicated,” Flores said. ‘‘So whatever I made I wanted it to reflect education so that’s why I incorporated the apple because it’s associated with a school environment and children.”
With the help of Linda Cunningham, a Roosevelt graphic design teacher, Flores finalized his logo design in four weeks.
Evan Flores competed against elementary to high school level students.
A total of 127 separate logos were submitted to the Prince George’s Regional Association of Student Governments. Evan Flores’ apple logo was chosen from a pool of 14 finalists.
‘‘I didn’t even know he had submitted something, he didn’t tell me...he is very humble and doesn’t like to draw attention to himself when he does things, ” said his mother, Peggy Flores. ‘‘I was very proud of him.”
At the June 21 school board meeting, Evan Flores received a certificate and an enlarged poster of his logo.
Evan Flores’ work is currently on display at Baltimore⁄Washington International Airport as part of a youth art gallery that will be exhibited until the fall.
E-mail Marcus Ngbea at mngbea@gazette.net.
