Savannah Carley is a graphic designer born and raised in Woodstock, Georgia, where she was surrounded by a close-knit family that nurtured her creativity from an early age. Her work explores how design fosters meaningful connection through shared experiences. Influenced by her upbringing and early experiences with board games, she approaches design as a participatory and storytelling-driven practice. Drawing inspiration from travel, nature, memory, and collective interaction, she combines illustration, strategy, and user experience to create thoughtful, engaging work.
While pursuing her Bachelor of Arts at Georgia College & State University, with minors in marketing and photography, she has presented four research-based design projects at Georgia College’s Research Day, completed three marketing, design, and public relations internships, and was selected for the 2025 Peach Belt Art Exhibition. Her practice centers on designing welcoming experiences that invite curiosity, encourage connection, and celebrate the joy of shared moments.
Project Statement
Wish You Were Here! is a travel-inspired board game that combines strategic gameplay with visual storytelling. Players use transportation tokens to travel the world, collecting illustrated postcards and encountering events that influence their journey. Each postcard represents a destination and includes the city’s location and a short fact on the back, introducing players to global places while encouraging curiosity through play. The game draws on principles of contemporary board game design, including resource management, collection, strategy, and user experience. This project uses graphic design to create an immersive and accessible experience in which visual identity and gameplay shape how players interact with the game. The visual direction draws from the history of travel memorabilia and mid-century poster design, blending nostalgia with a modern aesthetic. Through research, illustration, prototyping, and user testing, this project explores how graphic design can create meaningful shared experiences that connect people through play. Wish You Were Here! highlights the potential of design to merge storytelling, strategy, and visual identity into a cohesive interactive experience.
Artist Statement
I’m a graphic designer interested in how design creates meaningful connections through shared experiences. Growing up surrounded by people who supported my creativity, I developed a love for making and came to see design as something meant to be shared. Time spent playing board games with my family shaped how I think about visual systems, storytelling, and participation as ways to bring people together, and continues to influence my approach today. Inspired by travel, nature, memory, and collective experience, my work explores how people engage with and navigate the world around them. I combine illustration, strategy, and user experience to create thoughtful, interactive designs that invite curiosity and connection. Through this approach, I aim to create welcoming experiences that encourage people to slow down, engage with one another, and find joy in shared moments.
