The student artist behind our beloved cover art
Scattered throughout campus, Annie Berry’s artwork has been thoughtfully placed on
tables in the UC, down hallways of busy dorm buildings, and pinned to cork boards full of flyers
she very well could have designed; clever, playful, and whimsical illustrations. Berry is the talent behind The Index’s front covers for the past two years.
Berry started creating art at a young age, and over the years has experimented with ceramics, sculpture, oils, and painting. In high school, she found a passion for creativity and took an AP art class. “I was lucky to have great art teachers and a great art program during my junior and senior years of high school,” she said. “We didn’t have a focus on graphic design, so I didn’t start anything digital until my sophomore year here at Pacific.” She continued, “graphic design interests me because it has stability and structure. I was interested in exploring that, and I was excited about coming to a liberal arts college where I could experiment with lots of art forms.”
A double major in Art and Graphic Design, Berry is a fifth-year senior—and a leading member of the cross-country and track squads. She opted to take the free year Pacific granted students after COVID hit her freshman year. “Coming into my freshman year at Pacific, COVID limited campus activity and social events,” she expressed. “I ended up spending a lot of time in the dorms working on some pen and ink illustrations. I’m actually grateful for getting to spend that time focusing on my art and developing the illustration style I have now,” she remarked.
Berry’s art has been the face of The Index since the fall of 2022. When she initially joined the publication, she helped with social media and designed the website. But when the Index was struggling to create a cover a few weeks after she joined the team, the editors turned to her for her art skills—and never went back. Her first cover featured a quirky squirrel fitted in a festive sweater posed in Trombley Square.
Her process of brainstorming ideas for the cover starts by sketching and writing words down that surround the themes of the issue. She then takes her sketch into Photoshop, which allows her to use a wide variety of features to illustrate the cover with close to no limits. There’s no doubt her designs are unique and thoughtfully executed. Issue 9 of the Index this year was published on Valentine’s Day, which also happens to be the date Oregon’s statehood was granted back in 1859. Berry used this confluence as her inspiration for the cover, incorporating a friendly sasquatch with a toothy grin throwing a party with a smiling salmon, a hyper squirrel, and Oregon’s state animal, a benevolent beaver. And, a three-tiered cake is center stage, decorated with iconic Oregon symbols—pears, Oregon grape, and various mushrooms. And she wasn’t done yet: To tie in a bit of Valentine’s Day flare, Berry named the issue “For the Love of Oregon” and drew the beaming beaver holding an endearing heart balloon.
“A lot of inspiration for the covers comes from Forest Grove,” she said. “I always want to somehow make it relatable to students here. I love being outside and in nature, so that’s why a lot of covers have flowers, animals, and natural elements in them,” Berry shares. “I have done more serious work during my time at Pacific, but I definitely like my work to have a whimsical playful view, even outside of The Index. Working with the Index has helped me develop my style, especially with the amount of freedom I have.”
Outside of the Index, Berry is the marketing chair for ACE board, helping to design posters, presentation slides, and social media posts for on-campus events. She helped reinvent a logo for Silk Road, the school’s literary magazine, turning it from an obscure, circus tent to a professional, suitable design. Additionally, she rebranded Pink Spoon, Forest Grove’s beloved frozen yogurt shop, by designing them a new clever, charming logo.
Berry shared, “My dream goal is to work at some kind of branding agency. I love doing branding design and incorporating illustration into that. I think I could be happy anywhere as long as I get to be creative.”
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