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Member of Team-V wins national Washington Post contest

By Airman 1st Class Wesley Carter , 30th Space Wing Public Affairs / Published September 20, 2007

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE-- Jan Kays, a 30th Communications Squadron graphic illustrator, won a national contest through the Washington Post with this design. The design was made to portray the last 60 years of Air Force history.
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Jan Kays, a 30th Space Wing graphic illustrator, won a national contest through the Washington Post with this design. She created it to portray 60 years of Air Force history.

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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- To commemorate the Air Force's 60 year heritage, the Washington Post printed a page on Air Force history. At the top of that page, a graphic designed by Janet Kays, a 30th Space Wing graphic illustrator.

Ms. Kays won the honor through a contest sponsored by the Washington Post, she said.
"I originally wasn't going to enter, but on the day of the deadline I called the Post and asked if it was too late," Ms. Kays said. "So I started to put the design together, and three hours later I sent the finished product in."

The winner was not immediately announced.

"It was over a month when the post finally contacted me to tell me that my design won," Ms. Kays said.

This isn't the first time one of Ms. Kays' designs has been nationally distributed.

"I went to Mildenhall Royal Air Force base for a couple years," Ms. Kays said. "When I came back to the states, I was in-processing at Norton Air Force Base when I saw the base bus branded with an Air Force logo that I had designed."

The design remained the Air Force logo for over twenty years.

The graphics department is not restricted to logo's and head masts of newspapers.

"We design things from name plates to 10 foot wall displays," said Ms. Kays. "We ask that anyone who is the chairman of an event, or anyone needing something designed, just come and ask us. It's our job."

That job, which requires a lot of skill, creativity and big picture thinking, is one that the graphics team is very good at.

"All the posters members see on base are likely part of the graphics team designs and expertise," said Major Tina Barber-Matthews, the 30th SW Public Affairs chief. "Having Jan's design on the Washington Post is a great tribute to her great work."

The designs and illustrations stimulate the minds of the viewers.

"As humans we are visual creatures. We like to see things that stimulate our brain," Ms. Kays said. "Graphics and illustrations meet that need."

Being able to promote and express the ingenuity of the Air Force is a talent in itself. By using their illustration skills and overall creativity, Ms. Kays and the graphics department, here at Vandenberg, will continue to promote the Air Force and its achievements.