T H E A T E R P O S T E R S /
S O F T W A R E I N T E R F A C E /
I am a graphic designer, author, and educator based in Brooklyn, NY.
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My deep and wide-ranging expertise in visual communications— from custom typography and conceptual illustration to brand visualization and the design of editorial and information systems—is the result of over thirty years of professional and academic activity.
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For Fortune 500 companies, startup entrepreneurs, non-profit, and cultural institutions alike, that expertise extends across print, screen-based, and dimensional media.
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My deep and wide-ranging expertise in visual communications— from custom typography and conceptual illustration to brand visualization and the design of editorial and information systems—is the result of over thirty years of professional and academic activity.
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For Fortune 500 companies, startup entrepreneurs, non-profit, and cultural institutions alike, that expertise extends across print, screen-based, and dimensional media.
I D E N T I T Y M A R K S /
R E C R U I T I N G B R O C H U R E /
W E B S I T E /
M A R K E T I N G M A I L E R /
B O O K D E S I G N /
S E L E C T E D B O O K C O V E R S /
B R A N D I D E N T I T Y S Y S T E M /
In addition to client consulting, research, and writing projects, I frequently lecture at universities; lead workshops; present at academic conferences and industry events; and contribute essays and articles to design publications around the world.
I am currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at SUNY Purchase College, in upstate New York; and maintain an ongoing adjunct appointment at Parsons/The New School for Design.
B O O K W R I T I N G A N D D E S I G N /
I N S T I T U T I O N A L E V E N T B R A N D I N G /
W E B S I T E /
P O I N T O F S A L E P A C K A G I N G /
B R A N D E D L I T E R A T U R E S Y S T E M /
B O O K C O V E R /
M U S I C P A C K A G I N G /
B O O K W R I T I N G A N D D E S I G N /
Nearly 100,000 years ago, our ancestors recognized the power of graphical form. Over time, across myriad cultures and contexts, notions about how and why we communicate visually create an unbroken continuum of inquiry that is continually in flux. This accumulated corpus of knowledge poses far deeper questions than the mere mechanics of form-making and its interpretation...
Who is design for, and whose agendas will it serve? Who should we validate as makers, and what kinds of making? What expertise is of core value, and how should it be taught? What roles should design play in our time?
J O U R N A L C O V E R /
B O O K D E S I G N /
W E B S I T E /
Our current cultural reckoning requires that we reassess the underpinnings of our practice, evaluate its various threads and integrate the overlooked and marginalized; to locate new points of connection for a more holistic understanding—and one that reinforces a fundamental truth:
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Design is a social act that ritualizes our experiences with each other and the world we inhabit. Design interrogates and describes; records and invents; beautifies and makes useful. It helps transmit information and facilitates tasks; it builds communal experiences, from the pragmatic to the poetic.
I D E N T I T Y M A R K S /
B O O K D E S I G N /
N E W S L E T T E R [ Cover System ] /
W E B S I T E /
My fascination with the mysterious activity of visual communication, in all these aspects, dates to my childhood. I grew up among a family of artists who nurtured my precocious talent for drawing and making books. Throughout the past few decades, that fascination has only intensified.
Strong family support, nerdy and obsessive diligence, and a track record of scholastic recognition eventually resulted in my acceptance to the seminal graphic design program at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia— there to be mentored by a faculty of trailblazing alumnae from the School of Design in Basel, Switzerland.
S Y M P O S I U M P R O G R A M /
While navigating the rigors of Swiss Modernism, I also found myself steeped in the transgressive, post-Punk counterculture of the 1980s; as well as assimilating the paradigm shift from hand-based craft to a then-new digital creative space—conditions that opened horizons beyond the purview of my education and its presumptive push toward professional endeavors.
L E C T U R E P O S T E R /
Reconciling the conflict that I perceived between these alternate spheres meant striking a balance between intellectual and intuitive expression—one that would become the keystone of my theoretical, practical, and pedagogical activities in subsequent decades. Doing so led me from the utilitarian work of business consulting into academia and writing, three areas of inquiry that have come to inextricably intersect.
My current practice finds a nexus in the classroom, where my wide-ranging, real-world experience helps ground the conceptual explorations of my students. Teaching thus allows me to concretize theory; in the learning space, I may also challenge it (and be challenged myself). And the curiosity and revelation I confront in the educational environment continually fires the rigor and passion with which I help realize my clients’ aspirations and, most importantly, the experiences of the people with whom they will ultimately connect.
I D E N T I T Y M A R K S /
B R A N D I D E N T I T Y S Y S T E M /
My ongoing commercial work focuses primarily on visual brand identity and informational systems. My approach is research-based and richly narrative, and centers the discovery of unique formal visualizations to embody my clients’ messaging—defying, whenever possible, assumptions, conventions, and whatever given trends are prevalent. Even though I consider it theoretically impossible, I work diligently to avoid imposing a personal style.
I prefer to let the visual language that is most specific and appropriate to a given subject assert itself, regardless of my own creative predilections. And yet, my communicative solutions are grounded in common sense: I privilege intuitive accessibility and ease of use; I design for systematic practicality and longevity.
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Throughout my career, I have had the good fortune of designing everything from advertising and brochures, to videos and websites, to architectural signage and packaging.
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Throughout my career, I have had the good fortune of designing everything from advertising and brochures, to videos and websites, to architectural signage and packaging.
C U R R I C U L U M P U B L I C A T I O N S Y S T E M /
E V E N T I N V I T A T I O N /
B R A N D I D E N T I T Y S Y S T E M /
B R A N D I D E N T I T Y S Y S T E M [ Business Cards ]
W E B S I T E /
B O O K D E S I G N /
E X H I B I T I O N P O S T E R /
I am likely best known for my first book, Making and Breaking the Grid (2002), which defined a new category of publication: an educational showcase that juxtaposes theoretical and formal principles with their application in exemplary, real-world projects—sourced from an international roster of studios and designers. Twenty years and three editions later, it is the bestselling design title of all time.
That book’s success laid the groundwork for subsequent projects devoted to studio practice that have helped me improve my teaching and expanded its influence internationally: Ten titles to date, covering everything from design fundamentals to drawing to typography; all translated into more than ten languages and used as reference by students, educators, and working professionals around the world.
B O O K W R I T I N G A N D D E S I G N
[Older titles; cover designs] /
B O O K W R I T I N G A N D D E S I G N /
W E B S I T E /
B R A N D E D F O L D E R C O V E R /
T E A C H I N G W O R K S H O P D O C U M E N T /
B O O K D E S I G N /
E X H I B I T I O N P O S T E R /
In 2001, an unexpected opportunity to teach at first presented merely a means of making ends meet during a trying time; but academia’s relentless spirit of discovery and empathetic humanism rapidly became a priority. Since that time, I have established a reputation for structured, innovative curriculums and compassionate mentoring (as well as tireless commitment, at times teaching ten courses in a semester) at the School of Visual Arts, SUNY Purchase College, Parsons/The New School, Rutgers University, New York University, the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), and the University of the Arts.
Pick a subject—drawing, typography, color theory, interaction design, branding, portfolio development, design history—and I have likely taught it.
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Among students, I am known for my surgically precise critique and my ability to guide aesthetic individuality while stressing the underpinning of best practices. I see the role of educator as extending beyond the building of expertise, helping students grow a sense of agency and take ownership of their creative endeavors.
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Among students, I am known for my surgically precise critique and my ability to guide aesthetic individuality while stressing the underpinning of best practices. I see the role of educator as extending beyond the building of expertise, helping students grow a sense of agency and take ownership of their creative endeavors.
B O O K W R I T I N G A N D D E S I G N /
Although students must be prepared to enter the workforce with empirical competency, their learning experience must encourage them to see themselves as participants in, and beneficiaries of, the designed environments they will help evolve—to internalize a personal philosophy about, and a commitment to, their design activity.
L E C T U R E P O S T E R /
E V E N T P O S T E R /
Continual research further engages much of my time between teaching and writing: Since 2015, I have been developing a new history of graphic design; and, for the past two years, I have been building an online, visual/ anthropological survey to investigate the cultural semiotics of form.
S O F T W A R E I N T E R F A C E /
My overarching pedagogical concerns reflect the convictions that guide my personal and professional work:
I D E N T I T Y M A R K S /
B O O K D E S I G N /
W E B S I T E /
M U L T I M E D I A [ D V D ] P A C K A G I N G /
Ever curious and open to new experiences, I am available on a variety of fronts: commercial, academic, or purely exploratory.
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Podcast interviews
Curriculum development
Workshops and lectures
Curating exhibitions
Conference participation
Product development
Career mentoring
Public art endeavors
Competition jurying
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Podcast interviews
Curriculum development
Workshops and lectures
Curating exhibitions
Conference participation
Product development
Career mentoring
Public art endeavors
Competition jurying
For my current CV, a comprehensive portfolio, or to discuss opportunities, please get in touch by emailing me at the address below.
