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GD USA
GD USA GRAPHIC DESIGN USA
PEOPLE TO WATCH STUDENTS TO WATCH SPONSORED BY
THE CREATIVE GROUP FEBRUARY 2017
DESIGNER FRIENDLY COMPANIES
www.gdusa.com
FEBRUARY 20 17
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PEOPLE TO WATCH
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2017 | THE CRITERIA | GDUSA STARTS EACH YEAR BY CHOOSING A GROUP OF PEOPLE TO WATCH WHO EMBODY THE SPIRIT OF THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY. Individuals we have come to know and respect for a combination of talent, leadership, success, newsworthiness and community service. In a field so deep in talent and broad in numbers, this is clearly a subjective process. Still, for five decades, it has seemed to work out pretty well: the roster of past participants is star-studded, to say the least. The 2017 group adds to the glow.
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SUZANNE PETTYPIECE
PRINCIPAL, PETTYPIECE & CO., BROOKLYN NY Pettypiece & Co. is a boutique graphic design studio founded by Suzanne Pettypiece in 2013, located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Pettypiece started out her career in magazines, as an editor overseeing art directors and designers. After hundreds of cover critiques, dozens of photo shoots, and one traumatic relaunch, she learned that she belonged on the other side of the desk and far away from magazines. Today, she designs brand identities for small business owners; works with organizations serving kids, such as 826NYC and the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co.; and helps nonprofits with powerful missions — PEN America and DKMS — stay on message by designing all types of collateral: books, websites, event branding, packaging, and more. Suzanne is a GDUSA American Graphic Design Award winner.
FAVORITE CHARITY?
826NYC, the incredibly important and creative nonprofit organization founded by Dave Eggers, dedicated to supporting underserved students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills. (Full disclosure: my husband is the executive director.) Original design for the storefront was done by Sam Potts, and Chip Kidd’s done work for them too — a designer’s dream to be affiliated with it all. FAVORITE FREE TIME ACTIVITY?
Reading, collaging, and completing an unfinished adult novel and self-publishing a middle-grade novel. LAST COMPLIMENT YOU GOT?
That I inspired a friend to call the members of the House Oversight Committee. DO YOU COLLECT ANYTHING? Books.
WHERE WERE YOU BORN? WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW? Born in Indianapolis, the land
I actively try not to, but can’t help myself.
of corn and basketball. I’ve lived in Brooklyn for over 10 years.
COLOR USED MOST OFTEN IN YOUR DESIGN?
DID YOU GO TO DESIGN SCHOOL?
Blue
I will forever take courses at the School of Visual Arts.
TYPEFACE USED MOST OFTEN?
LEFTY OR RIGHTY? Right, literally, and left, figuratively.
Maybe Verlag
MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?
DO YOU HAVE A DESIGN MENTOR OR INSPIRATION? Yes! All the instructors I’ve
I get a solid eight hours of sleep and am whatever that makes me. FICTIONAL OR HISTORICAL CHARACTER YOU’VE ALWAYS IDENTIFIED WITH?
Murakami’s Tsukuru Tazaki comes to mind for obscure reasons. ARE YOU MUSICAL AND/OR DO YOU PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?
I love music — listening to it that is. I once knew how to play songs on a piano. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE CHILDHOOD TV SHOW?
I watched WAY too much television. And way, way too much MTV, but that was back in the day of Matt Pinfield and Liquid Television, so I’m okay with that. LAST BOOK YOU READ?
The second book of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet, The Story of a New Name. I’m now finishing up the third in the series. ANY PETS? An older cat, the Lucs, who I like to pretend is still a kitten. WHAT LANGUAGES ARE YOU FLUENT IN?
Despite a solid seven years of studying French, sadly only English. FAVORITE MOVIE? My Life As a Dog
had at SVA. Kevin Brainard, Richard Mehl, Sue Walsh, Anita and Zeppetelli. I recently had a terribly cliché dream that they were all on a panel judging me as a designer. GREATEST STRENGTH/WEAKNESS AS A DESIGNER? Obsessiveness. ADVICE TO A YOUNG DESIGNER JUST STARTING OUT? Design lots of stuff. Start with one
concept. Pull down a new page or art board. Refine. Pull down a new page or art board. Refine. Repeat 10 times. Sleep. Look at them all again, and start eliminating. Sleep. Refine. IF YOU WERE NOT A DESIGNER, WHAT WOULD YOU BE? An editor, which I’ve already been. A MANTRA OR SAYING YOU LIVE BY?
Take a breath.
FAVORITE FINE ARTIST? Can’t say I have one. But I do find myself seeking out more
work from Kiki Smith.
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STUDENTS TO WATCH SPONSORED BY THE CREATIVE GROUP
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2017 | STUDENTS TO WATCH | With the help of several of America’s leading art and design schools, we once again identify top students ready to burst on the design scene. Some are undergrads, others are graduate students, all have found personal and professional growth through their programs. Our Students To Watch feature has become tradition that resonates and renews: the students get recognized and the professional creative community gets refreshed. In the next edition of GDUSA magazine, the wonderful institutions from which these students come (and a few others for good measure) will themselves get the spotlight.
A SPECIAL THANKS TO THE CREATIVE GROUP FOR SPONSORING THIS STUDENTS TO WATCH FEATURE. The Creative Group (TCG) specializes in connecting interactive, design, marketing, advertising and public relations talent with the best companies on a project, contract-to-hire and full-time basis. As the marketing and creative staffing division of Robert Half, TCG offer flexible staffing solutions to meet companies’ project, contract-to-hire and full-time employment needs. Well-connected to the communities it serves, TCG has built valuable relationships with the top industry organizations, including AIGA, HOW Magazine, Graphic Design USA and The American Advertising Federation (AAF). It also has an exclusive relationship with The Wall Street Journal. For this reason, working with TCG gives companies and individual professionals a unique advantage over other creative and marketing staffing agencies. TCG is an Equal Opportunity Employer. roberthalf.com/creativegroup
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DESIGNER FRIENDLY COMPANIES + RESOURCES In this edition, we spotlight 100 companies and organizations providing first-rate products and services to creative professionals, adding value and finding solutions, communicating and standing behind our community and, more often than not, taking their social responsibility seriously. Companies who understand the creative mind have always been rare but, in more than a half-century of publishing, it is hard to know when they have been more scarce. Changing technologies and tightening economics are creating dislocations, established brands are dropping faster than celebrities, certain segments of design are growing and others are shrinking, and many companies who once embraced the changing — but still robust — graphic design market have lost their focus. That makes the 2017 roster even more selective and deserving of recognition. In the current listing, you will find treasures: paper mills and distributors, commercial and digital printers, stock image agencies and type houses, hardware and software companies, recruiters and consultants, trade shows and industry associations, myriad goods and service providers. These are smart and motivated organizations who “get it” — that your success is their success — and who have the commitment and resources to invest in the creative community. Included are company and organizational overviews, new developments of note, and contact information for buyers and specifiers. Not included are schools: they receive their own spotlight in the March/April edition. Why does all this matter? Because in an age of interdependence, collaboration and the blurring of design and production, you are only as good as your tools, your technologies, your services, your vendors, your knowledge and your information. That is true when the economic headwinds are for you and against you.
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4OVER 4over is the industry leader in print order fulfillment for resellers and industry professionals. With state-of-the-art print production facilities and superior color quality, 4over has established itself with a tradition of product consistency and innovation powered by operational excellence. The largest tradeonly printer in North America, its facilities offer a broad range of in-demand offset, digital and large-format printed products, with a wide variety of production turnaround and shipping options. Continually investing in top-of-the-line equipment enables 4over to maintain a robust pipeline on new product introductions brought to the market from locations across the U.S. and Canada. Customers realize that they can expand the breadth of their product line by trusting 4over with their print while keeping their core competencies inhouse. www.4over.com 500PX 500px is a photo community and marketplace for discovering, sharing, buying, and selling inspiring photography powered by creative people around the world. Launched in 2009, 500px represents the work of over 8 million professional and hobbyist photographers who have uploaded more than 80 million images on the platform. A recent innovation is Splash, now in beta, which enables creatives to search for an image using color and design. Users can begin a search by sketching an image on the canvas using various brush sizes and different colors of paint. The system provides search results in real time, delivering photos resembling the user’s creation. Results can be narrowed by selecting from image categories. 500px is headquartered in Toronto. www.500px.com ADMORE Admore® is the largest manufacturer of premium presentation folders and related items such as binders, portfolios and other presentation products. Admore products are sold only through qualified distributors and the product line features hundreds of standard design pocket folders, portfolios, report and tax covers, binders, computer packaging, key and gift card holders, plastic cards, totes and boxes. Customization of all products is available. There’s also a large selection of inhouse stocks, including recycled and certified papers, and sales tools and art templates are available on the website. Founded in 1947, the company’s cornerstone is quality. Hence the mission statement: “We promise to present the best: passionate service, incredible quality and commitment to each other.” Admore is part of the Ennis family, one of the largest private-label printed business product suppliers in the U.S. www.admorefolders.com
ADOBE Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. Their creative, marketing and document solutions empower everyone — from emerging artists to global brands — to bring digital creations to life and deliver them to the right person at the right moment for the best results. Its portfolio contains many of the most respected and recognizable software brands such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver and Acrobat. In fiscal year 2016, Adobe achieved record annual revenue of $5.85 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 22 percent. The company also achieved record quarterly net income, cash flow and deferred revenue during its fourth quarter. Much of the success is attributable to its role as a major cloud provider, including strong Creative Cloud and Document Cloud adoption. www.adobe.com ADOBE STOCK Adobe Stock offers over 60 million high-quality images, graphics, and videos, as well as new templates, 3D objects and a Premium collection. Adobe Stock can be added to any Creative Cloud plan, including plans for small-to-medium businesses and large enterprises. Uniquely, designers can preview watermarked images inside their designs first, and then license, access and manage them directly within Photoshop CC, InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, and other Adobe desktop apps. stock.adobe.com AGFA GRAPHICS Agfa Graphics is a leading supplier to the printing industry. All over the world, it supplies sign & display companies with highly productive and versatile wide-format inkjet printers and dedicated inks, in addition to workflow automation software. Commercial, newspaper and packaging printers count on them for the most extensive range of prepress solutions, including hardware, software and consumables. These include a.o. user-friendly chemistry-free printing technology which saves costs and the environment, as well as mobile publishing software for newspapers and magazines. Long a proponent of green printing technologies, Agfa Graphics has created the GreenWorks™ program to recognize and honor printers who integrate, support and promote environmentally sound practices within their facilities; and to communicate the message to thousands of graphic designers and other print buyers.
You can learn more about the program on the GDUSA website. www.gdusa.com/agfa AIGA AIGA is the professional association for design. With 70 chapters and 26,000 members across the nation, the mission is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool, and vital cultural force. Lippincott senior partner Su Mathews Hale is the current elected president and Julie Anixter is starting her second year as the executive director. A sweeping new partnership with IBM — named the first Official AIGA Sponsor for Design Leadership — will engage IBM leaders to deploy their expertise across AIGA’s network. The partnership will integrate leadership development skills and experience design across AIGA’s activities. www.aiga.org APPLE Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s and revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple states that it’s 100,000 employees “are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.” www.apple.com G D U SA 93