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Speaking at SUNY New Paltz

Last night I had the opportunity to give a few opening remarks to the BFA graduating students at SUNY New Paltz. The student show was inspiring, and I was reminded of the strong design community and great teachers at New Paltz. I don’t think I had ever stood up in front of a mic and room full of people [yikes!]. But, as I prepared for the talk, so many memories and thoughts surfaced, so I was excited to share those first experiences in the field of graphic design.

Here are a few lessons learned: 1) When Opportunity Knocks, follow through 2) First couple years are about learning from others, being a team player and having a strong work ethic. 3) Nurture a creative environment / life and work are one 4) Altruism creates opportunity and high visibility of work 5) the creative process works same way in school, as in out of school, but its the job of the designer to pull it together as an inevitable solution 6) depend on research leading to inspiration, and just beautiful, clean design 7) explore the variety in the field, and you’ll find your niche. 8) Every new project presents different challenges, which keeps one passionate about the work, and excited about the field.


work credits: Pentagram Design, Woody Pirtle, Pirtle Design and Duba Design

TEDMED Portraits for Alexander Isley Inc.

TEDMED program, EYTHOR BENDER

@eythorbender Portraits by @Dubadesign for #TEDMED. Great work!

I’ve been traveling to Alexander Isley‘s studio in Connecticut, to work on the TED MED conference program. We designed 50+ unique portraits for each speaker. The design process was very experimental. I photographed black and white portraits on the tv/computer screen to get the moiré pattern effect. Typically this is something photographers try to avoid. But, it allowed each one to be a unique, and the effect added depth and texture to the flat black art. I then added color overlays behind the black and spotted them with white line art for more texture. Portraits recognized in the CADC Excellence Award as the portrait Illustrator for TED MED 2011.

     

TEDMED program