Raised by parents who worked for the United Nations, Claire’s humanitarian interests were formed early in life. She loves to design for clients who have community and educational interests at heart, and the search for work with this focus led her to Studio Blue. Her career experience began with five years in New York book publishing, where she designed covers for the trade paperback imprint Vintage Books. During that time she also ran a freelance business that focused on local branding projects and music packaging. Love and marriage then took her to Chicago, where she spent her first three years working on large scale corporate communications campaigns and annual reports for VSA Partners. At Studio Blue, Claire’s role is to manage junior staff and to create design that solves strategic problems with beautiful visual solutions.
About
AIGA Chicago
AIGA Chicago is a dynamic community of 1600+ members, including designers, communication professionals, design educators and students. The Chapter was founded in 1986, and has been a leader in advocating the importance of design ever since.
Board of Directors
Each Board member is elected to serve and represent the entire membership of the AIGA Chicago to the best of his/her ability, in accordance with the AIGA mission and the description of the board position. The Board of Directors meets monthly to report, determine and vote on Chapter activities.
Board
President: Claire Williams Martinez
Vice President: Renata Graw
Renata is a partner at Plural Design and teaches at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her work has been recognized and published by the Art Directors Club, Type Directors Club, AIGA, Society of Typographic Arts, Print Magazine, Eye Magazine and Communication Arts among others. Renata studied typography under Wolfgang Weingart at the Basel School of Design and received her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is native of Rio de Janeiro where she received her BFA from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica.
Treasurer: Fletcher Martin
Fletcher is a founding principal and creative director at a5. He is responsible for the design direction of programs that include identity design, collateral, environmental design, interactive design, video, naming and more. Fletcher’s work has been recognized by the Art Directors Club, British Art Direction & Design, Communication Arts, HOW Magazine, Type Directors Club, the Mead Annual Report Show, the Potlatch Annual Report Show and The Annual Report 100. Fletcher judged the 2001 Potlatch Annual Report Show, the 2003 Dallas Show and the 2008 Midwest Annual Report Show.
Of particular interest to Fletcher is the intersection of large-scale economic and demographic trends, and how they relate to clients and the design industry in general.
Community Outreach Chair: Dawn Hancock
As creative director and owner of Firebelly, she cultivates the studio’s design culture and inspires the best work with vision, compassion and an infallible gut instinct. It’s that gut feeling—the fire in the belly—that motivates Dawn to take risks and challenge the status quo. And it’s ultimately what caused her to renounce the safety net of corporate America and do her own thing. Dawn started the studio in 1999, at the height of the dotcom era, a time when all the big agencies were buying up the boutique firms. Leaving behind inflated budgets, corporate greed and style-over-substance, she cashed-in her 401k and started creating Good Design For Good Reason™. From fledgling nonprofits and hungry startups to major corporations looking for complete brand overhauls, clients of every size and industry trust Dawn’s independence, ingenuity and proven approach to authentic, broad scope branding. Under Dawn’s guidance, the studio has won awards in nearly every American design journal and was made part of The NewberryLibrary’s permanent collection and the Society of Typographic Arts’ Chicago Design Archi
Development Co-Chair: Tim Lapetino
Tim wants nothing more than to use strategy and style to make meaning for great brands. One of the principals of Hexanine, (brand design firm he launched in 2009) Tim is a strategist, designer and writer. He has collected nuggets of insight and craft along his journey, and writes about the issues surrounding design and branding at his firm's blog, Zeroside.
A Chicago native, he has worked in a variety of categories the last 10 years, including identity, packaging, corporate communications, and print design. Hexanine's diverse portfolio includes work for Target, Jim Beam, Ethos Chicago, Geek Magazine, Negra Modelo, Prominic.NET, AtariAge, and many others. Tim has previously worked at Chicago area design firms Culture22 and Creative Commune, and his work has been included in three volumes of the LogoLounge book series, Logoliscious, and recognized on design sites like Processed Identity and Logo From Dreams.
He serves as Adjunct Faculty at the Chicago Portfolio School and has been a member of AIGA since 2005.
Development Co-Chair: Meghan Goulette
Meghan has provided strategic client service for a variety of clients in sectors including government services, associations, technology, food/beverage, consumer retail and automotive. With extensive experience in programs ranging from identity and brand strategy to event production and traditional advertising, one thing has remained constant in Meghan’s work, solid and strategic design.
While currently serving as an account supervisor at SapientNitro, Meghan is taking her experience digital, working alongside technologists and developers to meet clients advancing needs. Meghan previously worked at Chicago-based design firm VSA Partners and led marketing and development programs for the independent arts organization, Gen Art.
Editorial Co-Chair: Kelly Knaga
Kelly is in love with photography and design. She goes everywhere with her cameras. She wouldn't go anywhere without her music. She could happily survive off of cereal and milk. She thinks there is a tooth fairy. She also thinks that Santa Claus actually exists. She thinks vintage is better and that secret handshakes are cool. She thinks the small everyday moments are more incredible than the every once-in-awhile spectacular moments. She believes in karma. She believes pinky swears still mean something. She believes in the greater good of mankind. She believes in trying to make a difference. And she believes that ordinary everyday people can make extraordinary differences in the world. She also thinks writing about herself in the third person is rather amusing.
Kelly lives in a house she’s fixin' up on an acre of land just outside of Chicago with her dog Wrigley. And when she’s not working on the house she draws, designs, take pictures with Polaroid cameras, paints and teaches undergrad design. Feel free to drop her a line and say hello!
Editorial Co-Chair: Matt Herlihy
Despite his cherubic appearance, Matt has worked in the worlds of communication and design for over 15 years. As a strategist at VSA Partners, he crafts words and creative concepts for some of the world’s top brands in print, online, and through film. His experience has ranged from the boutique agencies Bonfire and Streams to such corporate titans as IBM, GE and Amgen. In between, he has served as founder of a literary journal and proprietor of a seaside art gallery. A proud graduate of Augustana College, Matt is honored to work every day in the tongue of Shakespeare, and remains in awe of the power and responsibility that entails. He is a performing guitarist and songwriter, a restless urban hiker, and an incurable Cub fan.
Education Chair: Richard Zeid
Richard Zeid is a designer and educator.
As Richard Zeid Design, Richard serves a wide range of clients from not-for-profit theatre companies in Chicago to Fortune 500 companies such as W.W. Grainger, Inc. Prior to his self-named practice, he was the corporate senior designer for Morton International, Inc. His work has been recognized by Creativity, Art Direction Magazine,American Corporate Identity, and Graphic Design USA. Most recently his work has been included in Logos: Making a Strong Markpublished by Rockport Publishing.
As an educator at Columbia College Chicago, he has taught throughout both the graphic design and advertising concentrations for the past 12 years. Richard received his undergraduate bachelor's of arts degree in design from Columbia College Chicago and his master's of arts degree from Syracuse University in advertising design.
Richard holds professional memberships with AIGA, the professional association for design, Society of Typographic Arts (STA) The One Club and the Chicago Advertising Federation (CAF).
Interactive Media Chair: Mark Rattin
As 15 letters's President and Executive Creative Director, Mark Rattin brings more than 20 years of creative design experience and strategic thinking to lead the firm's client relationships, studio creative teams, and design projects. Mark has developed creative work and managed user experience, internet development and advertising teams for nationally recognized clients including: Orbitz, Hostway, Princess Cruises, AOL, General Electric, WestLaw Publishing, Zurich Direct, Motorola, United Airlines, Proctor & Gamble, Phillip Morris, TV Guide, ConAgra Foods, ESPN, American Airlines, Chrysler and Oldsmobile.
Throughout his years in the design industry, Mark's work has been featured in The Absolut Book, Typography Now: Volume 2, Graphis Typography One, Graphic Design Innovations and Inspirations Vol 1, Emigre© Magazine How, Eye, Creativity, Comm Arts and ID Magazines, as well as in online publications, such as ClickZ, eMarketer, and Ad Age online. In addition, his web marketing work has received numerous awards from the American Center for Design, the Web Marketing Association, the Clio Awards, Cannes Cyber Lions, the Webby's, W3 Awards, Business Marketing Association, and AD:TECH. He has also served as a judge for some of the industry's leading design and interactive competitions.
Mark Rattin holds a B.F.A. in Visual Communications and a M.A. in Photography from Northern Illinois University.
Membership Chair: Jen Beil
Jennifer is an advocate for kickass print. With a background in graphic design and marketing, many years in commercial print production, and a secret desire to be a Scrabble world champion, she helps designers and communicators create ink-on-paper brilliance. A firm belief in the collaborative process between designer and printer has been the cornerstone of her work within the AIGA Chicago community and is backed up by her team at The Graphic Arts Studio. She challenges those who say 'print is dead' to a arm-wrestling match and a peek at her current portfolio.
Programming Co-Chair: Valerie Hebda
Valerie received her BFA in graphic design from Bradley University, where she cultivated an interest for environmental and universal design. Upon graduating, Valerie began her career as a graphic designer at Chicago Children’s Museum. She is currently responsible for creating and producing a variety of print, environmental and online communication design projects for the museum. Valerie has been a member of AIGA since 2003 and a volunteer for AIGA Chicago since 2007. In her free time, she enjoys traveling to new places and biking through Chicago.
Programming Co-Chair: Brendan Shanley
Brendan was introduced to the ideals of leadership and cheerful service early in life on his journey to becoming an Eagle Scout. While earning a BFA in Graphic Design at The Illinois Institute of Art - Schaumburg, Brendan helped form and grow the school's AIGA student chapter serving as Membership Chair. Brendan continues this relationship today by serving on the school's Professional Advisory Committee. As an active member of AIGA for over 7 years, Brendan has volunteered at the local and national level for over 3 years while attending and/or leading volunteer teams at the past 3 national design conferences. For nearly 4 years, Brendan has worked as a designer with the 7 person team at McGuffin Creative Group. There he has worked on print, web and environmental graphics from large corporate clients including Harris, Allstate Insurance and Central DuPage Hospital to smaller and not-for-profit clients including Common Threads. Brendan also has a strong love for photography and runs a web-publication focussed on live music photography and reviews. When not behind the lens or in front of the screen, Brendan keeps the teamwork going with his 16" softball team.
Programming Co-Chair: Tracy West
As Creative Director at 50,000feet, Tracy has more than 15 years of industry experience and helped lead strategic creative development for MINI and BMW. She has extensive experience across a varied range of sectors that include automotive, financial services, consumer retail, corporate communication, identity, paper and the arts. Prior to 50,000feet, Tracy led design development at Petrick Design for companies and organizations such as USG, Second City, AIGA Chicago and International Paper. Tracy has been published in several design publications which include Communication Arts, Black Book AR100, Society of Typographic Arts and PRINT. Tracy earned her bachelor’s degree at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Co-Executive Director: Gina Luoma
Gina Luoma is part of a design team, Ginkgo Creative, whose work together spans over 13 years, and has been an active member of AIGA since college. Prior to starting her business, she worked at Northern Trust Bank in their Advertising department, at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in marketing, and at Kym Abrams Design, along with several Chicago firms on a freelance basis.
Gina most enjoys learning about other businesses and helping them tell their story in the most clear and compelling way. One of Gina's many goals is to help business owners marketing to women. She also loves to work with motivated and organized non-profit organizations. She has a passion for the exploration of successful work-life balance, and questioning the way things have always been done.
Gina is thrilled to be working with the AIGA board and looks forward to serving the Chicago chapter. In her free time, she loves to read, socialize, cook, bake, and eat!
Co-Executive Director: Dawn Nawrocki
Advisors
Frank Anello
Frank Anello, principal of Anello Design, has over nineteen years of design experience working with corporate and nonprofit businesses. His work is currently focused in the areas of visual identity systems, strategic planning, business development marketing materials and publications; with clients including a variety of academic, cultural, and professional institutions. Prior to establishing his own visual communications consultancy, Frank spent eight years as design manager for Lipman Hearne, a Chicago based multidisciplinary communications group specializing in the marketing of intangibles. Frank has a BFA in Graphic Design from Ohio University and an MFA in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design, where he also taught undergraduate design courses. When not working, Frank can be found bike riding, practicing yoga or trapeze flying.
Joseph Michael Essex
Joseph Michael Essex along with his partner and wife Nancy Denney Essex are principals of Essex Two. The offices’ focus is on Cultural Branding™ and strategic communication. He has been on this chapter’s board in one form or another since it's start. In his almost 35 year career, Joseph has received more than 400 awards from every major communication publication and organization, including medals from the NY Art Directors Club. His posters are in collections throughout the world as well as MOMA and the National Design Museum in NY. He has lectured extensively on design as a process and creativity as craft.
Marcia Lausen
Marcia is an outspoken advocate for the value of design in corporate, consumer, nonprofit, and government communications. She is founder of Studio/lab's Chicago office and Director of the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she is also a Professor of graphic design. Former AIGA Chicago President, Marcia now serves on the AIGA national board leading the election design initiative of AIGA Design for Democracy. She received her MFA in graphic design from Yale University and her BFA in graphic design from Indiana University. Marcia was recently featured as a master of design in Fast Company magazine.
Jilly Simons
After years in South Africa, Jilly Simons now finds herself as principal of Concrete, the Chicagographic design office she started in 1987. Her design philosophy searches for a visual language which stresses honesty, originality and strength. Jilly works hard for her clients and many of their projects have been honored, exhibited and published internationally and are in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. She's frequently invited to lecture andjudge design competitions. She's taught at the University of Illinois (UIC), Kent State University, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Robert Morris College. She currently serves on the Chicago AIGA Advisory Board and was a director on the executive board of both the Chicago AIGA and the American Center for Design.
Mitch Rice
Few call him Mitchell, most call him Mitch, and some call him hurricane (mostly due to his lack of prowess on the basketball court), and hardly anyone knows that his real name is Raymond. 3CD has been producing communication design for educational, cultural, and corporate clients since 1989. Tony Porto is the other partner at 3CD. Since opening, Mitch has not designed a single thing on his own, every piece has been a collaboration between the partners, other designers, writers, and clients. 3CD has self-authored 2 children’s books published by Little Brown and Company, they designed & produced them as well. Mitch graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor of arts in graphic design in 1984. He drives a Saab 9-5 because his wife thinks its safer for their 2 boys than the VW beetle.
Wendy Pressley-Jacobs
Wendy Pressley-Jacobs founded Pressley Jacobs Design, Inc in 1985 based on a precept that good design is integral to good communication. Prior to forming Pressley Jacobs, Wendy was Vice President/Design at Goldsholl Design and Film Companies; Vice President,Creative Group Director: Design Group at Burson-Marsteller; and Principal Design Manager at Design Planning Group. She was educated in graphic design and liberal arts at Indiana University, graduating with a BFA degree in graphic design.
Steve Liska
Steve founded Liska + Associates, a communication design and branding firm in 1980. He is also chairman of the board of directors of the nonprofit organization Make A Better Place (MABP). Steve frequently contributes his time to the national chapter of the AIGA, the professional association for design, and is a founding member of AIGA's Brand Council. In the past, he has held positions on the national AIGA board and as president of AIGA-Chicago.
Steven Ryan
Steve started at VSA as an intern 12 years ago, and he simply hasn’t left. An accomplished creative director, Steve has lent his talents and expertise to projects for VSA clients such as IBM, Converse, First Data, Nortel Networks, Compaq Computers, Smithfield Foods, Allstate Financial Services, Potlatch Papers, and Mohawk Papers.
With experience in investor communications, consumer & enterprise communications, branding, and interactive applications, Steve brings a unique understanding of technology and design to both business interactions as well as creating end-user value to all his endeavors. Steve’s work has been featured in various publications, including Graphis, Critique, Print, The AR 100, and Communication Arts, and has been recognized by organizations like the Type Director's Club.
Steve holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was a participant in the 2005 AIGA/Harvard Business School Business Perspectives for Design Leaders.
Scott Theisen
A 1995 MFA graduate of the University of Arizona, Scott has been directing design, branding, corporate and b2b communications with Froeter Design Company since 2000. His work has been honored internationally by Graphis, Communication Arts, AR100, the American Association of Museums, CASE, and Print Magazine. Scott also serves on the Design Department Advisory Board of the College of DuPage, and is an Austrian Economics superfreak.