Board Of Directors

President
Claire Williams Martinez
claire@chicago.aiga.org
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.

Vice President
Scott Theisen
stheisen@froeterdesign.com
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.

Treasurer
Fletcher Martin
fmartin@a5inc.com
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
dawn@firebellydesign.com
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 Archive.

Development Chair
Lisa Gainor
lisa_gainor@yahoo.com
Lisa Gainor believes that communication design is at the heart of human experience. As a jack-of-many-trades; print, interactive, marketing, color and inspiration, her intention is to communicate clear messaging and emotion that will help inspire positive and sustainable change for her clients.

Lisa began her career ten years ago in San Francisco at Addis Creson, a design consultancy committed to creating positive change for people, companies and communities. After relocating to Chicago in 2001 she worked with OWP/P Architects for six years as their branding designer. In 2007, Lisa developed relationships with local Chicago retailers Crate and Barrel and Paper Source where she specialized in print and interactive brand communication. In 2009 she started her own design studio, Hello Designers, which aims to positively affect our world in a clear, memorable and beautiful way.

Development Chair
Tim Lapetino
ltim@hexanine.com
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.

Editorial Chair
Kelly Knaga
kel.knaga@gmail.com
Kel 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.

Kel 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!

Education Chair
Richard Zeid
rzeid@rzdesign.com
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).

Electronic Media Chair
Mark Rattin
mrattin@15letters.com
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
jen@chicago.aiga.org
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 Chair
Valerie Hebda
vhebda@gmail.com
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 Chair
Brendan Shanley
brendan@lostinprint.com
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 Chair
Tracy West
west@50000feet.com
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.

Executive Director
Alicia Maes
alicia@chicago.aiga.org

Executive Director
Gina Luoma
gina@chicago.aiga.org

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!