Daniel Zender is an illustrator, designer and educator. In this interview, Professor Zender shares a little bit about his life, interests and projects.

KW: Tell us a little bit about your background?
DZ: I grew up in Springfield, MO, which is pretty much in the middle of the United States. There wasn’t a lot of stuff to do, so I sort of had to make my own entertainment. I was outdoors a lot—biked everywhere, camped, went on float trips, explored the woods. There was one museum and the downtown area was about 5 square blocks. It was a fun place to grow up, but in my early twenties I was ready to leave the small town vibe for something a little bigger.
KW: Your first degree was a BFA in Graphic Design and Illustration from Missouri State University (MSU). Did you enter knowing you were going to study Graphic Design & Illustration? Why did you decide to go to MSU?
DZ: I knew that I wanted to pursue art when I went to college, but I didn’t really know what graphic design was, or illustration, or really anything other than a basic knowledge of design fundamentals. The decision to go to MSU is sort of a funny story. I wanted to go to the Kansas City Art Institute, so when I was a senior in high school my mom drove me up for a college tour. Our tour guide had pink hair and kids were smoking on campus…I think my mom was freaked out, ha-ha. She was against me going there, so we agreed (to my disappointment) that MSU would be better. I think it was a really good decision though, MSU ended up having one of the better design programs in the United States, and I got a good-rounded liberal arts education that was pretty affordable.
The teachers at MSU were all really great as well. Cedomir Kostovic and Eric Pervukhin were both from Europe and had a really great background in traditional skills that they imparted on their students. Stan Sante was an expert draughtsman who taught me the value of composition and hand skills. Maria Michalczyk was the head of the design department, and she did a really job of encouraging discipline but also individuality. The education was a lot more conceptual and thought-based compared to a lot of design schools that were more focused on advertising and agency work. I think I got a lot out of that experience and it still influences my work.

KW: Did you pursue graduate school immediately after MSU? Why did you decide to go to SVA? How did graduate school impact your work?
DZ: I took about two years off after MSU for a couple different reasons. I wanted to travel, and ended up saving money in Missouri so I was able to go to Europe and South Korea. I just needed some time to decide what I wanted to do with my life. I am really glad I took that time to work stuff out because it was during that period that I decided to drop the design path and do illustration full time. Springfield was an extremely cheap place to live and I was able to sort of do trial and error work while I was there. It was an incubation painting where I was making paintings, collages, screen-printing–all sorts of stuff to see what worked best.
The decision to go to SVA was more based around a desire to move to New York, which I thought would jump-start my career in illustration. In Springfield I had started to do some freelance work for The New York Times and a couple other newspapers, but I wasn’t really getting the amount or quality of work I wanted to be doing.
Going to SVA gave me the really unique opportunity to devote a lot of time and concentration to the work I wanted to be making. It allowed me to just create constantly, which is really what I needed. It also opened a lot of doors to people I would have not been in contact with in Missouri. I think it was a really great place for me to get all of the kinks out and start making work that had my own unique voice.

 

KW: Your illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, New Yorker, Newsweek, Playboy, LA Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek and Playboy. What were your first professional jobs and how did you find them? And what attracts you to the field? What was the most challenging job you have had to date?
DZ: The first projects I got were from the New York Times and the LA Times. Basically, I flew up to New York one Spring, determined to get my work in front of some people to hire me. Luckily two different art directors at the New York Times were willing to hire me, and a few months later I started getting regular work. All of those early assignments were from me just bothering people endlessly, emailing and sending promos in the mail. I was annoying people, I think, but it paid off. Looking back, I find a lot of that work to be pretty embarrassing…poorly made, sort of cliché concepts. But I think I learned a lot in those early stages and grew quickly.
The joy I find in illustration is all about the process. There is a ton of thought and planning that goes into every piece before the paint starts getting applied. Problem solving and conceptual thinking go a long way when it comes to making a successful final image. Of course, I still want to be an artist, and the best pieces I make are the ones that tie to an article, but still maintain a certain amount of ambiguity that give the viewer a chance to think for themselves. The hardest projects for me have always been the ones that I can’t directly connect to or have no interest in. I always make better work when the content I am illustrating speaks to me on a personal or conceptual level that I care about.


KW: What skills do you need to be successful in this field? What advice do you have for students wishing to pursue illustration (or design)?
DZ: I really think it is less about the quality of work, and more about the determination of the person. If you really love art or design or illustration or whatever, your chances of success are going to be much higher than someone who hates what they are doing but feel obligated to do it. Of course, it is best to be passionate AND good, but the number one tip I think I can give is to just keep pushing and trying harder. I have encountered so many people that I felt were successful or famous even though they weren’t necessarily great at their job, and it was because of their passion. You have to be doing something that is fun to do everyday, month after month, year after year, or you will get burned out.

KW: How would you describe your style/aesthetic? Who are your influences?
DZ: I have a dark sense of humour that is represented in simple, colourful graphic solutions. It comes from a lot of influences: horror movies, pop art, comics, Italian Art Deco, Swiss design, Polish poster design, modernism, Bauhaus, Renaissance painting…the list goes on and on.


KW: What prompted you to start HYDROCHLORIC (and what is it)?
DZ: Hydrochloric is a zine that I art direct and design, which asks illustrators and designers to interpret a new theme per issue. I put a new one out every 3-4 months. I started that project when I was at SVA….I had access to a photocopier that was open for students to use, so I took advantage of that. Now I print it slightly higher quality, with nicer paper. I am usually interested in getting a healthy mix of “up-and-coming” illustrators, people who haven’t been published yet, or are at the start of their career, and well-established people. I think it makes for a nice mix and gives people that are interested some new people to explore and get excited about.

KW: You have a number of self-initiated projects. If you had access to unlimited funds, what would be your dream project?
DZ: Lately all of my self-initiated work has been comics, before that it was a number of zines, and I am always making paintings based on themes. A popular painting project was my Light Terrors series. I have also started making clothing and pins and accessories…I like to try new things and see where they go.
If I had unlimited money, I think an installation would be really fun. I would love to fill a huge space with paintings, sculptures, interactive pieces, video…I love the idea of a totally immersive artistic experience.
KW: What skills or software do you want to learn next? Do you have any desire to animate your work?
DZ: Yeah, my goal right now is to start animating actually. It would be good to learn some of the basic animation software so I can start making little movies. Last year I made some very small animations for Halloween (they were basically .gif animations) that I ended up projecting on the wall across from our building. It was pretty successful.

KW: Your work has been recognized by American Illustration, Society of Illustrators, 3×3,Communication Arts, Creative Quarterly, Graphis, and HOW and you received the MoCCA Award of Excellence for “NOPE” and named one of ADC’s Young Guns of 2015. Has this fame made you an impossible person to live with?
DZ: Ha ha. You would have to ask my girlfriend, but no, I don’t think so. I am really humbled by all of that recognition and feel a certain sense of satisfaction knowing that I am the same person now that I was three years ago or whatever. I really hate when people let that stuff go to their heads, and I would be horrified if the same thing happened to me.
KW: What’s been the best exhibit you’ve seen in the past year?
DZ: The most recent one that comes to mind is the AV Motley show that is on display right now at the Whitney Museum. Of course, I just love the new Whitney Museum in general and would recommend checking it out if you have the chance.

KW: Do you think technology (mobile devices, etc.) is increasing the need for illustrators? What is your prediction for how technology will impact the field of illustration in the next 10 years?
DZ: I have seen a lot more illustration and animation work as a result of the rise in app usage, online platforms, etc, and it seems like people are starting to rely more on illustration as a way to communicate ideas and information. My prediction on the future of illustration is that there will be a lot more animated work illustrating content as more information is available exclusively online. The NY Times and MIT Technology Review are already using a lot more gifs on their websites instead of static images, and I have seen some really amazing websites incorporate interactive and moving images to illustrate articles that would have been normally accompanied by singles images or photographs. It is really amazing and exciting.
KW: What was the best piece of advice you ever received?
DZ: Don’t be a jerk.
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KW: Kathryn Weinstein is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design, Queens College, CUNY
DZ: Daniel Zender is an Adjunct Professor of Graphic Design at Queens College, CUNY
 

Danne Woo is an interactive designer, entrepreneur, educator, skateboard enthusiast and composer. In this interview, Professor Woo shares a little bit about his life, interests and projects. Professor Woo has recently joined the faculty of the Art Department of Queens College, CUNY as an Assistant Professor of Design and teaches Creative Coding, Web Design and Data Visualization.
KW: Tell us a little bit about your background?
DW: Graphic design is in my blood and I have been a designer since birth. I grew up in San Diego, California. Like my friends I spent a lot of time skateboarding, surfing, etc. Unlike my friends, I grew up in a family of graphic designers (my father ran his own design firm and my mother taught and was the Chair of Graphic Design at the School of Art and Design at San Diego State University) so family outings included design conferences, lectures, and art and design exhibitions. I was even named after my parents’ friend, AIGA gold medallist Richard Danne. When I was 10, I became the youngest member of AIGA and at the age of 12, I was hired was hired to design a typeface for Splash Media (which later became Flash).

KW: When did you decide to pursue interaction design?
DW: In 1990 when I was 8 years old my mother took me to the International Aspen Design Conference. This unique conference was called “Growing By Design” and featured parallel conferences: one for children and one for adults. Activities for children combined design, computer science, and engineering. I was introduced to interaction design in “LEGO LOGO,” an amazing workshop sponsored by the MIT Media Lab. I designed and built LEGO robots and used the LOGO programming language to control them. This experience left a huge impression on me that resurfaced years later. It was at this point that I fell in love with interaction design, even before I really knew what interaction design was. My definition today is very simple. Using design to improve a user’s experience when interacting with an object, whether that is a computer, cell phone or even something as simple as a spoon.

KW: Did you ever consider pursuing a career path other than graphic design?
DW: When the time came to decide which college to attend and what to study, I debated between graphic design and computer science. I also enjoyed music but I thought studying music would interfere with that passion. I was good at math and had a knack for computers since getting my Apple II, but graphic design was in my blood. I attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia (UArts) for two reasons. First, this particular graphic design program taught Swiss design principles, which I knew about from my mother who had studied at the Basel School of Design in the 1970s. Second, I grew up on a skateboard and a friend told me that Philadelphia was a great city for skateboarding. Academics are very important, but it’s also important to have other hobbies and passions. Skateboarding and music were mine.
KW: How did attending University of the Arts shape your design sensibilities/aspirations?
DW: The majority of the faculty at UArts at that time were alumni of the Basel School of Design and had studied with such masters as Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart. The Swiss design principles I learned at the University of the Arts provided a fantastic and important base. Once you understand the basics (grid systems, color theory, and typography), you can elaborate on them and bring your own twist and style.


 
 
 
 
During my time at the UArts, I included user interaction in every possible assignment. My thesis project was an interactive website that grew out of my love of music. The website called “American Stringed Instruments” allowed users to sample songs, listen to interviews, learn about the anatomy of a series of instruments, discover historical facts, and even digitally play a guitar, mountain dulcimer, banjo and ukulele. I developed a CD version and designed the packaging also in the form of a stringed instrument that could actually be played. The biggest challenge was that I was one of the few students in the program interested in interaction design and ended up teaching myself how to code. This is one of the reasons why I am so excited to help build out the Interaction Design focus at Queens College. Access to these skills and knowledge was not available when I was an undergrad and I want to make them accessible to our students. Considering how easy it is to get funding to produce new devices through services like Kickstarter or Indiegogo, the need to understand how to design the interfaces for these devices is more important than every before.
KW: What were your first jobs after graduating from University of the Arts?
DW: UArts has a great portfolio day that is supported by its alumni. Luckily, Carol Smith, an alumna who interviewed me, offered me a job in New York in her small design agency called Creative Source. While there I quickly became the go to designer for anything digital or interactive. I spent about a third of my time designing and programming websites and Flash games for a number of high profile corporate clients. I learned a lot about the design world but was eager to focus more on interaction design. After three years at Creative Source, I was hired as a senior designer for the digital branch of a mid-sized branding agency in Chelsea called the Infinia Group where I worked with similar types of clients. About half of my time focused on interaction design and programming. I also liked working there and grew as a designer, but I was eager to do more with interaction design, user experience and programming.



KW: Why pursue a graduate degree?
DW: After four years at the Infinia Group I learned about a master’s program at New York University called the Interactive Telecommunications Program or ITP. I went to one of their end-of-semester shows and instantly realized that this was exactly what I needed. The show was a mix between a gallery opening and a science fair with all sorts of amazing, very interactive, imaginative projects on display. Since ITP is part of Tisch School of the Arts, the program is very creative, but there is also a strong focus on technology and user interaction. I knew I had to do everything possible to attend this magical place. I applied a year after learning about the program and was incredibly excited to receive my acceptance letter a few months later. The two years I spent at ITP were easily the best, most creative and innovative two years of my life. I worked on projects that combined my love of design with my other passions for programming (Type Galapagos), electrical engineering (Circuit Board, physical computing (Bocce Draw), data visualization (Datavisual), music innovation (Light Hum, , and game development (Splat!,). After graduation I was accepted to stay on for another year as a Research Resident Fellow. As a Fellow I led workshops, held office hours, assisted in several classes and worked on my own research projects focusing mainly on data visualization and design software development.
https://vimeo.com/127358817
 


 
 
 
 
KW: You have started several businesses, could you tell us a little bit about BigPlay and Datavisual, Inc.?
DW:These companies grew out of either a need that was not yet filled or a project that was already underway and had the potential to go further. My first company, Datavisual, came out of my need for a better tool than off the shelf software to design data visualizations. While I was at Infinia Group I spent 5 years designing large data books and websites. The only tool that I had to work with was Adobe Illustrator, which is inefficient for creating large numbers of data visualizations. I spent years looking for a better option, but was unsuccessful. I ended up programming a custom application for my particular needs and realized that I was not the only one with this issue. So I turned my custom software application into a more productive tool. Datavisual currently has more than 2000 users from 130 countries, and has generated more than 500,000 visualizations. Datavisual is about to release a team account system to facilitate collaboration between designers and data editors within organizations.


 
BigPlay started out as a simple project I created with two friends, Phil Groman and Federico Zannier, for a class at ITP called Big Screens. We designed and built a game that allows large crowds of people to interact with large digital screens using their mobile devices. The first iteration was a multiplayer video game called Splat that allows up to 130 players to play simultaneously on the same screen. When players log into the game using their smartphones they are assigned one of the bird avatars that is sitting on a telephone wire and a button labeled “Poop” appears on the phone. The object of the game is to poop on the passing cars below to earn points for your team. The first time we showed Splat we actually received a Guinness World Record for the most players playing a video game at the same time on the same screen. BigPlay was commissioned by AT&T and VICE to create a game for their Mobile Movement event at SXSW where hundreds of players played the game including celebrities like Shaun White and Lady Gaga.
KW: What are the skills required to become an Interaction Designer? Do you have any advice for students wishing to enter the field?
DW: Interaction design is very much about understanding the user and designing an engaging experience. Whether you are designing a website, an app or something else, it’s important to research the user’s needs, test prototypes, gather feedback, and iterate on that feedback from the very first design to the final product. My main advice for anyone interested in this field is to prototype early and often, get as much user feedback as possible, and design specifically for your audience. I also highly recommend having at least a rudimentary understanding of what it takes to bring your designs to life. It’s important to understand the basics of code and physical computing, as well as design principles like layout, typography and color.
KW: In a field that is rapidly evolving, how do you manage to keep current?
DW: Hurrah for the Internet! There are so many blogs, tutorials, and open source software available online that it is much easier to stay up-to-date with the latest techniques, libraries, and applications. I also rely heavily on Twitter. If you follow the right people or organizations they will keep you informed on what is up and coming.
KW: If you had unlimited funds, what project would you like to pursue?
DW: Wow, there are so many projects that I would love to work on. I am very interested in Genomics and Bioinformatics. I would love to combine my passions for interaction design, type design, and this new-found love for DNA to create a software application that takes a user’s DNA sequence and outputs a completely unique typeface based on that data. It would be very much like a signature or fingerprint. I have many more ideas that I would love to explore, but that is my main interest right now.
KW: What are your predictions for new developments in the next decade?
DW: Because of the open source software and hardware movement, as well as crowd funding sites like Kickstarter or Indiegogo, there has been a huge rise in the number of digital hardware products coming to market including the Pepple watch, MakerBot, Oculus Rift, and Leap Motion. This trend will continue to grow over the next 10 years. Because of this increase in hardware there is quickly becoming a need for user experience and interaction designers to design content for these devices. So the future looks very good if you are interested in this field.

KW: Where do you look for inspiration?
DW: I am personally inspired by creative uses of code, music innovation, and other forms of artistic expression. When it comes to inspiration for interaction design specifically, I love to just people watch. Seeing how people interact with every day objects and devices helps you understand how to design better interfaces and more engaging interactions between user and object. I recently drove across the United States from San Diego to Brooklyn and stumbled across so many inspiring areas in our own country. The natural beauty of the landscape from the desert to the green mountains of Colorado, the diverse people, culture and art, and the incredible engineering marvels of the roads themselves were all very inspiring. I believe that travel and experiencing personally unexplored areas of our world is very important as well.
KW: What was the best piece of advice you ever received?
DW: Do what you love and follow my passions. Learn from any mistakes along the way to improve your future self.

Professor Woo will demo the work of student projects from his Creative Coding class at the upcoming NYC Annual Media Lab Summit, September 25, 2015.

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KW: Kathryn Weinstein, Associate Professor, Graphic Design, Art Department, Queens College, CUNY
DW: Danne Woo, Assistant Professor, Graphic Design, Art Department, Queens College, CUNY

Natalya Balnova is an illustrator, graphic designer and artist. In this interview Professor Balnova shares a little bit about her life, passions and projects. This semester, Professor Balnova is teaching Book Design & Production and Color and Design 2.

Tell us a little bit about your background?

I grew up in St-Petersburg, Russia. My original background was in fine art, then I switched to a design major. I graduated from the Academy of Industrial Art and Design, St-Petersburg, Russia, after studying design and printmaking. Later, I received my second BFA in design at Parsons School of Design in New York, and last year I graduated from the MFA Illustration program from the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Why did you decide to pursue a BFA in Communication Design at the Academy of Industrial Art and Design in St. Petersburg?

It was an amazing and fun place to be, known for it’s experimental spirit, very challenging with inspiring, creative people. Students from different departments interacted with each other, making shows, performances, exchanging ideas. It was an ideal environment for artistic and intellectual growth. I wanted to be a part of this world.

Why did you decide to pursue another BFA in Communication Design at Parsons New School of Design?

Studying at Parsons became a logical step after moving to the US. I wanted to continue my education in order to expand my knowledge in design, get some practical skills in computer technology, and meet people from my professional field.

Do you think there is a difference in the way design is taught in Russia versus United States?

I am not sure how different it is now since I moved to the US many years ago, but at that time the main difference was in the intensity of the program, structure of the classes, and the overall program set up. It felt way more intensive in NY and was shorter and more complex. In St-Petersburg we had a certain curriculum for each semester with a focus on a particular field and with one teacher for each topic of design. In addition to graphic design classes we took painting and drawing on a regular basis during the whole program. We also had printmaking classes for five years, each semester was dedicated to a certain printmaking technique.
At Parsons we could choose classes and teachers and had to complete various assignments in a very condensed period of time with a focus on conceptual thinking and experimentation. On a top of that, the attendance was very strict, and it felt like an army. Also, New York’s diverse cultural mix of people brings a wide array of artistic aesthetics and visions from around the world, which added a lot to the program.

How did you become involved with designing books and book covers?

A year after graduation from Parsons, I luckily got into the publishing industry and have been working in this field ever since. I had several internships prior to that, including an internship atPentagram and at Interview magazine. My friend and classmate from Parsons School of Design was working in an independent publishing house and they needed an intern, so it started from an internship and three months later led to a designer position.

It was great, since working in book publishing was my dream work. I always wanted to work with books or poster design or create design products that connect to the music industry or theaters. So working in the publishing house was within my sphere of interests. Since it was a relatively small publishing house we had a chance to see all stages of book publishing, from meeting with authors and the approval of the manuscript to the color proof in the printing factory. We worked very closely with the editors, authors and marketing department. Publishing has a special flair, which I really like.
 

Why did you decide to pursue an MFA in illustration at the School of Visual Arts?

Since my original background was in Fine Art, I always missed this part in my life. While I was working, I started to take continuing education classes at the SVA printshop, which literally became my second home. I met many graduate students from the MFA Illustration department so I had a very good feeling about this program. I have been drawing all my life and illustration feels very natural to me.
Plus I felt certain emotional and professional stagnation and wanted to move forward, to see new people and get new experiences. It was necessary to make this step in life.

 

What was the inspiration for Day Job?

My “Day Job” book project which I did in my first year of the MFA program was based on biographical facts from the lives of famous artists, writers, poets and musicians and the day jobs that allowed them to maintain their creative careers. I felt very passionate about this subject matter since the dilemma of making a living doing art and not succumbing to the daily routine is quite familiar to any creative person. I wanted to do it as an inspiring and at the same time a very personal book with a sense of drama and hope. The book has a lot of funny, sarcastic, bitter and sad quotes that reflect the emotional tension and sensibility of the characters.

Who have been your biggest influences?

My mother. She was my biggest supporter, a very brave, enthusiastic person and an original thinker. She was a designer, and introduced art and design to me.

What projects are you working on now?

Several book covers for non-fiction titles, a series of illustrations for a novel, and I am working on my personal silkscreened book about alternative visions of sweets and desserts.

What’s on your reading list?

Most recently I was rereading Chekhov and Dostoevsky. I love poetry, so a big portion of my reading list belongs to this form of literature.
To name a few poets whose work is very important to me: Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Baudelaire, Francis Picabia, Paul Éluard, Tristan Tzara, Velimir Khlebnikov, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Aleksei Kruchenykh, Marina Tsvetaeva, Charles Bukowski.
In terms of literature on professional design practice, I look forward to reading Peter Mendelsund’s book What We See When We Read.

What was the best exhibit you’ve seen in the last year?

I can give you a list of events and shows that I like to visit. I am very interested in printmaking, so I try to visit exhibitions that relate to printmaking.
IPCNY (International Print Center New York) usually has great shows, which gives a lot of inspiration on techniques and ideas. MOMA has great shows on printmaking and drawing. I am looking forward to seeing The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec: Prints and Posters exhibition. The NY print week is always great. It is running in November.
I really love alternative book publishing and NY Art Book Fair is a great event to visit. It is coming soon on September 26–28 and will be running at MoMA PS1.

What skills are needed to become successful in the field (either as a designer or as an illustrator What advice do you have for students on how to break into the field?

Persistence, hard work, creativity, faith in what you are doing, and love of what your are doing. Find an internship in your creative field as soon as possible, so that you can get to know the industry and get a sense of what you like and what you do not like. Try not to waste your time on jobs that do not relate to your profession, it has to connect somehow, otherwise you just loose your professional skills. Keep in touch with your classmates, because they are your support group and your first network.
You also have to know the industry and be aware of what is new in your creative field. Experiment, self-initiate projects, since a lot of your professional projects might not live up to your expectations. You have to deal with tons of restrictions and it might dull down your passion for design and art in general.

I personally love to work on my own projects to keep an interest in art, where I can experiment and say what I want to say. You have to do something crazy, don’t let boring jobs drain your energy and talents.

What was the most valuable advice you ever received?

Don’t give up and trust your intuition.
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