susan karlin

Susan Karlin grew up in the design business, learning the ropes from her designer/illustrator father, and working her way up to partner in the graphic design firm he started in 1963. In 1992, after 10 years at AKM Associates, Karlin struck out on her own and established Suka Design, Inc. The company continues the legacy of highly creative, quality design in crafting annual reports, capabilities brochures, corporate collateral, branding and identity, websites and compelling communication tools with a purpose. It’s a collaborative effort, with a defined goal, that produces tangible results and satisfied clients. Karlin views design as a potent way to convey a message, and constantly encourage Suka’s staff to come up with innovative solutions in the context of client goals. She has fostered an atmosphere of freedom and creativity coupled with a dedication to responsible design, where design is the means, not the end. Suka’s work appears in the permanent collections of The Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress, and has been featured in leading advertising, design, business and art publications.

How has graphic design changed since you started?
The industry has changed significantly since I started in the mid 80s. There were no computers, no email, no fax machines. Everything we did was laborious, slow and done by hand. The pace is faster today. Clients expect quicker turnarounds. Also, there were no contracts. We did things verbally and by a shake of a hand. Today, design firms are run more like businesses, with contracts, agreements and upfront payments.

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
In our 13th year, I am very optimistic. Our team is talented, strong and remains passionate about the work we do and our clients. It’s an exciting industry that is in constant change. I do think that design firms need to offer more than graphic design services. Clients are looking for more strategic work that includes research, knowledge of their customer base, developing messaging and positioning statements, and broad writing capabilities. Since we started offering these services, we have won a lot more exciting projects, and the team is more challenged and fulfilled.

What are you currently listening to, watching or reading?
I like learning about different businesses — and what makes them run successfully. I read a lot of business-related books and magazines like Fast Company, FSB and Inc. The most recent business book I would highly recommend is Good to Great by Jim Collins. If I went back to school today, I’d want to get my M.B.A.

What is your workday like?
As a mom, it’s important for me to find the right balance between home and work. After my six-year-old, Mia, is off to school, I go out for a run in Central Park. I arrive to Suka around 9:00 a.m., usually with a list of things to do for the day (which I usually write up that morning). On Mondays, we have a weekly staff meeting, where everyone discusses their projects. I spend time each day marketing by making calls, sending emails or writing letters. Usually, I’ll have a meeting with a client or with a prospective client. I leave the office usually before 7:30 p.m., with laptop on my shoulder, heading home to be with my family. In the evenings, I respond to emails, write proposals or research companies that we are interested in working with.

How and where do you find inspiration?
Making time to think and plan is extremely important. I find that quiet time while running, at yoga, or even on the subway or at the beach. As an entrepreneur, I think it is critical to be around other business owners, sharing ideas, issues and goals. I find those connections in a group called SoundBoard, a peer advisory group to which I belong.

darren namaye

Darren Namaye was destined to become a graphic designer. Obsessed by commercial airline logos at the age of eight, he constantly drew them in his spare time, marvelling at the abstract symbols and wondering what they meant. Today, Namaye’s work experience reflects his varied interests as well as his creative conceptual design skills. After graduating from the Art Center College of Design, Namaye worked as a designer at Walt Disney Imageering. He proudly notes that his first project was for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizzeria sign system at Disney World. He was then recruited by Rebeca Mendez to work at the Art Center’s design office, creating award winning communications for the school. After a brief advertising stint in Boston, Namaye moved to New York, where he worked for five years at the often-renamed design firm of Belk Mignogna Associates/ Nuforia/Red Sky, specializing in annual reports. In August 2000, he joined John Connolly and Michelle Marks in launching their own design firm, Ideas on Purpose, a boutique-sized firm with large firm experience and expertise. Over the course of Namaye’s 14-years-and-counting professional life, he has worked with a broad range of clients, including Dow Jones, Asia Society, Mead Paper, Reebok, MetLife, Octel, 3M, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Nabisco, Clinique, Neiman Marcus, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, DeSilva & Phillips, Lehman Brothers, Odegard, PaineWebber and Seagram. Namaye’s work has been recognized by the AIGA, the American Center for Design, the Mead Annual Report Show, The Type Directors’ Club and major design publications. His work was also showcased in the Smithsonian Institute Cooper-Hewitt’s “Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture” exhibition at the National Design Museum.

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
You always have to be hopeful, or else why do this? This field is as tough as any other, so if you don’t love it for all its challenges and opportunities, you won’t be fulfilled.

How was graphic design changed since you started?
Since 9.11 and the end of the internet boom, design seems to be much more of a commodity. Designers are endlessly pitted against each other to come up with the most creative solutions for the least amount of money. In general, potential clients are scared and risk-averse. They want comfort. However, for these reasons, design must work harder for the client than ever. Clear, succinct messages that are compelling and interesting are still paramount, and there is not a lot of room for mere decoration and frivolity.

What is your workday like?
Typically, I start off with email, and then jump into whatever needs to be done first. However, ideas and thinking are always in the forefront of my mind while I am doing mundane tasks. I do find that the best time for me to design is in the latter part of the afternoon into the early evening. I am more focused and the process is much more intuitive and freeflowing.

How and where do you find inspiration?
Inspiration is a very ephemeral thing. You can’t depend on it. It plays by its own rules. I tend to look to the world in which I am living. It could be a word, a mood, a process, a situation, a person, a piece of music. Usually it is within the problem itself and within the context of the times we live in.

What are you currently listening to, watching or reading?
Currently, I’m listening to any score that Thomas Newman has composed, old New Order, concert band compositions and this compilation a friend made for me of 70’s Japanese pop. I’m watching cooking shows, Desperate Housewives, some reality stuff and NetFlix rentals. I like to read a lot of cookbooks and gardening books, and I am a magazine-aholic.

stephanie donahue

Stephanie Donahue is the art director of Blue Shield of California’s award-winning inhouse creative studio. In her ten-year graphic design career, Donahue has worked on both the client- and the agency- side, but she currently enjoys the depth of impact that the client-side design experience offers. Working to promote a single brand over a long period of time provides unique challenges to a designer, and it requires a balance between maintaining the integrity of the brand and pushing its limits to meet ever-changing marketing strategies. Donahue was drawn to Blue Shield because of its not-for-profit status and its mission to provide affordable health care to all Californians. She is committed to making a difference in her community through her work, and devotes her freelance design time to nonprofit organizations and local charities. Donahue lives in Berkeley with her husband, Greg, their brand new daughter, Chloe, and Buckley the Dog.

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
This year will bring some serious changes in my life and my career. My husband and I just welcomed our daughter into the world, so my challenge for this year will be figuring out how to balance work and family. I’ve also been looking for a C&P Pilot letterpress for quite a while; once I track one down, I’ll be excited about being my own printer.

How has graphic design changed since you started?
I think I’m part of the new generation of graphic design. Most of my training and all of my work has been computer-based. That shift to computer-based design has had a huge impact on the industry and on the work that designers produce. Unfortunately, this shift has also made graphic design much more accessible — and not always in a good way — to anyone who has a computer and the right software.

How and where do you find inspiration?
Living in Berkeley, I find inspiration all around me in the craftsmanship of local artisans. The architecture of Julia Morgan, the graphic art of David Lance Goines, the culinary artistry of Alice Waters – this area is a great source of inspiration for the senses.

What are you currently listening to, watching or reading?
Music is a huge part of my life. On my ipod, I’ve got Rufus Wainwright, Elliott Smith and Jeff Buckley on regular rotation — I am a sucker for the sensitive male singer-songwriter type. I also can’t get enough of the fast-paced verbal antics of The Gilmore Girls, although I find it mildly disturbing that all the commercials tend to focus on acne medication and lip gloss.

What do you like to do in your time away from work?
With my new lifestyle as the mother of an infant, I’m finding sleep to be highest on my list of fun-time activities. When I’m well rested, I enjoy my Netflix membership and going for hikes with my husband and our very energetic golden retriever.

Who would have been your ideal presidential candidate?
Jebediah Bartlett. I’ve seen his work, and I’m impressed. My only disappointment is that his eight years in office are about to come to an end.