sandi harari

Sandi Harari is the founder and creative director of sandi harari design, a “branding-slash-design” boutique working in the film, music, tv and comic book industries. She has executed and overseen print and broadcast work for clients such as Alliance, Atlantic Records, Procter and Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Warner Brothers, Lions Gate Films, A&E, SpikeTV, MTV, Bravo and W Hotels. Prior to launching her shop, Harari was an art director at Grey Entertainment for four years, where her work earned her a PROMAX award. Harari notes, “I love being on my own. I get to take on the work that I find truly compelling. I have a great time on all my projects, and hopefully that shows through in my work.” Recent projects include a broadcast package for On the Road, a reality show for SpikeTV; as well as branding for the The New York Comedy Festival. Working with Alliance, Carolines, ABC, Comedy Central and the Mayor's Office, Harari led a year-long effort that included broadcast, print, online and outdoor advertising. She is currently working with DC artists on a comic book series devoted to educating patients about HIV.

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
Absolutely. My clients are thinking bigger, spending bigger and they are taking more creative risks. Now, when I help a client pitch business, they aren’t asking me to do something safe — that's an indicator that things are looking up. Also, my design colleagues are all getting busier, and companies seem to be hiring again. And I don’t mean just freelancers — there are actually big jobs being created.

How has graphic design changed since you started?
I think it is different in the sense that the public is more aware of graphic design as a function and as a job. Years ago, people weren’t as aware of the “behind the scenes” magic of it all. You looked at a poster and didn’t actually know how it was done. Now words like font and Photoshop are part of the everyday lexicon. It's not a bad thing; just different. I mean, even my grandmother knows what ‘font’ means. That’s just funny to me.

Where do you find inspiration?
In happy accidents. Two things fall next to each other, creating some sort of counterpoint, and I'll have an idea. Very random. Also, changes in the environment. It shifts my perspective just enough for something new to arrive in my head.

What are you currently listening to, watching or reading?
Listening to the latest U2, and some Interpol, Cat Power and Stevie Wonder; reading Descartes’ Error (about emotion, reason and the human brain) and Jon Stewart’s America; watching The Daily Show, of course.

What do you do in your time away from work?
Think about work, see friends, travel, study the Alexander Technique and doodle.

todd weinberger

Todd Weinberger has been working in the design field for over a dozen years. Although he’s learned that compelling imagery and a clear message are necessary for success, he also considers a sense of humor just as important: “I’ve worked in advertising, graphic design and publishing, and in all those fields I’ve found the projects that turn out the best are always the ones I have fun doing.” Weinberger is currently creative director for Style Magazine, a regional fashion and lifestyle publication with editions in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. “I know I demand a lot from the photographers, illustrators and creative contributors I work with, but they always want to work with the magazine again because we have so much fun doing what we do,” he says. Before joining Style, Weinberger was a senior art director at Gyro Worldwide, responsible for national print campaigns, logo design and corporate branding for clients including Winston, Salem, Camel, Puma, Glenfiddich and Hendrick’s Gin. Prior to that, he worked for the Bailey Group doing package design, identity and name generation. He has served on the board of the Philadelphia Art Directors Club and the AIGA, and last year he founded Designerds, a networking organization. “People in the design community never have time to hang out, so Designerds is really a way to have some fun under the guise of work,” says Weinberger.

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
Definitely. Publishers are more optimistic than they have been in the past few years. 2005 should bring numerous magazine launches, and the publishing industry has finally realized the magazines that are most likely to succeed are the ones that are the most visually compelling.

How has graphic design changed since you started?
The public is more attuned to design than they were when I first started. Think about it: Today it’s normal to see a giant Target billboard in Times Square for a Michael Graves spatula... I think that translates into better business; companies are willing to spend more on design, and students now see it as a lucrative career.

How and where do you find inspiration?
Meeting brilliant people inspires me. For example, Oscar de la Renta’s designs are amazing, but when you meet him in person, he gives off an aura of brilliance and grace that you cannot put into words. Other people I met this year that inspired me include Anna Sui; Narciso Rodriguez; ?uestlove from the Roots; Lee Daniels, the producer of Monster’s Ball; Ingo Maurer; even athletes like Terrell Owens. People who are the best in their field inspire me to the best in mine.

What are you currently listening to, watching or reading?
Right now I’m reading Carl Hiassen’s new book, Skinny Dip; and Art of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion. I also read Flaunt, W, Vogue, Details, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, and CosmoGirl! (my girlfriend is an editor there, so I have to). I am fascinated by Unwrapped on the Food Network, and I watch The Simpsons, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Drawn Together and The Daily Show. My friends make fun of my music taste, because they think I don’t listen to anything recorded after 1993: Jane’s Addiction, Quicksand, Fishbone. But I do listen to newer bands like The Stills and Rival Schools.

What is your workday like?
When I’m not on location at photo shoots, I spend most of my time managing our killer creative department. We do all the magazine’s ancillary design work, plus editions for Philadelphia and Washington DC, so it’s like working for two magazines and a design firm. It can be kind of intense, but we have a lot of fun.

What do you like to do in your time away from work?
I like to check out new restaurants and bars, go to the movies and hang out with friends (we’re currently playing Jenga more often than I’d like to admit). I’m starting to travel more; this year Jackson Hole, Miami and Jamaica.

peter storch & alex yildiz

Peter Storch graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.F.A. in both design and illustration. For eight years, Storch has worked as a graphic designer in New York City in diverse environments that include design firms (The Moderns and Parham Santana) and inhouse art departments (Marvel Entertainment Group; Ernst & Young, LLP; and Antigenics), as well as some freelance work. He writes, “Along the way, I've come to realize there are no excuses, and some of the best design happens when and where you least expect it.” For the past four years, Storch has been working as a senior designer in the inhouse corporate communications department at Antigenics, working on their corporate and product identity, brochures, investor relations kits, fact sheets, invitations, annual reports and various marketing materials.

Although Alex Yildiz enjoyed painting, sketching and playing with cameras as a child, he did not realize his creative side until later in life. Yildiz received a degree in international business/finance from NYU in 2000, while interning at a small biotech company, Antigenics. Until then, design was something Yildiz had experimented with on the computer with various projects for friends and when deciding what items to decorate his personal space with. Eventually, the need came to have an inhouse design department at the company, and that is where Yildiz’s career in design started.

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
Peter Storch (PS): I do feel hopeful, though a lot more needs to be done. As designers continue to educate their clients, both clients and consumers are starting to become more design-savvy. These higher expectations create a challenge for the designer, but also elevate the profession to a more rewarding level for everyone involved.
Alex Yildiz (AY): I feel very hopeful. Good design has been widely accepted as the driving force behind distinguishing yourself or your company. Raising the level of design all around us only makes me want to push the limits and continue to raise the bar in everything that I do.

Has graphic design changed since you started?
PS: Design continues to evolve as a business that has the potential to be art. I am seeing more designers with the courage to see the potential that exists beyond “designer as service provider,” pushing into a more entrepreneurial realm where designers create goods to fulfill a need.
AY: Being different is in. Designs that deviate from the norm are now present in all industries. I feel that I see more and more companies turning to design to help them stand out from the competition.

What are you currently listening to, watching or reading?
PS: I am currently listening to My Robot Friend, Camera Obscura, The Delays, Franz Ferdinand, U2, The Trashcan Sinatras, Pink Martini, Interpol, Rufus Wainwright, The Walkmen, Morrissey (old/new), The Smiths, Cocteau Twins, Pulp, New Order, Fatboy Slim, Iron & Wine, Sondre Lerche, Stereo Lab, lounge, jazz and whatever I'm in the mood for. I am watching Arrested Development, Six Feet Under, documentaries, foreign films and any films by Akira Kurosawa and Stanley Kubrick. I am currently reading about the history of color, and will read anything by David Sedaris, Haruki Murakami, Mark Kurlansky and Michael Chabon. Will reread anything by Rainer Maria Rilke, Hermann Hesse, Noam Chomsky and Alan Moore.
AY: Listening to: Cafe del Mar CDs, The Arcade Fire, U2, various trance CDs, Prince, Coldplay. Watching: Food TV, various DVDs.

What do you like to do in your time away from work?
PS: I enjoy painting, sketching, dancing, spending time with friends, eating candy, seeing as many movies as possible, long walks in the park and eating buffalo wings from Johnny Mack's in Park Slope.
AY: I enjoy photography and following the field of photography (especially advances in digital). I enjoy watching DVDs, visiting museums, going to the gym, practicing martial arts, reading audiophile magazines, building and upgrading computers and installing sound insulation in my car. Most of all, playing with my puppy (who should be on a Jones Soda label!, so vote for her on the site).