peter galperin

After a number of years working for design/marketing firms such as Donovan and Green, Gips/Balkind and Middleberg & Associates, Peter Galperin started Galperin Design in 1994. As an early proponent of integrated brand marketing, he has sought to merge strategic conceptual thinking with a high-end design aesthetic. Over the years, the firm has worked for Citibank, IBM and Pitney Bowes, and recent clients include Barneys New York; Cognizant Technology Solutions; Montblanc, Inc.; The College Board; and Temenos-Anguilla, a St. Regis Resort. With expertise in corporate branding, annual reports, advertising/direct mail campaigns and websites, Galperin says that “involvement with our clients is an evolving relationship shaped not only by the continual need to communicate clearly and simply, but also by world events and technological change. Our capabilities have grown as our client needs have grown, evidenced most recently by our development of Proclaim!, a proprietary website content management system we now offer as a editing tool for website clients.”

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
“Celebrate all success immediately” is a saying we have in our office. The idea of keeping a chilled bottle of champagne on hand and cracking it open whenever we’ve completed a tough assignment (and not just saving it for that elusive special occasion), is something I’m trying to do more often. Usually, after a project is completed, we jump right into the next one without taking any time to congratulate ourselves on a job well done, or at least to reflect on what could have been done better.

How has graphic design changed since you started?
The external process of creating art has changed dramatically because of the computer (is drawing even a required skill anymore?), but the internal process of developing ideas is still the same and as unquantifiable as ever. Strong concepts still need to come from life experiences, not from perusing pages of old award annuals (yes, we are all guilty!), or from a special effect filter bundled in the latest computer program upgrade. An even more profound change has been in the very nature of the design business. Good design has finally become good business, though that has more to do with branding theory being taught in business schools than business theory being taught in design schools.

What is your workday like?
In my 20s and 30s, my workday started late and ended late. Now it starts early, but it still ends late. Usually, I start off the day with a list of things to accomplish, and then around 5:00 pm I realize that I haven’t gotten to anything on the list yet. So the evening often becomes the time when I design. We’ll have a glass or two of wine, play the stereo a little louder and get a lot done. During the day, for breaks, I might pick up a guitar or walk around in the garden — especially if I’ve been staring at the monitor too long. But then the phone or an email will ring, proving Pavlov’s theory once again. My computer announces emails with an obnoxious female voice that says “it’s not my fault” in a weird, quasi-British accent. Since I’m not blaming her, why does she have to be so defensive?

What are you currently listening to, watching or reading?
Most days I load up the CD player with a selection of related music: all Blue Note Records jazz, all Glenn Gould Bach, all Radiohead, all Flaming Lips (which sometimes makes me giddy). I know it’s turning into a long day if I’m hearing the first selection for the third time (usually around the 10-hour mark). But on really, really busy days, we just let the radio play whatever. I just finished reading Howard Zinn’s contrarian viewpoint covering 500 years of U.S. history. He’s a radically-minded professor who presents the history of America as one big conspiracy theory, and I’m a sucker for conspiracy theories. It’s a fairly dry read, but filled with great dinner party conversation starters, like, “Did you know that when he was elected president, George Washington was the wealthiest person in America? He was the Bill Gates of his era.”

jon ritt

Jon Ritt studied painting at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and graphic design at the Art Center College of Design (where he is now a faculty member). After being senior art director of Gap Kids and Baby Gap, Ritt was creative director of Man Bites Dog, where he helped build brands and designed all sorts of creative for clients including Levi’s, Docker’s, Nike, Adidas, Patagonia, Skyy Vodka, Pete’s Beer and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. In 1999, Ritt founded his own firm, Pool, with the intention of gathering the most talented and imaginative people together to make great work. Ritt describes Pool as “a creative firm that brings ideas to life. We help develop brand vision and give shape to companies, products and environments. We thrive on crafting the whole story.”

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
Absolutely. How could you not? There’s never been a better time to be a designer. With merging international markets and cross-cultural exchanges happening in the time it takes to send an email, creativity is king. Consumers have such a luxurious amount of choice that design is the difference-maker. It seems that the more individuals are exposed to design, the more educated and refined their taste level becomes. This is great for designers. It’s getting easier to sell great work.

How has graphic design changed since you started?
Yes, well, the machine [insert endless dialog here]. But, overall, it appears that there is less need to defend the merits of design as a business tool. Also, we gobble up styles and movements so quickly that what was experimental, leading edge design a few seasons ago works its way into national campaigns today.

What is your workday like?
My workday doesn’t really have borders. I love what I do and would be doing it whether labeled “work” or not. I am privileged to work with clients and colleagues who I really enjoy spending time with, so great things happen over cocktails at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday that we put to paper on Monday. That’s living.

How and where do you find inspiration?
Inspiration comes from everywhere. The most immediate and accessible inspiration comes from the internet. (Hey, London! Thanks for all the brilliant websites.) The most lasting and impressionable inspiration comes from traveling. When immersed in a new environment, every detail shows up. (I love light switches in foreign countries.) But for me, the most invigorating inspiration comes from collaboration with great talent. Ideas are infectious!

What are you currently listening to, watching or reading?
We listen to internet radio. Sometimes I’m not sure if I’ve heard the same song twice in a month. It’s unbelievably cool. I have one music rule in the office: You can play whatever you want, just not over and over again.

Who would have been your ideal presidential candidate?
Wouldn’t it be great if there were an intelligent, charismatic individual out there? I don’t know what’s going on in the red states. There must be some massive hearing disorders that have gone unreported, because they can’t possibly be listening to what the current administration has to say and be buying it. I think SpongeBob SquarePants would make a good president. He operates from a position of kindness.

kim brown irvis

Kim Brown Irvis is presently an art director for corporate projects in creative services at the College Board. Before joining the College Board, Irvis was senior art director at Creative Impact Communications and art director at GO&A Marketing Communications. As a freelancer, her clients have included Polygram Records, Merrill Lynch, IBM, Playskool, Citibank, PACE Center for Girls, Tempus Software and Marriott Hotels. She has won several design awards, including both a gold and a silver Addy Award, an Image Award of Distinction, and Graphic Design usa awards for three issues of the College Board Review. Recently, Irvis published photography in Traditional Home Magazine, and designed and photographed two calendars. She holds a B.F.A. in communications design from Pratt Institute and a three-year certificate in advertising design and photography from Pratt-Phoenix. Born and raised in New York City, Irvis received her first color pencil set from her grandfather at the age of 4; he continues to inspire her as an artist/designer.

Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
Positively. There is a high recognition and need for design — they call it brand identity. Working at the College Board (a not-for-profit organization) is my first job in educational publishing. My contribution to the educational world is very hopeful and promising because I see editorial design as a means of helping students make clear choices and, ultimately, helping them into college.

Has graphic design changed since you started?
Just a little. We are getting so used to having computers solve our problems that we forget to take a few extra minutes to put our thoughts or concepts on paper before approaching the computer. I have seen partnerships between clients and designers that are very focused on reaching their goals and solving problems, and graphic designers are listening more to their clients’ needs.

How and where do you find inspiration?
Just walking around the streets of New York City is inspiration enough. There are many possibilities for creative visions or solutions, if you are there to see them.

What are you currently listening to, watching or reading?
I enjoy watching movies. I especially enjoyed the autobiography of Ray Charles with an inspiring performance from actor Jamie Foxx. Movies are another type of inspiration that provides entertainment, with an array of colors, shapes and sounds that move me. I also enjoy reading and just finished the book The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. It had me reliving Paris.

What do you like to do in your time away from work?
Photography. I am beginning my next self-promotional calendar for 2005. Interior design/ architecture is a hobby I dabble in now and then. Restoring a historic home built in 1902 in Jacksonville, Florida, was a creative project.

Who would have been your ideal presidential candidate?
I am not a Republican, but Rudolph Giuliani would be my ideal candidate. He turned New York City around in eight years and brought it back to life. I am confident that he could do the same for the United States.