Edwin Schlossberg

Appointed to Commission of Fine Arts, Washington DC

President Obama recently nominated designer Edwin Schlossberg to join the Commission of Fine Arts, which oversees the development of public buildings, statues, fountains and monuments in Washington DC. Schlossberg will join other Commission members like Earl Powell, the longtime director of the National Gallery of Art, and architecture writer and critic Witold Rybzynski. Schlossberg, so says the White House's official bio for him, is the founder and principal of ESI Design, an internationally recognized firm that designs interactive environments for learning and communicating. He specializes in integrated experimental museums and retail and large-scale cultural facilities including the recently designed Shanghai Corporate Pavilion for the World Expo in Shanghai. He has written more than 10 published works, has had numerous one-man art shows and his work is in collections of many major museums. Schlossberg graduated from Columbia University with a BA, MA and Ph.D in science and literature. He teaches and lectures widely, including at Columbia University, is on several non-profit boards as well as founding the partnership desigNYC that matches designer with community groups in need of pro-bono support, and is married to Caroline Kennedy.

Jim Elliott

CHIEF Creative Officer, Young & Rubicam New York, New York NY

Jim Elliott has been appointed Chief Creative Officer of Young & Rubicam's New York office, with responsibility for overseeing the agency's creative direction and all work for its clients, which include Land Rover, Campbell's, Dell, LG, Dannon, Virgin Atlantic and Fisher-Price. Described as a passionate and highly-awarded leader, Elliott hails from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco where he spent the past five years, most recently serving as Goup Creative Director working with clients such as Häagen-Dazs, Hyundai, HP and Yahoo! Elliott also was Creative Director and Partner at Cole & Weber United in Seattle, which he joined from Mullen Advertising. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Bringing Elliott on board "is a key part of our continued evolution for our New York office," says Tony Granger, Global Chief Creative Officer of WPP's Y&R. He is a "fantastic creative leader," he added of Elliott, whose work for both Nike and Häagen-Dazs was honored with permanent display at the Mus-eum of Modern Art. Elliott's awards also include Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Clio, Kellys, Andys and the Effies, and his "Help the Honey Bees" campaign won the first ever Green Pencil awarded by the One Club. Elliott replaces Scott Vitrone and Ian Reichenthal, co ECD's who left the agency in February.

Lucien Yang

Art Director, Nice Shoes, New York NY

Nice Shoes adds Lucien Yang as its newest art director. Yang, who operates across the advertising, web, TV and feature film worlds, will focus on the commercial realm in his new role, tapping experience in broadcast design for GE, Coca-Cola, Nike, ESPN, American Express, among others. Yang also has created TV projects for VH1, Sundance Channel, Spike TV and Logo, and his film credits include Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Previously, Yang freelanced and spent time on staff at Imaginary Forces, Agency.com and Lee Hunt Associates.

Darrin Isono

Heads BIRD's New Motion Graphics Unit, Hollywood CA

BIRD, a strategic branding agency based in Hollywood, is launching a full-service Motion Graphics Department to be headed by Darrin Isono. Isono was most recently Senior Designer at Zoic Studios, where he collaborated to develop commercial spots and show packages for such clients as Cartoon Network, Gillette and ESPN. Isono first entered the motion graphics industry as a designer with MFactor inc., where he worked on promotional packages for FOX Sports Network, the NFL Network, among others. His artistic skills and vision quickly earned him a promotion to Senior Designer, along with acclaim by winning several Promax Broadcast Design Awards. He later joined Yahoo! as a Senior Visual Designer, and went on to work as a Senior Designer for DIRECTV. Isono is a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. BIRD previously offered motion design in partnership with other companies."We're excited now to bring this service inhouse," says Peter King Robbins, BIRD co-founder and Chief Creative Officer.

Azadeh Ariatabar

Design Director, thinkdm2, Edgewater NJ

Azadeh Ariatabar has been promoted to design director at thinkdm2, an agency specializing in brand strategy and digital marketing. Ariatabar has been with the firm for some seven years, giving her great insight into the day-to-day operations. As design director, she will be involved in projects from concept through delivery to the client.

Rodrigo Corral is appointed Creative Director of Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG). Corral is no stranger to FSG, having worked at the company's art department from 1996 to 2000 after graduating from the School of Visual Arts. He will reportedly continue to run Rodrigo Corral design, the nine-year-old studio behind such book covers James Frey's A Million Little Pieces and Debbie Millman's How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer. FORGE Worldwide adds Mike Pilato as Creative Director to work with Executive Creative Directors Rob Stewart and Mike Benes on a slew of creative assignments. Prior to joining FORGE, Pilato was for the past three years a freelance art director with Boston-area ad agencies including Arnold Worldwide, Full Contact, Digitas, MMB, Conover Tuttle Pace, One-to-One Interactive, and AMP. He spent four years at Arnold Worldwide as an Associate Creative Director and was a Senior Art Director at ISM/Boston. He began his career as an Art Director with Hill Holiday. Andrew Sawtell joins Lisaius Marketing as a graphic designer. He most recently worked as a graphic designer at the weekly Vermont publication Seven Days, after completing his BA at UVM, followed by a professional certificate in multimedia and graphic design at Champlain College. Poulin + Morris elevates Erik Herter to Senior Designer. Having joined the firm in 2007, Herter's work includes environmental graphics, donor recognition and wayfinding sign programs, exhibition design, graphic identity, interactive media, promotional print and publication design for clients including Dubai Waterfront Canal District, New York Law School and NPR. Herter has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Brand New School, an international production company and design studio, says Dennis Go is joining its East Coast studio as Design Director. Go studied at the Otis College of Art and Design and landed his first job at Fuel/Razorfish in 1999 as a design intern. At that time, BNS's Jonathan Notaro was an art director there, and when he left to launch Brand New School in Los Angeles in 2000, he invited Dennis Go and his brother, BNS director Ben Go, onboard. For a time, Dennis Go moved to NY to help anchor the new BNS studio alongside Notaro; he left in 2006 to join the directional roster of Curious Pictures, and since 2008 has worked as a freelance director and creative director. His return to BNS marks "an opportunity to grow again," Go said. Paul Goldman, founder of Ear Goo, Inc. and the design studio Element, LLC has partnered with Matt Giulvezan, formerly of MTV Networks, to launch The Goo, a new multimedia company with a primary focus on creating content for television, film, web, mobile and emerging media. The Goo consists of three divisions, Action Goo, Eye Goo and Ear Goo. Additionally, The Goo has acquired Spek Studios, a boutique design studio based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Spek Studios' founders Reno Diaz and Rene Avalos will serve as Eye Goo's Creative Director and Art Director respectively. Donna Grow was appointed senior production designer for Wichita-based branding agency Greteman Group. Grow has been with the agency since 2006 and has more than three decades experience in the industry. In particular, Grow applies her expertise in aviation marketing toward clients including Flight-Safety International, Dallas Airmotive and Bombardier Flexjet. Buster Design, a motion graphics and broadcast design studio, promotes Hema Mulchandani to Vice President of Design. Mulchandani joined the firm in 2007 as a producer and built her reputation around developing dynamic branding and promotional campaigns for a cable and broadcast clients including TLC, Food Network, ABC Daytime, HGTV, among others. She has an MFA degree from Savannah College of Art and Design.