Art Director, Nautilus
Len Small
Art Director, Nautilus
Len Small
Workshop
Thursday 2:40 - 4:00 pm
A few pixels to the left: an editorial perspective

Len Small is art director at Nautilus magazine (nautil.us). He previously served as art director for Tablet Magazine and co-designed the American Illustration 33 annual. He earned his MFA from the School of Visual Arts Design program and his BFA in Fine Arts from Washington University in St Louis.

Keynote Speakers

William Joyce
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Thursday 6:05 - 6:45 pm
Opening keynote: fantastic flying tour of moonbot studios

William Joyce does lots of stuff—films, apps, Olympic curling—but children’s books are his true bailiwick (The Numberlys; Jack Frost; and the #1 NYT bestselling The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, also an Academy Award–winning film). He lives with his family in Shreveport, Louisiana.

James Victore
 
Mainstage
Friday 6:25 - 6:55 pm
Friday keynote: you'll never believe this

Victore runs an independent design studio hell-bent on world domination. James' work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and is represented in the permanent collections of the museums around the globe.

Charlyne Yi & Jet Elfman
 
Mainstage
Saturday 6:45 - 7:30 pm
Farewell keynote: debunking the myths

Yi is an American actress, comedian, musician, and writer. Her performances include music, magic, games, and often audience participation. In one performance, she had her head shaved while she sang the song “Nothing Compares 2 U".

Yi and Elfman perform as the musical duo Sacred Destinies.


Speakers

Selina Alko
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Saturday 9:35 - 10:00 am
The case for collaboration

Canadian born Selina Alko has lived in New York for over 20 years. She is the author and illustrator of more than twelve books for children, including B is for Brooklyn and The Case for Loving (co-illustrated with her husband, Sean Qualls). Selina and Sean live in Brooklyn with their 2 children.

Claudia Gizell Aparicio-Gamundi
 
Workshop
Thursday 2:40 - 4:00 pm
Destello invisible: graphic journalism as a radical act

Hailed from Monterrey, Mexico, Aparicio-Gamundi is an illustrator and designer currently living in Austin, Tejas. She runs & operates Bodega Visual Studio where pen and paper is put to use. She is 1/3 of Puro Chingon Collective, 1/2 of Mosaico Experiencia and AIGA Austin Co-Program Director.

Melinda Beck
illustrator / graphic designer / animator 
Mainstage
Friday 4:10 - 4:40 pm
Mind your own business

Melinda Beck is an award winning illustrator, animator and graphic designer. For the past 25 years she has worked for many internationally renowned clients. She has received two Emmy nominations and a series of her prints was acquired by the Library of Congress for their permanent collection.

Richard Borge
illustrator / animator 
Workshop
Thursday 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Images in motion with adobe after effects

Based in Brooklyn, Borge spends his time on professional projects as well as teaching at Parsons and Pratt. He primarily works on editorial and corporate projects, both in illustration and animation/motion design. More and more, these disciplines blend.

Matt Bors
Editor, The Nib 
Mainstage
Friday 12:00 - 12:30 pm
A global conversation on political satire

Bors is a political cartoonist and editor of The Nib. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work, which appears regularly in The Nation, Fusion and The Intercept.

Steve Brodner
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Friday 12:00 - 12:30 pm
A global conversation on political satire
Workshop
Wednesday 9:00 - 10:20 am
Pow! impact in illustration, the masters and you: appreciation and how-to

Brodner is an award-winning satirical artist and commentator whose work has appeared in most major U.S. publications since the ‘70s. He is credited with helping to re-establish the art of strong caricature in U.S. media. In addition to illustration, he is a writer, teacher, author and lecturer.

Will Bryant
Public School 
Mainstage
Saturday 2:30 - 2:55 pm
Who paid rent? the pros and cons of sharing a studio

Public School is a group of designers, illustrators, photographers and directors based in Austin. Independently, they’ve worked with clients such as GOOD, Fast Company, NIKE, Wired, and The New York Times Magazine.

Marc Burckhardt
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Friday 5:30 - 5:55 pm
Between two worlds: fine art and illustration

Marc’s clients include TIME, Rolling Stone, and Pentagram, his gallery work is exhibited internationally, and in 2010 he was named Texas State Artist. He is a recipient of the prestigious Hamilton King Award, and his work has won Gold & Silver Medals from Cannes Lion and the Society of Illustrators.

Laurie Burruss
Pasadena City College, lynda.com 
Education
Thursday 11:15 - 11:35 am
Complimentary learning: blending online and in-person

Laurie is professor emeritus at Pasadena City College & a consultant in education at Lynda.com, where she evangelizes all things learning. She served 22 years as a professor in Interaction Design and as the director of the Pasadena City College Digital Media. Her passion is digital storytelling.

Kent Bye
Producer, Voices of VR 
Mainstage
Saturday 4:35 - 5:05 pm
Storytelling in virtual reality

The Voices of VR is a daily podcast featuring the pioneering game developers, enthusiasts and technologists driving the resurgence of virtual reality. It’s hosted by Bye, who has traveled to the top VR gatherings around the world since May 2014 to bring you a diverse range of VR perspectives and insights from over 200 makers and seasoned academics. He’s also a VR developer interested in creating immersive educational experiences and immersive stories.

Susie Cagle
 
Mainstage
Friday 2:15 - 2:45 pm
Illustrated journalism: what, why & how

Cagle has written and drawn for The New York Times, The Guardian, ProPublica, and many other publications. She is a columnist at Pacific Standard Magazine and a 2016 Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford.


Antionette D. Carroll
Executive Director 
Mainstage
Friday 11:30 - 11:55 am
Visual communication: the image of community activism and change

Antionette is the executive director of Creative Reaction Lab, a design collaborative whose mission is cultivating creative leadership to improve the human experience. Throughout her career, Antionette has worked for non-profits working for social justice, human rights, and diversity and inclusion.

Hector Casanova
Kansas City Art Institute 
Education
Wednesday 9:00 - 9:20 am
Shaping the cityscape: art as activism, transfiguration, and collaboration

Casanova has been working as a fine and graphic artist for over 15 years. As a staff artist at The Kansas City Star ('99-'15), he illustrated hundreds of articles and won a handful of awards. His work ranges from editorial illustration and comics to murals and gallery installations.

Giuseppe Castellano
Senior Art Director 
Workshop
Wednesday 1:00 - 2:20 pm
The 10 mistakes illustrators make

Castellano is an award-winning designer, illustrator and senior art director overseeing the art and design of over 250 children's books a year for Penguin Random House.

Gemma Correll
 
Mainstage
Saturday 3:00 - 3:20 pm
Where do you get your ideas?

Gemma Correll has bad eyesight. Thanks to the wonders of spectacle technology, however, she manages to hold down a full-time job as a freelance cartoonist /slash/ writer /slash/ illustrator and bumps into things only occasionally. Gemma is from England and currently resides in Oakland, California.

Christopher Darling
Kent State University, School of Visual Communication Design 
Education
Thursday 9:15 - 9:35 am
Inclusive illustration: the importance of educating impoverished and incarcerated communities

Darling received an MFA with honors in Illustration as Visual Essay from the School of Visual Arts. He is currently on faculty at Kent State University in the School of Visual Communication Design.

Eleanor Davis
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Saturday 6:20 - 6:40 pm
Image as map, image as mirror

Eleanor Davis is an illustrator and cartoonist. Her clients include The New Yorker & The New York Times. Her best-selling short story collection "How to be Happy" came out from Fantagraphics in 2014.

Marleen de Lange
Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht School of Media 
Education
Wednesday 10:00 - 10:20 am
Illustration: the bigger picture

Graduated in 2000 at HKU, School of Media, de Lange works as Delicatessen in Beeld since 2000 in a varied range of disciplines: Illustration, graphic design, campagnes, animations, print en screen.Next to that lecturer at HKU School of Media since 2006.

Alicia DeSantis
Graphics Editor 
Workshop
Thursday 1:00 - 2:20 pm
Editing for illustrators

DeSantis is a graphics editor at The New York Times. She writes, produces, edits, art directs and designs pieces for print, Web and video. In the summer, she teaches visual narrative at SVA. She has a Ph.D. in literature from Columbia University, where she wrote about the history of mental imagery.

D.B. Dowd
Sam Fox School of Design, Washington University in St. Louis 
Education
Wednesday 11:00 - 11:20 am
Arguing for aristotle: creating an illustration reader to last

Dowd is a writer, illustrator, curator and critic who writes on illustration, cartooning, vernacular visual culture and the history of the illustrated periodical. He publishes the journal Spartan Holiday and has curated with the Norman Rockwell Museum and the Museum of the City of New York.

Susan Doyle
Rhode Island School of Design 
Education
Wednesday 1:15 - 1:35 pm
Discovering a text within the history of illustration: a case study

While more focused on studying and writing about Illustration History for the past few years, Doyle is a painter and printmaker with decades of experience as an art director. She has been on the faculty of RISD's Illustration department since 1992 and is currently serving as Department Chairman.

henrik drescher
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Friday 11:10 - 11:30 am
Swimming in the picture pond
Workshop
Thursday 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Morpholio

Born in Denmark, immigrated to the states at age 12, no art school lots of travel.

Kayla E.
Editor-in-Chief & Art Director 
Mainstage
Friday 4:45 - 5:10 pm
The good work: illusions and excuses about inclusivity
Workshop
Thursday 2:40 - 4:00 pm
Destello invisible: graphic journalism as a radical act

Kayla E. is a queer latina cartoonist, designer, and editor. She is currently the Editor-in-Chief and Art Director of Nat. Brut, a journal of art and literature dedicated to advancing equality and inclusivity. Her work with Nat. Brut has been profiled by TIME, The Huffington Post, and Feministing.

Ann Field
Art Center College of Design 
Education
Thursday 10:15 - 10:45 am
Culture clash

Field, Chair of Illustration at Art Center, was educated in England and began her career in journalism. Her Illustration clients include Nike and Christian Dior.
She is the recipient of the Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, New York and a former President of ICON.

Lee Ford
Sheffield Hallam University 
Education
Wednesday 1:45 - 2:05 pm
Making illustration in the digital era

Ford’s research practice uses drawing and collage as methods to explore how the relationship between artistic intent and audience perception shift when visual content migrates from printed artifacts to a dematerialized digital landscape.

Camille Rose Garcia
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Friday 3:45 - 4:05 pm
Mirror, black mirror

Camille Rose Garcia was born and raised in Los Angeles and is an eminent figure in the Los Angeles Lowbrow art scene. Her work references fairy tales and punk rock sensibilities. She has recently written and Illustrated a dystopian tale, The Cabinet of Dr. Deekay.

Jaleen Grove
Ontario College of Art and Design University 
Education
Wednesday 1:15 - 1:35 pm
Discovering a text within the history of illustration: a case study

Grove is Assistant Editor of A History of Illustration (Bloomsbury 2017), and serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Illustration. She has published monographs and scholarly articles on aspects of illustration, and has taught at OCAD University and Parsons.

Cody Haltom
Public School 
Mainstage
Saturday 2:30 - 2:55 pm
Who paid rent? the pros and cons of sharing a studio

Public School is a group of designers, illustrators, photographers and directors based in Austin. Independently, they’ve worked with clients such as GOOD, Fast Company, NIKE, Wired, and The New York Times Magazine.

Charles and John Hancock
the amazing hancock brothers 
Workshop
Wednesday 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Amazing hancock brothers woodcut mashup

Charles and John Hancock, known to some as the Amazing Hancock Bros, are masters of lo-tech printmaking and other mixed media printing. Self-proclaimed “les enfants terribles" of the Central Texas art world, they lament lost youth, alienation, deformity, victimization, revenge and morose little hobo clowns.

Jamie Hibdon
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Friday 2:15 - 2:45 pm
Illustrated journalism: what, why & how

Hibdon is a cartoonist who has collaborated with the comics journalism collective Illustrated Press since 2014, creating non-fiction comics, editorial illustrations and running comics workshops. His work can be seen in the ongoing anthology Lingua Franca Comics. He lives in Chicago.

Jessica Hische
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Friday 4:10 - 4:40 pm
Mind your own business
Workshop
Thursday 9:00 - 10:20 am
In progress: sketch to vector

Jessica Hische is a lettering artist and author working in San Francisco. She has had the pleasure of working for clients like Wes Anderson, The USPS, The New York Times, and Penguin Books. Her first book, In Progress, which details her lettering process, was published in 2015.

Nanette Hoogslag
Anglia Ruskin University 
Education
Wednesday 1:45 - 2:05 pm
Making illustration in the digital era

Hoogslag is a doctoral researcher, a lecturer and, for more than 20 years, an internationally acclaimed illustrator and designer. In her research she explores the influence of new media on illustration within visual communication and publishing through research, teaching and practice.

Robert Hunt
Illustrator 
Workshop
Thursday 10:40 - 12:00 pm
The price is right

Hunt has created illustrations for a wide variety of projects and has received numerous awards, including the 2015 Hamilton King Award from the Society of Illustrators. He is also an Associate Professor at the California College of the Arts.

Industry Print Shop
Industry Wrecking Crew 
Workshop
Wednesday 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Print+addiction

The Austin-based Industry Print Shop consists of Tony Diaz (founder), Brain Maclaskey (Master Printer) and Bart Kibbe. As Austin’s most prolific artist run screen print shop, Industry has built a reputation in the art and design communities for producing superior quality prints. With the continued growth of the company, the DIY aesthetic has not been lost in the daily grind, which consists of producing concert posters, fine art prints, custom apparel, workshops and live print demonstrations.

Tilly Janssen
HKU university of the arts 
Education
Wednesday 10:00 - 10:20 am
Illustration: the bigger picture

Janssen holds a BA in lecturer theory from HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. Her fields of research include integration of art theory and practice, engaged art, the post-colonial debate and media/illustration theory. She is also active in education development for the HKU School of Media (illustration).


Hellen Jo
 
Workshop
Wednesday 1:00 - 2:20 pm
Developing an animated show
Mainstage
Friday 9:50 - 10:20 am
Zines to screens

Hellen Jo is an illustrator and cartoonist living in Los Angeles. She is best known for her coming-of-age comic, "JIN & JAM", as well as her girl gang watercolors. Her television work includes storyboards and design for Stone Quackers, Steven Universe, and Regular Show. Visit her at helllllen.org

Mark Kaufman
 
Workshop
Wednesday 9:00 - 12:00 pm
Cut and paste: collage improvisation

Put Mark Kaufman in a time machine. Set the controls for 1978. Ask him what he wants to do by 2016. He'll say he wants to be an award-winning designer and illustrator, and serve on the boards of AIGA Seattle and ICON. Set the controls for now. He'll tell you he's done all this and wants to do more.

Anita Kunz
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Friday 9:00 - 9:20 am
A life in pictures
Workshop
Thursday 1:00 - 2:20 pm
Idea generation on a deadline

Kunz has been widely and internationally published. She has received many prestigious awards, two honorary doctorates and The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and has also been appointed Officer of the Order of Canada. She lives in Toronto with one dog, one cat and one human.

Alejandro Magallanes González
 
Mainstage
Saturday 11:40 - 12:00 pm
Image out of place

A graphic designer born in Mexico City, Magallanes González plays and works with images and letters for commissions and pleasure. He has written 10 children’s books and published two poetry books. His last show, Siempre di Nunca, took place in Madrid. He is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale.

Norma Jeanne Maloney
Owner, Red Rider Studios 
Mainstage
Saturday 3:45 - 4:05 pm
The lost art of the hand-painted sign
Workshop
Wednesday 10:40 - 12:00 pm
Time of the sign

Norma Jeanne has been in love with typography, musical iconography and paint as far back as she can remember. After moving to SF in 1990, attending CCAC to hone her design skills she found her true calling, sign painting. Red Rider was founded in 1996 in SF and has recently relocated to Taylor, TX.

Alex Mathers
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Saturday 9:00 - 9:30 am
The art and craft of building a business
Workshop
Thursday 9:00 - 10:20 am
How to get illustration clients

Mathers is a digital illustrator, writer and a marketing coach based In London. He specializes in digital vector maps and landscapes, and often works with creative businesses to improve their marketing strategies to bring in more customers and clients.

Rebecca Mock
Illustrator 
Workshop
Wednesday 2:40 - 4:00 pm
Deconstructing the animated gif

Mock is an illustrator and comic book artist who specializes in cinemagraphic animated GIFs. She creates atmospheric, illusionistic animations for editorial and advertisement. Her first graphic novel, Compass South, is a middle-grade historical adventure story.

Roman Muradov
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Saturday 4:10 - 4:30 pm
On doing nothing

Roman Muradov is an illustrator and cartoonist from Russia. His clients include the New Yorker, New York Times, Penguin, Random House, Vogue, Time, NPR, Google, Lucky Peach and many others. His work has been featured in the Society of Illustrators (Gold Medal), ADC Young Guns, American Illustration.

Martha Newbigging
Seneca College 
Education
Thursday 9:45 - 10:05 am
The live comics project

Newbigging is a children’s book illustrator and arts educator. She teaches illustration at Seneca College and has led comics, animation and digital storytelling workshops for teachers, children and youth. She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in arts-based pedagogy at York University.

Lindsay Nohl
 
Mainstage
Saturday 9:00 - 9:30 am
The art and craft of building a business

Nohl is the founder of Light Grey Art Lab, a gallery and creative space that focuses on bringing artists together to exhibit, learn and travel together. She is also the owner of Paper Bicycle, a product and surface design studio, and an instructor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Lauren Panepinto
Creative Director 
Workshop
Wednesday 2:40 - 4:00 pm
With geek authors comes great responsibility

As the Creative Director of the Orbit Books division of Hachette Book Group for the past seven years, Panepinto has designed and art directed hundreds of Sci-fi/Fantasy book covers and graphic novels for best-selling authors such as Gail Carriger, Brent Weeks and Iain Banks.

Ashley Pinnick
Artist, VR Developer, Storyteller, California Rex 
Mainstage
Saturday 4:35 - 5:05 pm
Storytelling in virtual reality

The studio of Pinnick & Antonio Chang make games, VR, short films and everything in between.

JoAnn Purcell
Seneca College 
Education
Thursday 9:45 - 10:05 am
The live comics project

Founded and now oversees the Illustration diploma at Seneca College where Purcell also teaches the fun subjects of painting, colour, and illustration history. She is a chronic student and is currently pursuing her PhD in Critical Disability Studies using the visual arts as her method of inquiry.


Sean Qualls
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Saturday 9:35 - 10:00 am
The case for collaboration

Sean Qualls is an artist, illustrator and author. He has illustrated a number of highly acclaimed books for children including titles from Spike Lee and Toni Morrison. He lives in Brooklyn (where you can find him DJing on occasion) with his wife Selina and their two children.

Lars Morten Refn
Cartoonist, Zebra Press Agency 
Mainstage
Friday 12:00 - 12:30 pm
A global conversation on political satire

Refn, an editorial cartoonist, graduated from the School of Art and Design in Copenhagen in 1980. He is chief editor of the satirical website caricature.dk. and a founding member of the magazine SPOT. He currently serves as President of Danske Bladtegnere, the Danish Editorial Cartoonists Federation.

Martha Rich
Illustrator 
General
Saturday 8:45 - 7:35 pm
Mainstage sessions
General
Friday 9:00 - 6:30 pm
Mainstage sessions

Martha Rich is a commercial and fine artist living in Philadelphia. She graduated from Art Center College of Design and got her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. She teaches in the MFA program at FIT and likes to draw in her sketchbook while riding in the cafe car of the Amtrak trains.

Julia Rothman
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Friday 4:10 - 4:40 pm
Mind your own business
Workshop
Thursday 10:40 - 12:00 pm
How to get your book idea published

Julia Rothman has created illustrations and pattern for newspapers, magazines, wallpaper, dishware, bedding, fabric, billboards and subway posters. She has authored and illustrated seven books and runs a weekly Ladies Drawing Night event. She lives and works from her studio in Brooklyn, New York.

Colleen Schindler-Lynch
Ryerson University 
Education
Wednesday 10:30 - 10:20 am
What's the skinny? diversifying fashion illustration

Schindler-Lynch is an Assistant Professor in the School of Fashion at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. She instructs Fashion Illustration, Accessory and Textile Design.

Sabrina Scott
York University 
Education
Wednesday 2:15 - 2:35 am
Drawing the other: illustration and representation

Scott (BDes, MES) is a Ph.D. student in science and technology studies at York University in Toronto, Canada. She maintains a professional illustration and design practice, and uses comics, illustration and book arts to work through critical theory, philosophy, ethics and social justice.

Andrew Selby
Loughborough University School of the Arts, English and Drama UK 
Education
Wednesday 3:15 - 3:35 pm
20:20 visions: the loughborough model for entrepreneurial illustration practice for change

Selby is Senior Lecturer in illustration and animation at Loughborough University. He is an internationally recognized illustrator whose work spans two decades. Selby has published two single-authored books, Animation in Process (2009) and Animation (2013), with Laurence King.

Kathie Sever
Owner, Fort Lonesome 
Mainstage
Friday 10:45 - 11:05 am
Reviving lost craft

Kathie Sever runs Austin based Fort Lonesome, a western wear and design studio, inspired by the spirit of the west and dedicated to reviving the lost art of chainstitch embroidery.

Whitney Sherman
Maryland Institute College of Art 
Education
Wednesday 1:15 - 1:35 pm
Discovering a text within the history of illustration: a case study
Workshop
Thursday 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Playing with silhouettes

MFA in Illustration Practice at MICA Director, Sherman examines illustration as a practice in the 21st century through education, exhibition and within her work which has been in AI, SI, and CA Illustration annuals. She gives lectures & workshops based on her book Playing with Sketches.

Chris Sickels
Illustrator 
Workshop
Wednesday 9:00 - 4:00 pm
Full circle: the art of stop-motion loops

Sickels grew up on a small family farm where working hard was the only option. Things had to be fixed with what was on hand. Now he creates 3D illustration and animation with what is at arm’s reach in his Indiana studio— making his images come to life with textures and light.

Lily Smith-Kirkley
Boss Lady, Lilco Design & Letterpress Studio 
Mainstage
Saturday 9:00 - 9:30 am
The art and craft of building a business

Lily Smith-Kirkley owns and operates Lilco a design and letterpress studio in Dallas, TX. She is a native Texan, a graduate of Maryland Institute College of Art, a maker, a collaborator, a printer, a tinkerer, a doer and a mess maker. She designs, letters, paints, illustrates and prints.

DJ Stout
Partner, Pentagram Design 
Mainstage
Friday 1:45 - 2:10 pm
Illustrations in a rectangle

DJ Stout was art director of Texas Monthly from 1987 to 2000 when he joined Pentagram as a partner. In 2010 DJ received the Society of Illustrators' Richard Gangel Award. He is an AIGA Fellow and the author of three books. DJ’s design retrospective Variations on a Rectangle was published in 2015.

Svein Størksen
Editor, Magikon 
Mainstage
Saturday 10:05 - 10:25 am
Random publisher

Svein Størksen worked as a freelance illustrator in Norway for fifteen years before he got the bright idea of establishing his own publishing house, Magikon. The editorial line is based on all kinds of visual culture, including e.g. picture books, photo books, art books, craft books and comics.

Don Tate
Author-illustrator 
Workshop
Wednesday 10:40 - 12:00 pm
So you want to be a children's book illustrator...

Tate is an award-winning author and the illustrator of numerous books for children. His most recent titles include The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch (illustrator, Eerdmans) and Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton (author and illustrator, Peachtree). He lives in Austin, Texas.

David Terrill
Kansas City Art Institute 
Education
Wednesday 9:30 - 10:00 am
Micro, a functioning micro-agency within the kcai illustration department

Terrill studied illustration at Miami University and impressionist painting in Giverny, France. He is a full-time Asst. Professor at the Kansas City Art Institute, working Illustrator, active Creative Director, and honored recipient of local, regional and national awards in his 25-year career.

Michael Thompson
Graphic Designer / Creative Activist, aka Freestylee, Artist Without Borders 
Mainstage
Saturday 10:50 - 11:20 am
Social design

Through the power of the poster, Michael Thompson, aka Freestylee, Artist Without Borders, has worked in solidarity with global visionaries to fight social ills, from the struggle against apartheid to the lack of clean water. His work has exhibited in his native Jamaica, Cuba, Spain, UK and Mexico.

Jonathan Tobin
Attorney 
Mainstage
Friday 9:25 - 9:45 am
Lions and tigers and orphan works
Workshop
Thursday 10:40 - 12:00 pm
The price is right

Jonathan Tobin is an attorney serving clients in arts, media and technology. He advises clients on copyrights, trademarks, contracts and anything else involved in creative business. Prior to being an attorney, he worked as a graphic designer for over a decade. He lives in Echo Park in Los Angeles.


Gina Triplett & Matt Curtius
 
Workshop
Thursday 9:00 - 12:00 pm
Personal work and work-work

Triplett and Curtius work collaboratively on paintings and illustrations. They relate their personally driven content to images for clients including Target, Whole Foods, Urban Outfitters and Chronicle Books. They’ve exhibited in New York, Los Angeles and a bunch of places in between.

Petrula Vrontikis
Art Center College of Design 
Education
Thursday 10:45 - 11:05 am
Understanding the new generation of creative nomads

Vrontikis is a designer, author and educator based in Los Angeles. She is an avid traveler and visual translator. Petrula is the creative director of Vrontikis Design Office and has taught senior-level graphic design and professional practice at Art Center for more than 20 years.

Bridget Watson Payne
Senior Editor, Art Publishing 
Workshop
Thursday 10:40 - 12:00 pm
How to get your book idea published

Watson Payne is the art book editor at renowned independent publisher Chronicle Books. She has collaborated with hundreds of authors, photographers, designers and illustrators to make their book ideas a beautiful reality. She frequently speaks on publishing matters and is the author of several books.

Bruce Lee Webb
 
Workshop
Wednesday 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Memory jug workshop

Webb lives and creates art in Waxahachie, Texas, where he co-operates Webb Gallery with his wife Julie. They have collected and dealt in American folk art for over 25 years. He recently co-authored a book published by University of Texas Press, As Above, So Below: Art of the Fraternal Lodge.

Sam Weber
Illustrator 
Education
Thursday 1:00 - 2:30 pm
Education symposium roundtable

Weber was born in Alaska, and grew up in Deep River, Ontario. After attending the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Weber moved to New York to pursue illustration and attend graduate school at The School of Visual Arts. His studio is in Brooklyn.

Kyle T. Webster
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Friday 2:50 - 3:10 pm
Secrets from brushworld
Workshop
Thursday 9:00 - 12:00 pm
Emulating natural media in photoshop with kyle's custom brushes

Kyle T. Webster is an illustrator who has drawn for most major publications, as well as advertising, publishing and institutional clients. He has created two top 50 mobile games, and is the founder of KyleBrush.com, the company behind the best-selling Photoshop brushes for professional artists.

Syd Weiler
 
Workshop
Wednesday 9:00 - 12:00 pm
Adobe workshop: digital in your creative process

Appropriately dubbed an “illustr-animator,” Weiler of Sarasota, Florida finds inspiration in everyday life and the seemingly mundane. She works completely digitally, preferring her Microsoft Surface Pro over a blank sheet of paper. While Syd learned most of what she knows in college and through her experience as a designer for forthcoming indie video game Jenny LeClue, she’s steadily grown a passionate online community that’s enthused about her continued work on “Before & After,” a series of digital illustrations depicting places in two different states of being side by side in order to explore the concept of time

Lynda Weinman
Co-Founder 
Education
Thursday 11:15 - 11:35 am
Complimentary learning: blending online and in-person

Weinman is a teacher, writer, learning activist, and entrepreneur. As co-founder of lynda.com, she was responsible for the student-centered teaching philosophy. With the sale of lynda.com to LinkedIn in 2015, Lynda is now pursuing new passions in the areas of film and the arts.

Paul Windle
Illustrator 
Workshop
Thursday 9:00 - 12:00 pm
Zine world
Mainstage
Friday 9:50 - 10:20 am
Zines to screens

Windle is a Los Angeles-based artist who works across a variety of media including illustration, graphic design and animation. Previously, Windle worked at Fox ADHD as a designer on the animated series, Lucas Bros. Moving Co. His work has been recognized by American Illustration and ADC Young Guns.

Calvin Wong
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Friday 9:50 - 10:20 am
Zines to screens
Workshop
Wednesday 1:00 - 2:20 pm
Developing an animated show

Calvin Wong is an artist living in Los Angeles. He has storyboarded and written on Cartoon Network's "Regular Show", as well as "Long Live the Royals", and he currently serves as Supervising Director of "Regular Show". He is the creator of the Cartoon Network pilot, "Legendary Place."

Brian Wood
 
Workshop
Wednesday 9:00 - 12:00 pm
Adobe workshop: digital in your creative process

Wood started developing sites in 2000, continued learning and using the latest technologies, platforms and content management systems (CMS) ever since. He offers full service web development, from the first bit of code (or WordPress or other installation) through the finished site. Wood regularly speaks at conferences and seminars hosted by Adobe, AIGA, HOW, and many more.

James Yang
Illustrator, Master of Coin 
Workshop
Wednesday 9:00 - 10:20 am
Setting up the business end of your studio so you're not financially ruined

Brooklyn based Illustrator James Yang has won over 250 awards for design and illustration including Best of Show for 3x3 in 2010. His work has appeared in Communication Arts, 3×3 Magazine, Graphis, HOW, Print’s Regional Design Annual, Step x Step and The Art Directors Club of New York annual.

Keith Young
Public School 
Mainstage
Saturday 2:30 - 2:55 pm
Who paid rent? the pros and cons of sharing a studio

Public School is a group of designers, illustrators, photographers and directors based in Austin. Independently, they’ve worked with clients such as GOOD, Fast Company, NIKE, Wired, and The New York Times Magazine.

Ping Zhu
Illustrator 
Mainstage
Saturday 2:05 - 2:25 pm
An analog girl in a digital world

Ping is much better at drawing than writing, so let's just say: she's worked with clients big and small, won some awards based on the work she did for aforementioned clients, attracted new clients with shiny awards, and is hoping to maintain her livelihood in Brooklyn by repeating that cycle.

Alexandra Zsigmond
Art Director, The New York Times 
Mainstage
Friday 6:00 - 6:20 pm
The art of art direction

Zsigmond has been an art director for the New York Times Opinion section since 2011, where she brings a unique and adventurous visual identity, commissioning equally from the worlds of illustration, fine art, animation and comics.


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