PHOTOS: Celebrate Michigan Design 3-25-2010

Celebrate Michigan Design featuring Julie Lang, Jody Levy and Susan Skarsgard

Michigan hosts a world-class collection of artists and designers who are dedicated to producing great work in a great place. Now more than ever, we should celebrate design as a vital engine in our state's on-going recovery. Designers are problem solvers. Whether it's a city designer working to solve the issue of affordable housing, or a graphic designer bringing legitimacy to a non-profit through branding, the range of conflicts designers encounter is infinite. It’s no secret that Michigan has significant problems, however every challenge the state presents is an opportunity for innovation.

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Julie Lang
Julie is Associate Design Director at Campbell-Ewald advertising, dedicated primarily to the Chevrolet account. Through her 18 years in the industry she has worked as an illustrator, art director, magazine design director and as an independent in her own one-woman design firm. Her clients have included Herman Miller, Chevrolet and Detroit's Epoch Restaurant Group.

Her work has been recognized by publications and competitions including Communication Arts, AIGA, the ADDYS, the One Show and The Art Directors Club.

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Jody Levy
Jody Levy is an artist and designer. She has been with experience design firm o2 Creative Solutions since the company’s inception in 2001. Jody works with the multi-disciplinary team at o2 to create interactive and immersive experiences such as live theatrical productions, museum and gallery exhibits, non-traditional communications campaigns and more. Jody is an artist and travel writer. Her travel website, Native Nomad, features the best experiences in cities across the globe.

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Susan Skarsgard
Susan Skarsgard is an artist and designer known internationally for her original fine art works, site-specific installation art, graphic design, artist books, & calligraphy. Her work is widely collected by individuals and institutions which include the United States Library of Congress Rare Book Room; Newberry Library, Chicago, IL; University of Michigan Special Collections, San Francisco Public Library, and Smith College, Northampton, MA. As a lecturer and teacher, Ms. Skarsgard has conducted workshops and presentations for numerous institutions, organizations, and conferences, traveling extensively throughout North America, Australia and Europe. She has worked for 15 years in the Industrial Design department at General Motors and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan.

http://www.aiga.org