Surveillance by Designers

Big brands by day, intimate art galleries by night. Kyle Fletcher, is a weathered optimist who knows how to put his midwestern nose to the conceptual grindstone. Excels in environments that are eager to explore the unknown.

Alex Fuller is one of seven partners in the artist collaborative called The Post Family, founder of 5×7 publishing, and a Design Director at the Leo Burnett Dept. of Design. Alex has worked with many blue chip clients including UPS, Sprint, and Allstate as well as independent innovators including Unison, Sonnenzimmer, and You Are Beautiful. Alex maintains a very active role in the art and design communities in Chicago whether it’s leading lectures and workshops with The Post Family or critiquing student work through the AIGA.

Baozhen Li is an industrial designer and 3D animator practicing at Thirst. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As an artist, she works in diverse mediums from painting to metal-working to digital media. Her work is on display throughout the city of Chicago and may currently be seen at the Illini Union of UIUC and in the atrium of Ogilvie Transportation Center.

Mike McQuade has over nine years of experiences as a multidisciplinary designer and illustrator. He believes that hard work, persistence, and a strong focus on craft leads to better work for his clients and other self-initiated projects. Mike describes his style as raw and always transforming. Mike is currently working as an art director, designer, and illustrator for both large and small brands, various ad agencies, editorial publications, design firms, start-ups, and his own self-initiated projects and artwork.

Jason Pickleman is a graphic designer and partner at JNL Graphic Design based in Chicago. His clients include the Steppenwolf Theatre, Hyde Park Art Center, The Renaissance Society, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago Transit Authority, and Avec restaurant.

Rick Valicenti is a producer, director, and collaborator working with a wide network of designers and artists. Formerly the founder and design director of Thirst, a venerable Chicago design studio. Valicenti is a recipient of the American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA) Medal, 2006, and the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, 2011. Rick is also an invited member of AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale). His complete works are recently archived at the Newberry Library, and the Letterform Archive in San Francisco. Large selections of Valicenti’s work are at the Ryerson Library at The Art Institute of Chicago, The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Lubalin Center at Cooper Union, and the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography at Art Center in Pasadena CA. Valicenti shares a studio with Anna Mort and together provide catalytic invention and design.