Two Decades of Design

January 27th, 2016

I realized that 2016 marks the 20th year that I’ve been in the design industry. I’m amazed at two things: 1. how fast that time has gone and 2. the sheer volume of work that I’ve generated over the years! My studio is filled to bursting with concepts and samples spanning my career, there’s enough physical work to put on a Design Exhibition! 

I’ve worked with a lot of great people over the last 20 years, from my first day at Calder Bateman Communications to my current role at El Designo. In each place I worked, there were always amazing people that made this rewarding-but-stressful occupation fun! Some of the people I’ve had the good fortune to work with and who influenced me on my design journey are: Brad Blasko, Kevin Carlson, Quinn Laird, Shauna Curran, Tara Noble, Shawna Cass, Janine Van Essen, Amber Hughes, Mark Hutchison, Miles Konrad, Rod Michalchuk, Ryan Kelly, Michael Holmberg, Leanne McBean, Alyson Hodson, Dana Woodward, David Moore, Patrick O’Kane and John Smith. Thanks for adding to my design adventure!

I also had the opportunity to teach at MacEwan University for a number of years. Hopefully I passed on some of my “school of hard knocks” lessons to these great kids. Many of my students have moved on to become creative powerhouses in their own right - people like: Adnan Huseinovic, Justin Dickau, Eldon Kymson, Jessa Dupuis, and Rachele Loveless to name a few.

I love my artistic medium - paper. I love the paper shows and samples, love being able to access all the variety of stocks. Using different printing processes to make paper and ink grab your attention feels like a sort of alchemy. I like the craftmanship of print, the fact there are tactile elements you can manipulate and an actual physical product to interact with when you are done.

I’ve always had a passion for drawing. After a rocky start at the beginning of my career, I was able to merge my fine arts training with graphic design solutions, finding a fit between the two. It was always important to me to offer illustration-based solutions in order to have client work stand out. Throughout the years my traditional style morphed into the versatile vector style I favour today. 

When I took a look back at projects from the last 20 years, a few jumped out - because I was proud of the visual solution they created, or because a client took a chance, agreeing to try something unique and had it pay off! The attached image shows a collection of my favorite 20 projects. 

I’m looking forward to another 20 years of exploration and creativity.

Marc Nipp

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