Faculty

Graphic Design Faculty

David Grey
Chair, Graphic Design Department

MFA, California Institute of Arts
BA, Tufts University

David Grey is dedicated to teaching graphic design as contemplative art. Combining interests in perception, meditation, and image-making, he sees design as the integration of personal expression and professional practice.

David is the former Art Director of Clae Footwear. He currently runs an independent graphic design studio with a previous and current client list that includes Nike, Warner Bros. Records, Palette Recordings, Kompact Records, KCRW (Los Angeles), Freewaves New Media Festival, and the Beall Center for Art & Technology at University of California, Irvine. In 2009, David created the annually published Cottage Scholar, an experimental newspaper that explores graphic design as contemplative art.

Maggie Macnab
Contributing Faculty, Graphic Design Dept

Maggie Macnab is a self-taught designer who has run her own design studio since 1981. For nearly thirty years, Maggie has received recognition from organizations such as the American Advertising Federation, the NY Art Director’s Club, and the National Resources Defense Council (the International ECO Award), primarily for logo and identity design. With a lifelong passion for the creative problem solving process, Maggie’s work encompasses observations of how nature solves design problems. In addition to teaching at SFUAD, Maggie has taught at UNM’s Digital Arts program for over 14 years, guest lectures internationally, and is past president of the Communication Artists of New Mexico. She has authored the internationally distributed "Decoding Design: Understanding and Using Symbols in Visual Communication" (2008) and is currently working on her second book to be released in 2011. 

Joel Nakamura
Contributing Faculty, Graphic Design Dept
BFA, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena

Award –winning artist Joel Nakamura is known for his unique style: a blend of folk art and sophisticated iconography rendered in a neo-primitive technique. He is chosen for many of his commissions for his knowledge of tribal art, mythology, and for his ability to convey stories and information in an intricate and engaging manner.

Nakamura’s ability to render humanity in such primal, edgy hues has captured the attention of clients like Time magazine, US News and World Report, and the Los Angeles Times. His paintings have enlivened the pages of many other books and publications, as well as the 2002 Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremonies’ programs. Nakamura has been profiled in Communication Arts, Step Inside Design, Confetti and Southwest Art magazines. He is proud to be the recipient of over two hundred awards of excellence.

Nakamura splits his time between commercial and fine art projects. His work is in numerous private and corporate collections, including Wynonna Judd, Chick Corea ,and US embassies around the world.

Arlyn Nathan
Contributing Faculty, Graphic Design Dept

MFA, Yale University

BFA, Rhode Island School of Design

Arlyn Nathan has studied type’s history at the Smithsonian Institute and design methodology at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. She has taught at the National Institute of Design in India, Ohio University and the College of Santa Fe. Her freelance clients past/present include: Twin Palms Publishers, the Santa Fe Opera, and Random House. Arlyn views letters and type like people with different personalities, roles and characteristics. She loves the subtleties that define typefaces and works diligently with text to evoke a sense of play, meaning and visual poetry.

Todd White
Contributing Faculty, Graphic Design Dept
BFA, The Museum School of Fine Arts, Boston

Todd White teaches Storytelling From the Underground, a class focused on illustration influenced by alternative medias: comic books, zines, album covers, street art and skate culture. He is interested in helping students create and examine their personal style and approach to image making.

Todd White is an active artist and illustrator working with clients such as Tee Pee Records, Burton Snowboards, Husk Apparel and Moon Editions of San Francisco.

Todd received his BFA from The Museum School of Fine Arts, Boston where he received the Dana Pond Award in painting. He has shown at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, and Aqua Art Fair, Miami.

He grew up in Orange County, California, skateboarding, eating pizza, and loving Ninja Turtles. He is older now, but some things never change.

See Todd White's work in our gallery. 

Mindy Turner

Contributing Faculty, Graphic Design Dept

BFA, Rhode Island School of Design

Mindy Turner has been working as a designer for twenty years and is the former head of the Digital Media Arts Department at UNMLA. She began exploring and practicing web design in 1993 and has since branched out into User Experience Design for software development. Mindy has an international client base including several Fortune 500 Companies such as Comcast, General Electric, AT&T, Pfizer, Viacom, CBS and Dole Food.

Mindy views design as a means to communicate whether it be through aesthetics or function. She is considered a "Usability Expert" in her field, striving to create designs that allow users to accomplish their goals quickly and painlessly.

Bram Meehan

Contributing Faculty, Graphic Design Department

BA, Rochester Institute of Technology

Bram Meehan writes and produces independent comics under the Panel Press imprint, collaborating with his wife and other artists. He helped found the Washington DC-based comic creators collective DC Conspiracy and is a founding board member of the northern New Mexico nonprofit 7000 BC, which supports comics creators and presents education programs throughout the region. He also provides lettering, design, and production for independent comic publishers.

Bram has been a graphic designer for more than 20 years, working primarily in corporate branding and marketing. He especially enjoys the problem solving aspect of creative work, crafting beautiful solutions that deliver results.