JAMES VICTORE James Victore is a self-taught, independent artist and designer. Design clients include Moet & Chandon, Aveda, Apple, Fuse TV, TIME Magazine, Yohji Yamamoto, Yamaha, The New York Times, and The School of Visual Arts. Currently, Victore is designing a line of original, hand-painted surfboards for Design Within Reach and James recently started his own design workshop with two friends titled "Sahre Victore Wilker." Awards include an Emmy for television animation, a Gold medal from the Broadcast Designers Association, the Grand Prix from the Brno (Czech Republic) Biennale, and Gold and Silver Medals from the New York Art Director's Club.

Victore's designs are in the permanent collections of the Palais du Louvre, Paris, the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, the Design Museum in Zurich, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, and, for the next year he has work exhibited at the MOMA in New York City. His work is regularly featured in magazines around the world, and a monograph of his work will be published in 2009. He teaches graphic design at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He lives, loves and works in Brooklyn, NY.

STEVE SIKORA is co-founder and creative director of the multi-disciplinary firm, Design Guys. Sikora, along with partner Lynette Erickson-Sikora launched Design Guys in 1981. As agency Creative Director, Sikora directs his studio’s work in the areas of identity and branding, print, packaging, advertising, retail strategies, signage programs, websites, broadcast, merchandising fixtures and environments. Both partners have a strong social consciousness, donating time, money and services to worthy causes. Steve and Lynette believe designers are in a position to make a positive difference in the world and are duty bound to do so.

Achievements include: launching the fledgling Aveda brand, serving as official design firm of The Guthrie Theater, brand packaging for Rollerblade, created extensive branding, packaging, marketing and fixturing for Target, including creation of the inaugural Michael Graves Design line as well as many subsequent designer brands, consulted on the development of the Apple Store and proposed and developed the Eames Paper Collection for Neenah Paper, Inc. Design Guys’ work has regularly appeared in awards annuals as well as in Print, How, Adobe, Graphis, Communication Arts, Applied Arts, Boards and Critique Magazines. And has been honored by AIGA, The Chicago Athenaeum Good Design, Brand Design Association, Industrial Design Society of America IDEA Awards, Type Director’s Club, Ad Fed Addy Awards, Retail Advertising Council, The Society for Environmental Graphic Design, Summit Awards.

JAY RYAN (b.1972) has been making screen-printed concert posters in Chicago since 1995. Known for his hand-drawn text, computer-free design technique, and humorous animal subjects, Jay has worked for thousands of "indie rock" bands, including Fugazi, Shellac, the Flaming Lips, Andrew Bird, the Melvins, My Morning Jacket, Mudhoney, Modest Mouse, the Decemberists, and Hum, as well as his own band, Dianogah.

Heavily involved in the 'Gigposters' community, he was Vice President of the American Poster Institute from 2003-2007, and was involved in organizing the successful 'Flatstock' poster convention series. As owner of The Bird Machine screenprinting shop, Jay has shown his prints and lectured across the United States and Europe. in 2005, the first book of Jay's work, entitled "100 posters / 134 Squirrels: a decade of hot dogs, large mammals, and independent rock: the handcrafted art of Jay Ryan", was published by Punk Planet Books. In 2007 Jay was chosen as "Chicago's best and brightest" by Crain's "Forty Under Forty" and in 2008 Time Out Chicago picked Jay as one of Forty Cultural Heros of Chicago. Jay lives and works in the near northern suburbs of Chicago.

JAN HEATON Six years ago Jan Heaton left the security of a twenty-year long career in graphic design and advertising to pursue gallery representation for her fine art. Jan's portfolio was reviewed by Wally Workman Gallery and within two months she had a show of her work at the gallery. Jan knew that even with a premier Austin gallery representing her art, her future success needed to be a personal responsibility. Using her creative and marketing experience she developed a business plan for her emergence as an artist. In June 2008 Jan left her part-time advertising position as director of creative services for Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing in Austin, Texas to be a full time artist.

Since her first solo show in 2002 at Wally Workman Gallery, Jan has received enthusiastic praise from collectors and critics for her undeniably unique, abstract watercolors. Jan's watercolors are included in the corporate collections of the The Ritz Carlton-Chicago, The Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa-New York, The Four Seasons-Boston, Bellagio and Wynn Hotels – Las Vegas, The Dolphin Hotel – Disneyland, Dell Children’s Medical Center - Austin, and others. Her work is included in Austin Museum of Art’s current exhibition, Laguna Gloria Grounded, at AMOA-Laguna Gloria where she is also a faculty member.

DIANA SUDYKA lives and works in the Chicago area. She initially worked as a master intaglio printer for Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick at Big Cat Press, and at Landfall Press for several years, until getting a Masters of Fine Art from Northwestern University. Currently, she works as an illustrator, creating work for everything from book covers, album artwork, screenprinted rock posters, to watercolors for her avian blog, The Tiny Aviary, that documents her volunteer work for the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History.

Some bands that she has created posters for include: The Decemberists, Feist, Iron and Wine, Andrew Bird, Modest Mouse, Pearl Jam and Tortoise.

THOMAS ALLEN Artist Thomas Allen never dreamed that his answer to the question, "What do you do for a living?" would one day be, "I vandalize books with an X-acto knife!" Represented by Foley Gallery (NY) and Thomas Barry Fine Arts (MN), Tom's photographs of re-imagined paperbacks have appeared in Harper's, The New Yorker, Men's Health, SPIN and O Magazine. His monograph, UNCOVERED: Photographs by Thomas Allen [Aperture Foundation, NY] was released in 2007 with a foreword written by design legend (and Tom's new BFF), Chip Kidd!

Coming to Design Ranch has Tom off the charts with excitement. He will arrive here from a 4.5 acre farm in SW Michigan where he lives, nearly off the grid, with his hawk-fighting, artist-turned-organic-gardener wife, 5-year-old daughter (who has him kicking himself daily for not becoming Play-Doh investor) and a menagerie of animals. At last head count, there were 8 chickens, 3 geese, 2 turkeys, 2 guinea hens, 3 cats and 1 anxiety-ridden Australian Cattle Dog!

READY MADE MAGAZINE Grace Hawthorne is the founding President/Publisher of ReadyMade, a design and lifestyle brand for Gen X/Y who value creativity, innovation and an independent approach to a sustainable life. Since its launch in 2001, ReadyMade has been inspiring people to rethink their material world through reuse design. ReadyMade was a National Magazine Award finalist for two consecutive years and sold to Meredith Corp. in 2006, enabling the brand to graduate from its indie darling status to the major leagues.

Prior to ReadyMade, Hawthorne was a strategist for film, television, print, and new media companies like Giant Robot, Inside, ICM, Trimark Pictures, Primedia, and Supercross. Hawthorne has been a board member of the University Art Museum, Humanities West, and SFMoMA’s Media Arts Council. She is the co-author of the award winning book, ReadyMade: How to Make Almost Everything (Crown/Potter, 2005). Her artwork has been exhibited in the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum’s Triennial, the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Contemporary Jewish Museum, and the Pasadena Museum of California Art's Design Biennial. Hawthorne graduated cum laude from UC Berkeley in Art, holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Business at UCLA, and an MFA from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

DAVID KAMPA Kampaman wears many hats; creative director at Chaos Concept Manufacturing, well-known typography designer, but also Eagle Scout and Scout Master. Get your fingers nimble and your mind numb as you explore tying knots, making rope, and other knotty things.

KELLEY TOOMBS Kelley is a native Texican from Austin and serves as Vice President and Co-Chair of Design Ranch 8, Czar of KTD, Seeker, Teacher, Mentor, Creator, and Thinker. Kelley’s work has won many national and regional awards and has his work has been published in Prints Regional Design Annuals and in the up coming issue of "logolounge 5."

SEAN CARNEGIE Through his early mentoring and education, Sean was awarded acceptance to the state of the art, The Center for Creative Imaging, a Apple beta facility site, where he was able to work, teach and learn along side the most compelling and creative minds of the time. Upon graduating, Sean and his partner/wife Wendy, created the studio, Lewis Carnegie. Developed as a distinctive idea based environment, the studio is fueled on strategic multi-disciplined solutions, inspired individual thinking and meaningful relationships with clients and the community. Their work has been featured and recognized in Graphis, Communication Arts, Print, HOW, and AdFed.

In addition to his professional work, Sean has taught at both the University of Texas and at Texas State University. He was past president of the Austin Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and currently resides on the chapters advisory board.