Faculty in the Graphic Design & Interactive Media program are dedicated professionals who are have achieved success and recognition in their field. Links to faculty members’ websites, which showcase their work and accomplishments, appear in the program’s faculty roster below.
Paula was a partner in a very successful women’s wholesale sales agency for over 25 years. In the fashion industry, she brings extensive experience in merchandising, retailing and wholesale. Paula worked with a number of manufacturers, importers and designers, merchandising their lines. Her input included choosing the fabrics, colours and styling direction for many well known branded lines. She worked closely with retailers developing private label programs across Canada and in the U.S. From importers in Vancouver to manufacturers in Montreal her agency consistently generated the top sales.
Paula began her career in education as the Chair of the Fashion Marketing & Merchandising program at the Academy of Design in 1997 while remaining a partner in the agency. Six years later Paula sold her share and embarked on her career in education fulltime while retaining close ties to the fashion industry. In 2005 Paula opened Mix Consulting working with new fashion entrepreneurs to help develop their marketing, merchandising and sales strategies. Paula worked closely with The Toronto Fashion Incubator conducting sales clinics, seminars, workshops and webcasts for many years. She was a keynote speaker for the Educational Program for CSCEx 2006, a member of the Business Advisory Board for the Yukon Territory and a BDC consultant.
In 2009 Paula acquired additional responsibilities as Chair of the Fashion Design program and the Campus Principal role. In 2012 Chair of the Graphic Design and Interactive Media program was added to her portfolio. Paula was on the executive of Fashion Group International Toronto, stepping down in January 2013 while remaining a member. A graduate of York University, Paula will be pursuing her Masters degree in the fall of 2013.
David Christian is an associate of the Ontario College of Art and Design, where he graduated with honours from the Communication and Design department. While at OCAD David majored in graphic design and minored in photography. He has further design training from Parsons School of Design in New York, and computer training from Ryerson Polytechnical University, Toronto Image Works, and George Brown College. Before completing his design education and moving into the graphic design profession David worked as a fashion illustrator. From 1995 - 1997 David was involved with the design, art direction and production of Beat Toronto, an independently published book, chronicling Toronto’s vibrant restaurant scene. The publication won several major design awards, most notably an Applied Arts award for overall publication design. Since that time David has continued to freelance as a designer and art director for clients in the fields of film, television, fashion and architecture.
Graphic Design for Web and Print, Design Foundations
Ryan Chuhaniuk is a graduate of the Graphic Design program at George Brown College. Since this time, he has built an extensive and comprehensive professional career in this field – branding/identity creation, marketing, website design, video game packaging, product development and point of purchase displays. He has also ventured into the world of entrepreneurialism which has led to the construction of several successful creative services companies. His creative direction in combination with his business skills, experience in management of creative teams and in depth knowledge of graphic design applications has sparked a new passion to teach. Ryan’s teaching philosophy includes providing students with skills necessary to excel in the academic environment while instilling practical employment knowledge to facilitate student transition into the workplace.
Milorad is a graduate of the Computer Graphics program at the International Academy of Design & Technology. He worked in the graphic design industry for a number of years, before returning to the Academy of Design as an instructor, where he now shares his expertise with his students. In addition to his teaching duties Milo is still working as a freelance graphic designer.
Web Development
Cameron is an award winning art director, designer, and artist with over 17 years of practical experience in retail, editorial and corporate advertising and design. He was educated at Glendon College where he received a B.A. Honours Degree in English Literature, and furthered his studies at George Brown College in design. Currently, Cameron is completing his MFA in Graphic Design at Miami International University. Cameron worked at several Toronto agencies including Cossette Communications, Leo Burnett, and JWT. Cam has worked on power brands like McDonald’s, Bell and GM. Cameron was also the Creative Director of In Good Taste, a purse friendly, upscale health and beauty magazine. He also designed for several lifestyle and home publications as a Creative Director.In class Cameron likes to concentrate on strong technical skills to build confidence then focusing on fine design and creativity.
At age four James cut up a wedding dress trying to make clothes for his Barbie doll. James passion did not end there and attended V.C.C.-Fine Arts- for textile manipulation, and Ryerson Polytechnic for Fashion. After graduation came a 10-year stint as a noted fashion designer. James then worked for 12 years as Chair of Fashion at the Academy of Design and then as the Director of the School of Fashion at AOD. After working in fashion education, James then started his own line: TEXTI’LL in the past 5 years. Shows include: SKIN: in the Cooler at MADE, The One of a Kind (Toronto), Originals (Ottawa), The Cabbagetown Festival, The Queen West Art Crawl, Pieceworks (Gladstone Hotel), Radiant Darkness I (Toronto), Radiant Darkness I (Cambridge) as well as several private commissions, including work for the Government of Ontario.
Babar’s early interest in photography turned to obsession after an inspirational visit to New York City. Khan studied photography at Ryerson University, earning the Mamiya Scholarship amongst other awards during his education. Khan studied under the master American photographer Dave Heath (A Dialogue With Soltitude) and is also a close friend of seminal artist Robert Frank. Privately he also studied with the artist Aubie Golombek. Other influences include fashion photographers Helmut Newton, Paolo Roversi, Sarah Moon, Sam Haskins, and reportage photographers Larry Towell, Sebastiao Salgado, Bruce Davidson and Roger Mertin. In 2003, Babar began photographing a black and white portfolio of personal work in Paris that was recognized with the prestigious Communication Arts award and published in the Photography Annual. These photographs pointed a new direction and depict a richly atmospheric Europe filled with cityscapes and stunning women, often caught alone in a reflective state of ennui. The images also explore romanticism, melancholy, beauty and vulnerability and are narrative, often resembling film stills from 1960s French New Wave cinema. Khan was recently awarded two International Photography Awards, mounted his first solo exhibition of work, and was profiled on Fashion Television.
An experienced web application designer/developer and accomplished project manager, Rocco Panacci began his career freelancing and developing enterprise-level software shortly after graduating with an Honours Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) and a Diploma in Computer Programming and Analysis. He quickly developed a flair for modern web technologies as the wave of online social media began to take shape. Having worked on projects in various industries, both at a development and managerial level, Rocco offers a unique perspective on user interaction, software development planning, and application design. One of Rocco’s most recent major projects saw him leading the development of a Social Networking communication tool that combined product placement, animation, artificially intelligent avatars and a simple chat protocol to develop an industry leading platform – awarded Red Herring’s "Global 100" award. Rocco’s expertise lays in bridging the highly technical world of application development and the ever-shifting paradigms of modern art and design.
With 18 years of experience, Pheinixx specializes in composing the artistic and graphic look of a brand. This involves her in graphic design, art direction, marketing and communication planning: and has worked with such international brands as Julien Macdonald, Roberto Cavalli, and here in Canada with NADA, Warner Bros. Music and chef Rob Rainford.
As the daughter of a painter and fashion designer, Pheinixx grew up with a pencil or camera in her hand at all times. She studied design and advertising where she won awards for media, copy writing and art direction: Pheinixx was also one of the finalists in Marketing Magazine’s Creative Face Off of 2009.
Pheinixx has lectured on web design for the North American Design Exchange, taught graphic design for the International Academy of Design, and is a frequent guest speaker and panelist to both students and professionals.
Pheinixx was voted as the Regional Director for Fashion Group International for 2008 & 2009, and she currently donates her time as the Creative Branding Mentor at the Toronto Fashion Incubator, as well as a judge for Art of Fashion. Pheinixx currently runs her own creative agency Pencil Design
For over a decade, Rob Sgrignoli has been a freelance graphic designer. His clientele includes a diverse array of businesses and organizations, both large and small. He is thrilled by the interesting design projects he has completed from his boutique studio working with his business partner, friend and talented Illustrator Paul Leli. From branding and typography to posters, photography and websites, he enjoys the creative challenge, working directly with his clients, and pushing himself to produce the best work possible. After graduating from OCAD University, Rob found that he loved the fusion of practical projects with the creative process. For the last ten years he has worked for corporate clients, design firms and charitable foundations, where he designed, produced and managed projects; including posters, social media campaigns, print production, photography initiatives and websites.
Graphic Design for Web and Print, Fine Arts, Video Game Art
*Sessional Contracted Faculty
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