Maureen Ciardiello, Week 7 – Graphic Designer, Katherine McCoy

Katherine McCoy is an American graphic artist and educator, born in Decatur, IL on October 12, 1945.  She was inspired to become an industrial designer after a visit to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  After graduating from Michigan State University with a major in Industrial Design, McCoy landed a job at the notable agency, Unimark International.  It was here that McCoy was able to go in depth in typography and study over books by some of the great graphic artist such as Ruder, Gerstner and Hofmann.  She went on to the Chrysler Corporation, Omnigraphics, Designers & Partners and eventually finding her own agency along with her husband, Michael, McCoy and McCoy Associates.  Shortly after the founding of their agency, the couple were asked and accepted the opportunity to be the co-chairs of the design department at the Cranbrook Academy of Art.  Although not initially wanting to work in academia, McCoy stayed at Cranbrook for 24 years eventually moving on to contribute to other schools such as Royal College of Art and Illinois Institute of Technology.  She and her husband are still active in education. 

 I like the use of colors Ms. McCoy uses in each of her designs below.  She has bold, clean lines in the first design along with bright colors that make the design stand out.  In the second image, you see her ability to create a simply but impactful design for Tivoli.  Finally, I liked the different color choices shown in the last design.  It is more subtle but just as impactful.