Scholarship Judges

2012 AIGA Minnesota, Clockwork, Franke+Fiorella, and Larsen Scholarship Judges

Tim Larsen

In 1975, Tim Larsen founded Larsen, a design, branding, marketing, and interactive agency with a staff of 40 and offices in Minneapolis and San Francisco. He was instrumental in the formation of the local chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design, and has served on the national AIGA board of directors. Tim has been featured in leading national design publications and local business media, and has won numerous design awards. He serves on the design advisory boards of the University of Minnesota College of Design and Minnesota State University (MSU) Moorhead, is a former chair of the board of directors for College of Visual Arts, and has participated on the University of Wisconsin-Stout advisory council. Tim also taught graphic design at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He received a B.S. in art education/graphic design from MSU Moorhead.

Rett Martin

Rett Martin is the Director of UX & Creative at Clockwork. With a degree in Graphic Design from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, he made his way from print to web while working on web sites for various departments within the College of Liberal Arts. After graduating, he worked in the Interactive Design team at Capella University, helping guide both the public-facing sites of Capella as well as Learner, Faculty, and Alumni sites through a corporate rebranding effort.

Rett joined Clockwork in 2007 and enjoys working with a variety of clients to find the best digital solution and define the creative vision. This includes everything from web sites and mobile apps to emerging technologies like QR codes and augmented reality experiences. Focusing on user-centered design, he leads the User Experience (UX), Design, and Front End Development (FED) teams to ensure a seamless experience for the end user.

A former daily bus rider (and creator of BusTales.com), Rett commutes to Clockwork headquarters via singlespeed road bike, which during the lovely Minnesota winter means goggles, a ski mask, and snow pants.

Craig Franke

Craig Franke, Principal and Creative Director of Franke+Fiorella. Franke+Fiorella’s brand identity design clients love Craig for his impeccable design sense, business acumen and upbeat personality. At the firm’s office in the Designers Guild Building in Minneapolis, Craig oversees the creative solutions developed by the Franke+Fiorella design team, ensuring that the approach is visually compelling yet appropriate in achieving the business objectives of the firm’s clients.

Craig’s career path includes several years of packaging and identity design at Frink Semmer & Associates prior to his partnership — both business and marital — with Deb Fiorella. His brand identity designs have been honored by many industry organizations and publications including American Corporate Identity, AIGA, Creativity, Graphic Design USA and Print. The firm’s work has also been featured in Logos: Making a Strong Mark, 150 Strategies for Logos that Last. Some of the larger identity projects Craig has led include the redesign of the Cargill logo and identity, the design of the logo and identity for The Mosaic Company, and in 2007, the design and development of 3M’s Brand Identity System.

Craig earned a BFA from the University of Minnesota, hails from North Dakota, builds creative play spaces for his 7-year-old daughter and makes room in his office for his faithful canine Chloe.

Dante Carlos

Dante Carlos is a graphic designer and typographer based in Minneapolis, and has been senior designer of the Walker Art Center since 2009. After graduating from Art Center College of Design in 2005, he has worked at NBC/Telemundo as a print and broadcast designer, and later at MetaDesign in San Francisco, focusing on identity, strategy, and interactive projects. His previous clients have included Sony, Coca-Cola, MTV Networks, Kohler, Motorola, and Good Magazine.

In his own practice, he is interested in design as an opportunity to learn about new things. He has worked on both commissioned and personal projects in music, film, contemporary art, performance, science, philosophy, language, and education.

Dante is originally from California. He likes whiskey, and has a cat named Mingus.

2012 Design Camp Scholarship Judge

Brent Stickels

Brent Stickels is co-founder and a principal of YYES, a boutique design studio headquartered in Los Angeles and with offices in Minneapolis. YYES provides award-winning design, branding, and advertising for fast-moving companies in diverse industries. YYES was recognized with Pacific Design Center’s 2010 Stars of Design award in the graphic design category.

Brent serves as the Director of Communications for AIGA Minnesota, the professional organization for design. He co-directs See Change, an annual conference at the University of Minnesota featuring communications leaders from across the visual spectrum and co-chairs the Insights Lecture Series at the Walker Art Center. He is a member of the Long Now Foundation, an organization that fosters long-term thinking and responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years.

Born in San Diego, Brent studied writing and film theory before establishing his first design business in 1990. He has worked on TV and print advertising for clients such as 3Com, No Fear, and the SPCA. He has designed print, interactive, and packaging for consumer brands Red Bull, Ketel One, British American Tobacco, and Disney; cultural institutions The LA Philharmonic, The Hollywood Bowl, and the Petersen Automotive Museum; talent agencies ICM and Paradigm; and private equity firm Platinum Equity.

He currently lives in southwest Minneapolis with his wife Jane, their 1960s tandem bicycle, and their canoe. He routinely commutes to Los Angeles, especially in the winter.