Visiting Artists 2017–2018
Paul Sahre
Paul Sahre is one of the most influential graphic designers working today. He has doggedly remained independent, operated his own practice since 1997. He is a frequent visual contributor to The New York Times, designed book covers for authors such as Chuck Klosterman, Malcolm Gladwell and Clarice Lispector, authored books, and built and destroyed a life-sized monster truck hearse for the band They Might Be Giants. Paul received his BFA and MFA from Kent State University and teaches graphic design at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He lectures extensively all over the world and is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale.
Ran Zheng
Ran Zheng is a senior designer at Pentagram. During Ran’s 5 years tenure at Pentagram, she has worked on a wide range of projects that spans from tech brands such as Google, Waze, Apple, to cultural institutions such as Storefront for Art and Architecture, and other brand like LOROD fashion brand invitation, Tata Harper Haircare, Venn Skincare and Van Leeuwen ice cream. In 2021, Ran worked on NYDIG Bitcoin company and tea box design for the movie Swan Song. Also, some other personal project: Meowlab art brand and product design, a new display typeface: Remix Stencil font and more. Ran is a multi-dimensional designer with a rare skill set that combines identity, iconography, illustration, and animation in 2D and 3D. Ran is recipient of several awards, including MICA GRAD SHOW 2016 prize, the personal project: LOOK/HEAR Shows at Cooper Hewitt Museum, SEGD Global Design Awards,The 2017, 2018, 2019 TDC awards for typographic excellence. Ran holds an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Arts, USA. BFA from Central Academy of Fine Arts, China.
Deroy Peraza
Deroy is a founding partner and creative director at Hyperakt. With a decade and a half of experience designing brand identities, data visualizations, online experiences and products, Deroy is equal parts designer, entrepreneur and cheerleader. He provides creative and visionary leadership for the Hyperaktivists and is the driving force behind Hyperakt Labs, which creates opportunities for their ideas to flourish. His work has won numerous awards, has appeared in several books and has been recognized in notable publications like The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, The Guardian (UK), Time, Forbes, Corriere della Sera (Italy), Berliner Morgenpost (Germany) and Le Monde (France). Deroy’s work has been featured in museums and galleries in England, Spain, Switzerland, France, Turkey, Brazil and the United States. Deroy was born in Havana, Cuba, has lived in five countries, and loves to travel.
Roya Shariat
Roya comes to Hyperakt with a passion for human-centered design and a background in strategic communications. Prior to joining Hyperakt, Roya was the Global Communications Manager at 100 Resilient Cities – Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation (100RC). She led communications efforts across 100RC’s African portfolio, bolstered the team’s storytelling capacity, and ran the “100RC Challenge,” the competition by which 100RC selects partner cities. Roya has a degree in Economics with minors in Middle Eastern Studies and Social and Public Policy from NYU. She has worked in both the public and private sectors, including roles at the U.S. Department of State, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and NBC Universal. Roya speaks Farsi, some Spanish, and an odd amount of conversational Polish.
Jason Fulford
Jason is a photographer and co-founder of J&L Books. He is a Guggenheim Fellow, a frequent lecturer at universities, and has led workshops across the United States, in Japan, Italy, Poland, The Netherlands, Germany and Spain. His monographs include Sunbird (2000), Crushed (2003), Raising Frogs for $$$ (2006), The Mushroom Collector (2010), Hotel Oracle (2013), and Contains: 3 Books (2016). He is co-author with Tamara Shopsin of the photobook for children, This Equals That (2014), and co-editor with Gregory Halpern of The Photographer’s Playbook (2014). Fulford’s photographs have been described as open metaphors. As an editor and an author, a focus of his work has been on the subject of how meaning is generated through association.
Tamara Shopsin
Tamara is a graphic designer and illustrator whose work is regularly featured in The New York Times and The New Yorker. She is the author of two memoirs: Mumbai New York Scranton and Arbitrary Stupid Goal. She is also designer of the 5 Year Diary, co-author with Jason Fulford of the photobook for children, This Equals That and a cook at her family’s restaurant in New York City.
Martin Venezky
Based in San Francisco, Martin Venezky founded Appetite Engineers in 1997. He has created illustrations for the pages of Wired and the New York Times, designed a book for Wes Anderson Collection, and created large-scale installations on the campuses of Facebook and Adobe Systems. Martin earned an MFA in Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1993, which followed a BFA in Visual Studies from Dartmouth College in 1979. He is currently Professor in the Graduate Design Program at California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco, where he has taught since 1993. He has also held teaching positions at RISD, CalArts, ArtCenter, and the Kansas City Art Institute. In 2001, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art honored Martin with an exhibition of his collected work, “Martin Venezky: Selections from the Permanent Collection of Architecture and Design.” It Is Beautiful…Then Gone, a monograph of Martin’s work, has been published by Princeton Architectural Press.
Sarah Gephart, Alicia Cheng, MGMT.
MGMT. is a collaborative design studio based in Brooklyn, founded by Alicia Cheng and Sarah Gephart. The firm specializes in exhibition design, information design, publications, and websites. They are drawn to complex content that calls for intelligent and visually effective solutions. Clients have included The New York Times, GOOD Magazine, and Cook's Illustrated.