Jeff Mellin

Waxfruit Arts Media, Inc.

Philadelphia, PA


Based in Philadelphia, Jeff Mellin is a multi-disciplinary artist and award-winning art/creative director. For over nearly two decades, he’s designed for national, regional and city periodicals, arts and non-profit organizations, indie record labels, food manufactures and high-tech companies. Specializing in editorial design, his recent clients include Scientific American, Gotham Writers’ Workshop, City Lights Books and the Chinese Historical Society of America. He recently created a site-specific installation for “Vortex,” an avant garde music performance presented by the Chocolate Factory Theater in New York City. When he’s not designing, he’s writing and recording music, as well as promoting the music of others with both Stereorrific Recordings and Waxfruit Arts Media, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that supports and create projects connecting indie music with other media arts and the community at large.

Ophelia Chong

opheliachong.org

Los Angeles, CA


Ophelia’s collage work goes back to handcrafted artwork away from the digital process. She takes found ephemera and builds a story around the image using one simple shape, a swoosh, with comes from an Exacto No.11 blade, a simple turn of the wrist, a bit of glue and building upon layer upon layer of color to create an interpretation of the original found image. Her illustration work appears in The Sourcebook Of Contemporary Illustration, Lemon Poppyseed, Impressive, Theme Magazine, 1000 Artist Journal Pages and the Crafters Devotional, CSS Artistry, and on online magazines such as Two Dogs and 617B. Ophelia also writes for KCET/PB. Her column 404 City takes a look at the diverse web of communities. In addition to writing about our use of technology to connect off the physical plane, she teaches and conducts workshops in Internet social technology at the Art Center College of Design/Pasadena. As an UI/UX designer for Redpoint Global she has designed sites for Fortune 1000 companies and is all too familiar with the health insurance issues facing the populace of the US.

Brett Yancy Collins

counterspace, inc.

Port Chester, NY


Counterspace, inc. is led by award-winning designer and typographer Brett Collins, who has been active in design and multimedia since 1994. Trained at the Hartford Art School in Connecticut, Brett began his career developing interactive CD-ROMs for Time Warner and The Smithsonian Institution, winning multiple international Milia D’Or awards for his interactive design work. In 2002, Brett founded counterspace inc., an interactive design company. Counterspace inc. develops large and small websites, applications, brands and print materials and has built an exceptional client list that spans multiple industries such as fashion, publishing, finance, music, technology with clients such as Merrill Lynch, HarperCollins Publishing, Scholastic, Dell, The Economist, eMusic and Akamai. Counterspace delivers high end design solutions that utilize Brett’s expertise in design, typography, information design, information architecture, animation and branding.

Monica Hargrove

Moth Design

Boston, MA


Before establishing herself with the Boston based design studio Moth Design in 2007, Monica spent 5 years in New York City working as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. There she worked with in-house creatives from Revlon to FILA, as well as brand development firms on new business initiatives. Her experience in the beauty and fashion industries lead her to specialize in branding, identity, retail collateral, and package design. At Moth Design, she leads projects that include a variety of web and print design with local retail companies, academic institutions and non-profit organizations. Monica Hargrove has a BA from a Pratt Institute in Communicaiton Design.

Valerie Sloan

Roger Williams University/AIGA RI

Providence, RI


Val Sloan is currently an Asst. Professor of Graphic Design at Roger Williams University. She moved to Rhode Island three years ago for the position and has moved 4 times in the last 15 years pursuing her dreams. Growing up in a military/government associated family moving was practiced regularly. But along the way, she’s met amazing people, seen interesting cultures, and in the last decade been the charter president of both AIGA Orlando and AIGA Nashville. In March she became one of only 3 people in the country to have been president of three chapters as she has taken on the presidency of AIGA Rhode Island. She has judged competitions for UCDA and AIGA Pittsburgh.