with Emily Oberman
Design for the entertainment industry should be, well, entertaining both when you are making it and when you are experiencing it. Whether it’s a book cover, a TV show open, a film title or a website, it needs to have that extra wink that helps further the story. Emily will discuss how typography is often at the core of those stories - and how sometimes the best part of designing a typeface is naming it.
Emily Oberman is a multidisciplinary designer whose work encompasses brand identity, motion graphics, publications, packaging, advertising, and websites.
A native of Yonkers, New York, Emily studied design and filmmaking at the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City. After graduation she joined the legendary design studio M&Co., working with Tibor Kalman to create work for Knoll, Wieden & Kennedy, (the much-missed) Restaurant Florent, and Talking Heads, for whom they made the award- winning music video for “(Nothing But) Flowers.” With Kalman as creative director, Emily was the original designer for the launch of Benetton’s critically acclaimed magazine, Colors.
Before joining Pentagram, Emily cofounded the design studio Number Seventeen, in 1993 which was open for (coincidentally, perhaps) seventeen years. Emily’s work is unique in that it blurs the line between promotion and design— often using language and humor to make an emotional connection. Her clients have included Benetton and NBC Universal (designing brand identities for “30 Rock,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” and “Saturday Night Live,” for whom she has done the opening title sequence for 19 years, as well as a new coffee table book).
Recent projects include the branding and opening sequence for Tina Fey’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, the branding, packaging and website for Snoop Dogg’s line of marijuana products, the strategy and branding for Film Independent, the “LA Film Festival”, the identity and show packaging for the “Independent Spirit Awards”, the strategy and branding for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Mia) and the identity and website for This American Life.
Emily’s work has been recognized by Communication Arts, the AIGA, the Type Directors Club and the Art Directors Club, among others. In 2004 she was awarded the prestigious Augustus Saint- Gaudens Award for distinguished alumni from her alma mater, Cooper Union. She has served on the national board of AIGA and as president of its New York chapter. She has taught in the graduate program of Yale University School of Art, as well as at Cooper Union and Parsons The New School for Design.
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