What We Do
Designers for the Arts specializes in graphic design services for arts organizations and venues.
We excel at designing exhibition graphics, event collateral, artist catalogs, books, newsletters, magazines, advertising, web, and branding. We can accommodate any design project, no matter the scope. Need a title-wall graphic or a business card? We can do that. Need a coffee-table book, multiple pieces of collateral for a major event, or a complete rebranding? We can do that too.
Our founder, Erik Flippo, is a seasoned design professional with a unique portfolio of work especially for museums and the arts.
Why We Design for the Arts
Our team is passionate about the arts. We support the mission of museums and arts venues by designing appealing graphics that best represent an exhibition, special event, or advertising campaign.
Working with arts organizations demands that the fidelity of design be elevated and more interesting. That’s why we love it. When designing for the arts, there is a larger responsibility to create something that will excite, entice, and immediately give a sense of place or purpose to the visitor. Visitors to a museum or arts space expect to be delighted and inspired, and that is exactly the kind of design we create.
What You Can Expect
Our clients are pillars of their communities. They provide culture, education, and experiences that are unique and vital — yet most are expected to do a lot with a little. We know budgets are a real thing, and our experience makes us fast, efficient, and flexible. The result: you get a terrific end product at a reasonable price.
We provide clear and detailed project scopes so that we are all aligned on the effort and deliverables. Our project fees are fixed so there are no surprises (unless they are good surprises!) and we do not mark up hard costs, like printing.
We are experienced in the special needs of cultural and educational institutions. Working with production vendors is our specialty, so we can shepherd your project from beginning to end.
Our Founder and Lead Designer, Erik Flippo
Erik Flippo is the firm’s founder and lead designer. He has more than two decades of experience as a designer and has spent the majority of his career designing for museums and learning institutions.
Prior to founding Designers for the Arts, Erik was the Design Director for the Nevada Museum of Art, where he brought monumental exhibits to life like Art of the Tiffany Era, To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from The Brooklyn Museum, and Chester Arnold: On Earth as It is in Heaven. He also led the rebranding and redesign of collateral for the National Judicial College, moving their look and communication from outdated and stuffy to engaging, commanding, and modern.
Erik has also worked as art director or lead designer for architecture and design firms, ad agencies, newspapers, and high-tech companies. Under his trained eye and artistic hand, many brands have sprung to life and countless advertising campaigns have propelled organizations forward. His breadth of experience makes him particularly well positioned to lead a team that needs to draw design inspiration from several facets.
He has a BA in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BFA with honors in graphic and packaging design from ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California.