2014 Clarvit Design Week Lecture Series

This year, we have quite a few distinguished speakers coming to the University of Maryland for Clarvit Design Week. Below is a bit about this year's speakers and their lectures:


Our keynote speaker for this year is Rick Valicenti, presenting his lecture Still trying to get it right! Three decades of design practice. 

Rick Valicenti is the founder and design director of Thirst/3st, a communication design firm devoted to art, function, and real human presence. He has been influencing the design discourse internationally since 1988 and is a leading presence in design as a practitioner, educator, and mentor.

The White House honored Valicenti in 2011 with the Smithsonian Cooper­​Hewitt National Design Award for Communication Design. In 2006, he received the AIGA Medal, the highest honor of the graphic design profession for his sustained contribution to design excellence and the development of the profession. Valicenti is a former president of the Society of Typographic Arts (STA) and is a member of the AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale) since being invited in 1998. In 2004, he was recognized as a Fellow of the AIGA Chicago.

Over the past 30 years, Valicenti has publicly presented his work through lectures, workshops, and critiques on the design industry to more than 100 professional and college audiences on five continents. He has edited a 356­​page monograph on the Thirst work titled, Emotion as Promotion, published in 2005 by the Monacelli Press.

Valicenti and Thirst's work is included in the permanent collection of the Cooper­Hewitt National Design Museum and the 2006 Triennial, Design Life Now, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Library of the Museum of Modern Art. The work continues to advance the public design discourse while pushing the boundaries of graphic and intermedia design.

Rick Valicenti will be speaking on Thursday, April 10th in The Art Gallery at 6:00pm

He will also be giving a workshop for students on Friday, April 11th from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

To view his work or the work of the practice, you can visit his or the Thirst website. 

Our first speakers of the series are Matthew Mangan and Sam Rooeintan from Marstudio.

Marstudio is a Graphic Design Agency and Creative Marketing Firm all in one. Working with clients from all over the D.C, Maryland, Virginia area, they offer a range of services from print design, to branding, to web design, attracting clients both big and small.

A University of Maryland alumnus, Matthew Mangan is Marstudio's Studio Director. Mangan runs daily studio operations such as sales consultations, networking events, and project management on top of researching and meeting with potential clients.

Sam Rooeintan is the Creative Director and Vice President at Marstudio. A graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the College for International Studies, Rooeintan has worked for companies like the Discovery Channel, CoStar Group, and Network Solutions. His multinational design experience gives him a unique perspective when designing for clients in the DMV.

Matthew Mangan and Sam Rooeintan will be speaking at 6:45pm on Tuesday, April 1st in Rm. 2322 of the Art/Sociology Building. 

To learn more about Marstudio, Matthew Mangan, or Sam Rooeintan, you can visit the Marstudio Website.



Our second speaker of the series will be University of Maryland alumni, Christie Liberatore. 

After graduating from the University of Maryland with a BA in Studio Art, concentrating in Graphic Design, Liberatore took part in The School of Visual Arts' Masters Workshop, extending her studies to Rome. After practicing in Washington D.C. for a bit, she is now working in Philadelphia.

Christie Liberatore will be coming to present her work on Sunday, April 6th at 6:00pm.

To see some of Christie Liberatore's work, you can visit her website.

Our final speaker is another alumni of the university, Katie Friedgen.

With a BA in Studio Art, concentration in Graphic Design, and a minor in Art History from the University of Maryland, Friedgen went onto receive a Certificate of Web Design and Development from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Since then, she has interned at the Consero Group LLC, worked as a Creative Associate at United By Blue, as a Freelance Designers and Photographer, and is currently a Front-End Web Developer for Anthropologie. 

Katie Friedgen will be presenting her work on Monday, April 7th at 6:00pm. 

To see some of Katie Friedgen's work, you can visit her website.

Before the Keynote lecture and our alumni lectures, on March 8th from 11:00am to 1:00pm, AIGA Portfolio Review Day will be held in the University's student union for students in the Graphic Design concentration.