COURTNEY UTT is an award-winning visual designer, branding strategist and photographer based in San Francisco. For the past decade, she has designed books, CDs, DVDs, print periodicals and marketing materials for some of America’s most influential publishers, including
VIZ Media,
Akashic Books,
Asphodel LTD,
PM Press and
Zeek. Courtney holds a BA in Fine Art/Photography from UC Santa Cruz, and was raised in San Diego, California. In her spare time, she has travelled throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Courtney speaks some Spanish, and is currently learning Japanese.
Download PDF
OVERVIEW
- Visual design strategies for product branding and identity.
- Design includes collateral, websites, interactive pdfs, books, DVDs, CDs, magazines, product catalogs, product packaging, posters, flyers, investment documents, marketing ephemera & convention booth displays.
- Some HTML, Flash, Drupal, PHP, and CSS.
- Expert knowledge of offset, web, stochastic, letterpress and silkscreen printing, as well as spot color separation and custom dies.
Photographic skills include color & b+w processing and printing, wet collodion (ambrotypes & tintypes), alternative processes, 35mm, medium and large format, Polaroid, subminiature and homemade pinhole cameras.
AWARDS
2010
Venus Febriculosa, 50 Best Covers,
The Name of the Rose
2009
DRAWN! Favourite Comics and Art Books,
GoGo Monster
2008
Batchelder Award,
Brave Story
2008
PASS Award,
From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther Robert Hillary King
NOMINATIONS
2012
Graphis Poster Annual, Juniper Networks,
The 1st Year of the New Network
2011
Eisner Award,
House of Five Leaves
2010
Eisner Award,
Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka
2010
Spinetingler Magazine, Best Cover,
I-5: A Novel of Crime, Transport, and Sex
2009
Los Angeles Times Book Prize,
GoGo Monster
PHOTOGRAPHY PUBLICATIONS
Alice Waters: It's not hard to wash a salad!, Apartamento Magazine, April 2011
Fotolog.book, Thames & Hudson, 2006
Don’t Think Just Shoot, Booth Clibborn Editions, 2003
We Owe You Nothing: Punk Planet, The Collected Interviews, Akashic Books, 2001
old wave new ride, Eamonn Vitt. The Self-Starter Foundation, 2001
EDUCATION
University of California, Santa Cruz
BA, Fine Art/Photography, 1995-1998
1998-1999 William Hyde & Susan Benteen Irwin Scholarship
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
AIGA San Francisco
Volunteer Chair, 2011-2013
Coordinate volunteer needs with our board for each of our events throughout the year, manage all volunteers at each event, and am the point person for all people inquiring about volunteering with us and becoming members.
Landor Associates, San Francisco CA
Senior Implementation Specialist, 2011
Assisted in creating all content and exhibits for their first Online Brand Resource Center for Nextel, which went live in September 2011 in Brasil, México, Argentina, Perú and Chile. The site houses all brand guidelines and assets, is used internally as well as with third party vendors, and was created in English, Spanish & Portuguese.
Souciant, Seattle WA
Art Director, 2010-2011
Visual designer for site launch, ongoing art direction, and permanent member of editorial staff.
John McNeil Studio, Berkeley CA
Design Consultant, 2010-2011
Design and branding of online, mobile and print media projects for Jobvite, Juniper, Junos, Nokia and Proxy SF.
VIZ Media, San Francisco CA
Senior Designer, 2005-2010
Visual brand management of their international multimedia publishing company based out of Tokyo, San Francisco and Paris. My design work from VIZ has been distributed internationally, appearing in print in Europe, Central and South America, and Australia. In addition to my design work I also managed all of the freelance designers that we had working on our continuing publications, and supervised the integration of their graphic design efforts into our existing internationally-recognised brands.
Winning Directions, San Francisco CA
Designer, 2004
Designed political direct mail pieces for the 2004 election season.
Stormm Graphicworks, San Francisco CA
Designer, 2000-2003
Full-service shop for design + printing and fulfillment. Design included logos, business cards, stationery, catalogs, programs, postcards, restaurant menus, newsletters, annual reports, invitations and web banners.
Compton Research & Publishing, London UK
Designer, 1999
Design and page layout of their clients’ monthly newsletters.
University of California Literary Press, Santa Cruz CA
Designer, 1997-1998
Co-designed Quarry West 34,
Ron Silliman and the Alphabet, an edition of 2,000 with hand printed letterpress cover and bookmark. Printed in conjunction with Felicia Rice at
Moving Parts Press.
SELECTED FREELANCE CLIENTS
Kasnoff Cosmetics, 2011-2012
Identity, website, packaging & stationery design for Christina Kasnoff’s new skincare company and makeup line.
Industrial College of the Armed Forces, 2011-2012
Design and production of their interactive pdf syllabuses for their National Security Studies Courses.
Cedar Hill: Kitchen + Smokehouse, 2011
Identity, website, menu, stationery & interior design for Jonathan Rietz and Emily Lai’s new restaurant in the Marina district.
The Progress, 2011
State Bird Provisions, 2010-2011
Identity, investor package designs and temporary landing page for Chefs Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski’s two upcoming restaurants in the Fillmore district.
Garcia & Son Electric, 2011
Website & business card design for Ed Garcia’s new business in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Apartamento Magazine, 2011
Photoshoot with Alice Waters in her home for
Alice Waters: It’s not hard to wash a salad! in their
April 2011 issue.
Nojo Restaurant, 2010-2011
Identity, website, menu, t-shirt, stationery & signage design for Chef Greg Dunmore’s izakaya and yakitori restaurant in Hayes Valley.
Zeek, 2009-2011
Magazine, logo and marketing collateral redesign beginning with their Fall 2009 Issue. More recent projects include eReader and other new media production and design.
Kung Pao Kosher Comedy, 2002-2011
Postcard, poster & advertising design for
Funny Girlz,
Kung Pao Kosher Comedy,
Make Laugh Not War,
The George Bush Going Away Party, and
The Color of Funny.
Support.com, 2010
Marketing collateral, website and identity design and production for their marketing department.
Akashic Books, 2000-2009
Book design & photography for
Joel Schalit’s Israel Vs. Utopia, Jerusalem Calling, and
The Anti-Capitalism Reader.
Blue Bottle Coffee, 2009
Assisted in creating the
Richard Avedon cake illustrations for their SFMOMA cafe.
Dimensions Clinic, 2009
Art direction and design of
The Little Black Book 2, a youth resource guide for Bay Area LGBT agencies.
PM Press, 2007-2009
Logo design for PM Press, their Pamphlet series, and science fiction imprint
Switchblade. Art direction, cover and interior book design for 15 books including
Banksy Locations & Tours, by Martin Bull;
From The Bottom of the Heap, by Robert Hillary King;
I-5: A Novel of Crime, Transport, and Sex, by Summer Brenner;
Labor Law for the Rank & Filer, by Staughton Lynd & Daniel Gross;
The Jook, by Gary Phillips;
Wobblies and Zapatistas, by Staughton Lynd & Andrej Grubacic.
Natural World Museum, 2007
Design and production of their catalog
Envisioning Change. Published in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme for the international traveling exhibition
Melting Ice/Hot Topic.
Other Magazine, 2007
Guest designer for Issue 13,
The Dead Magazines Issue. Published by
Charlie Jane Anders and
Annalee Newitz of
io9.
Rubicon Restaurant, 2005
Menu redesign for Chef Brioza.
Tikkun Magazine, 2004-2005
Design of marketing mailers and full-page advertisements placed in
The New York Times.
WritersCorpsSF, 2002-2004
Project management and design of the 2003 anthology
Talkin’ Back, a collection of 14 chap books and 2 CDs; and the 2004 10-Year Anniversary anthology
10, a collection of 10 chap books and 1 CD. These limited edition chap book collections were a joint project of the San Francisco Public Library and San Francisco Arts Commission.
Incidental Music, 2001-2003
CD design and illustration for
Nothing Left To Lose: A Tribute to Kris Kristofferson;
Elders of Zion, Dawn Refuses To Rise.
Asphodel Ltd, 2000-2003
CD, LP, book and marketing materials design and production for
Broker/Dealer, Initial Public Offering;
Iannis Xenakis, Persepolis + Remixes;
Invsble Skratch Piklz, Vs Da Klams Uv Deth;
Ken Nordine, Colors;
Ken Nordine, Wink;
Ken Nordine, A Transparent Mask;
The Skeleton, by Spike Milliken;
[The User], Abandon;
Tipsy, Hard Petting;
Tipsy, Uh-Oh!;
Yasunao Tone, Yasunao Tone.
SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITIONS
2006
The Lab,
Post-Postcard 10, An open-invitational exhibition where I sold small format multiples of
stereograms created with my
Lomo Sputnik medium format camera. San Francisco CA.
2004
four white walls,
Pinhole, Holga, Polaroid. Phoenix AZ.
2003
Red Devil Lounge,
Viv and a Movie. San Francisco CA.
2002
Foto-Grafix Books, Participated in a Slide Slam hosted by
Todd Hido. San Francisco CA.
Anno Domini,
Lomo Wall Group Exhibition. San Jose CA.
2001
Lomo Summer Sampling Games, Photo album I created was on a tour of all international Lomo Embassies through Summer 2002.
2000
Beit Schalit, Contributed a photograph of Joel Schalit to his family museum. Rishon Le Zion, Israel.
Powerhouse,
Black Foot Oxygen, Group Exhibition. Del Mar CA.
Un-Un Boutique,
3 Strong, Group Exhibition. San Diego CA.
1999
Sesnon Gallery, Irwin Fellowship Group Exhibition. UC Santa Cruz, Porter College.
Smith Gallery,
Novas, Student Work Group Exhibition. UC Santa Cruz, Cowell College.
1998
Southern Exposure,
Shrink, Northern California Artists Group Exhibition. San Francisco CA.
JB Hall Gallery,
The Equation Equals Zero. UC Santa Cruz, Porter College.
Smith Gallery,
Novas, Student Work Group Exhibition. UC Santa Cruz, Cowell College.
