Peter Kery – Program Director, Waltham Campus

Peter recently moved to the Boston area from Philadelphia. His teaching assignments have taken him to the Rhode Island School of Design, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the Art Institute of Boston, Middlesex Community College and The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He has also guest lectured at Northeastern University and UMass-Dartmouth. Client projects include Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, transportation graphics and vehicle identities; the City of Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin Park environmental signage; Olin Partnership Architects, revitalization plan of the University of Pennsylvania reports and manuals; corporate identity for Greater Philadelphia First and Corlears School in New York City; CD and video cover designs for QVC, Helen Reddy, Bobby Rydell and Paul Sorvino; and print collateral for The Philadelphia Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. Peter received his BFA in Graphic Design from The University of the Arts (formerly Philadelphia College of Art). He is principal of McSorley Kery Design, a graphic design studio.

Doug Chaplow – Program Director, Washington DC Campus

Doug Chaplow has been involved with the Web and multimedia development for over 15 years. He has been a freelance developer for over 10 years and brings his real world experience to the classroom. Over the years, he has developed projects for Lockheed Martin, the FBI, and the Smithsonian. He has taught web development and lectured around the world to corporate and government institutions. Always tinkering, Doug looks for the latest trends in technology and gadgets and incorporates them into his curriculum. Doug is a graduate of Virginia Tech.

Ben Caplan – Associate Director, Web Design + Development – Waltham Campus

Benjamin has ten years experience in web and graphic design and web development, though his initial training was as a classical artist. He has worked with various agencies, companies and institutions on projects ranging from branding to illustration to web development, including Children’s Hospital Boston, Cambridge Health Alliance, Brandeis University and Harvard University. Benjamin received a dual B.S./B.A. in Biology and Fine Arts from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Al Lemieux

Al has over 10 years experience in web and graphic design, video editing, Flash and motion graphics. He has been teaching Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator and various other software application programs and topics in the corporate environment and private sector since 1996. He has developed original learning activities and materials for New Horizons Computer Learning Center, Harvard Business School and Northern Essex Community College. Al is a certified Adobe Photoshop expert and a member of the Adobe Flash and InDesign Users Groups in Boston. He hosts four technology blogs focusing on current trends in web design and technology, Flash, Photoshop and Illustrator. Al received his MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Jeremy Osborn – Technical Advisor

Jeremy has over 15 years of experience in web and graphic design, filmmaking, writing and publication development for print and digital media. He has authored, co-authored and been technical editor for several titles in the Adobe Classroom in a Book series. Jeremy has also provided in-depth training and consulting for student and corporate clients including Sony, Canon, Staples and Harvard Business Review, and has taught at universities around the US. Jeremy holds an MS from the Graduate Center of Marlboro College and a BFA in Film/TV from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

Suzette Barbier

Suzette has been a graphic designer, illustrator and fine artist for over 20 years. For the last nine years, she was an art director at an advertising publication in Needham, MA. Her freelance illustration clients include: American Girl, Boston Globe, Cosmopolitan, Gourmet Magazine, McGraw-Hill, Newsday, San Diego Tribune, Scholastic and WGBH. She illustrated One Red Rooster, a children’s book published by Houghton Mifflin, and has had many illustrations included in a variety of text books and anthologies. Suzette graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. She has taught illustration at the college level and is a member of the Graphic Artists Guild. She is Adobe Certified in Illustrator.

Joe Comeau

Joe has more than 10 years of experience in graphic design, illustration and education. Prior to joining CDIA he was senior designer for the Globus Family of Brands and worked for organizations ranging from Fortune 1000 companies to small non-profits. Joe is a member of AIGA and has a background in fine art and illustration, where he blends traditional materials and practices with the latest technology. His client list includes McGraw-Hill, APC and US Sailing. Joe is also a frequent contributor to several monthly magazines.

Michael Connors

Michael has worked for almost 20 years as a professional graphic designer and web developer. Trained as a fine artist, he holds an MFA in Painting from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Educated also at Harvard University and California Institute of the Arts, he holds a Certificate of Special Studies in Administration and Management from Harvard. Michael has served as lead designer on projects for organizations as diverse as EMC Corporation, ABB, Emerson Electric, Textron and the Harvard University Forest. For three years he designed Massachusetts Benchmarks, the quarterly journal of economics published by the President’s Office at the University of Massachusetts. His areas of expertise include art direction, graphic design, digital imaging, publication design, technical illustration, website design and development, strategic communications and strategic planning. Michael understands the importance of developing a comprehensive strategic communications plan, the role it plays in influencing design, and how both ultimately affect an organization’s ability to achieve its goals. Throughout his career Michael has assisted large corporations, small business and major universities alike develop effective design, marketing and communication solutions. Michael thus brings a unique combination of design expertise and business knowledge to every project.

Justin Gagne

Justin is a designer and educator. He is the co-founder and creative director of velle magazine.com, an online space exhibiting established and emerging talent in fashion, design, art, literature and music from around the world. Justin has extensive experience in prepress, web design and has served as an adjunct instructor at Montserrat College of Art teaching web and technology-based courses.

George Hamp

George is art director and a partner at MSHC Partners, one of the nation’s leading political advertising firms. He is a leading voice in an award-winning creative team widely recognized for innovation and excellence in political media. Over the past six years he has worked on hundreds of political campaigns from the local to the federal level, producing direct mail, print collateral and interactive campaigns. In addition, he has directed work for dozens of national membership groups, working on issue advocacy and raising public awareness. His most recent client work includes projects for the United Nations Foundation, Sierra Club, American Cancer Society, Greenpeace, EMILY’s List and AFL-CIO. Prior to joining MSHC, he was art director at a boutique design firm in Central Florida. George also has a background in fine arts and spends his free time moonlighting as a painter and photographer.

Joshua Korenblat

Joshua worked for six years in the art department at National Geographic, where he helped create graphics and art-based layouts. He has freelanced for Smithsonian Magazine and the Consortium for Ocean Leadership as well as many other organizations. He has an MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University and is currently pursuing an MFA in Studio Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Mike Lappin

Mike began his career in the printing trade in NYC making corrections to images on letterpress printing plates for high-end advertising agencies. Thirty years later he does it digitally. In addition to advertising, Mike has worked on images that have appeared in Victoria’s Secret catalog and similar publications. Mike is currently production manager for quality assurance at National Geographic, where he has the privilege of working with some of the best photographers in the world. An avid Photoshop user, Mike also provides photo restoration and retouching services through his company, Just Imagine Photo. He is also a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.

Shauna McNamara
Shauna is a designer, developer and educator with over 10 years experience in the print industry and 5+ years in the web industry.  She began her career working hands-on, in both the digital and offset print environments. Along with being Xerox certified, Shauna has extensive training in package design and the prepress workflow. She started working at CDIA in 2007 and has since developed curriculum for both the Graphic and Web Design Program, along with giving lectures at Boston University’s College of Communication. She has designed and developed websites from Boston to California.

Jeffrey Osborn

Jeffrey has worked for twenty-five years as an art director and graphic designer. After ten years at National Geographic, he left as Deputy Director of Art in 2006 and founded Burning Q Media, a multimedia company based in Washington, DC. His work experience includes visual journalism/editorial art direction, a full spectrum of print design, signage, exhibit design, in-store displays, and a variety of multimedia projects. Clients have included National Geographic, Nikkei National Geographic, Japan-America Society of Washington, DC, Society for Science & the Public, Intellectual Ventures, Boeing, Weyerhaeuser, Apple and Westin Hotels. Teaching assignments have included a visual journalism class for students participating in a summer program at Johns Hopkins University.

Irene Ramirez

Irene has been a digital artist for over 10 years. She is a freelance designer, illustrator, motivator and educator. Prior to graphic and web design her background focused on issues of social justice through human and civil rights work. Her current focus is helping DIY artists and craftspeople, green builders, social service organizations and small businesses establish a presence on the web. Her clients include The Theater Offensive, Partners Health Care, FirstGiving, The Professional Center for Child Development as well as numerous local artists and musicians.

Chrissy Rey-Drapeau

Chrissy has been working on the Web since 1995. A Maryland native, she graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in zoology. After a brief stint as a zookeeper, and then an animal technician in a genetics lab, Chrissy discovered HTML, and then later Flash. She now creates applications using various combinations of Flash (mainly with AS 2.0 and 3.0), XML, PHP, CSS, JavaScript, HTML and other technologies. When she’s not busy working on projects, Chrissy teaches as an adjunct instructor at several local colleges and as a corporate trainer. Chrissy has also been an author, contributing author and technical editor for several books about Flash.

Greg Robleto

Greg has over 10 years experience designing and developing web sites and finding strategies to assure those sites succeed. He graduated with a BA in English from University of Delaware and is currently the Senior User Experience Designer at The Motley Fool in Alexandria, VA. He has a leading role in building the world’s greatest online investment community. Greg is an active member of Refresh DC, DCDB and UX Professionals association.

J. Nicholas Tolson

Nicholas is a freelance web consultant in Washington, DC. Most recently, he was VP of Marketing Technology and Web Development at Erickson Barnett, a leading DC-area full-service marketing agency. During his 10+ years there firm, Nicholas played lead roles in strategy and development for many online and interactive projects for clients such as Greenpeace, NASDAQ, Unisys, VeriSign, and a site announced in a Presidential address at The White House. He holds a BFA from the School of Visual Arts.

Dan Trachtman

Dan has been focused on interactive design since starting his career at the National Museum of American History in 1995. While working as a freelance designer in San Francisco, his clients included Macromedia, Excite and Interbrand. After moving to Washington, DC, he became an art director at America Online, leading the design team of the new broadband division. He also worked at the National Gallery of Art designing online exhibitions to accompany real-world counterparts, including Dada, Dan Flavin, Gilbert Stuart, and Small French Paintings. As an art director at OmniStudio, Dan worked for non-profit clients including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Africare and the National Wildlife Federation. As a freelance designer, he has worked with a number of organizations in the DC-area including NPR. Dan has an MFA in graphic design from California College of the Arts and has received a handful of awards for his work.

George Tuggle

George is an experienced illustrator and graphic artist with over 20 years experience creating illustrations and informational graphics for newspapers, magazines, presentations and interactive CD ROMs. He earned a BFA in Graphic Design at The Kansas City Art Institute and his MFA in illustration from Syracuse University. He has also studied at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago and The School of Visual Arts in New York.

Robert Underwood

Rob has nearly 12 years of print production experience on top of his formal education in the graphic arts. He worked in production and later as Systems Administrator for Media News, publisher of multiple weekly newspapers in suburban Boston, prior to becoming a consultant and instructor for Aquent Graphics Institute.Robert Underwood is currently a Senior Field Engineer at Database Publishing Consultants Inc., he is responsible for a wide range of services including training, technical support, and systems integration.The co-author of six Adobe training books, Underwood is an Adobe Certified Print Specialist, an Adobe Certified Expert in InDesign, Photoshop, and Acrobat.

Jim Webb

Jim works as a Technical Design Manager for National Geographic Digital Media. His team oversees visual branding, user interface, and interactive multimedia design, as well as technical implementation using X/HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX, and Flash. During his tenure at National Geographic, he has directed three site-wide redesigns, designed or redesigned dozens of site sections, shot and edited news videos, directed a usability testing lab, and built multimedia interactives. Before National Geographic, Jim designed infographics for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Jim’s commercial photography is represented by the National Geographic Image Collection and Getty Images. He also shoots documentary style family portraits and teaches photography with National Geographic Photo Camp, giving inner-city teenagers digital cameras so they can tell their own stories, with the help of professional photographers and editors. Jim studied photojournalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His speaking engagements include the Society for News Design, for NPR and PBS, and UNITY: Journalists of Color.

Patrick Haney

Patrick Haney is not a sausage. He’s a designer/developer at Hanerino, a design studio in Boston he helped create in 2009. Before starting his own company, Patrick worked at a number of corporations such as Xerox and Kodak as well as universities, most recently Harvard. In his spare time he organizes monthly events for Refresh Boston, an ad-hoc group for folks interested in web-related topics in the Boston area, and speaks at conferences all over the country.

John Selig

John Selig studied Art and Computer Science at Harvard University, and now works as a freelance web designer, and photographer. In his teaching career, he’s worked with students of all ages and has taught everything from programming to video production to Japanese . John enjoys introducing brand new students to digital media.

Kevin Wilson

Kevin holds two master’s degrees from Yale and a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University, as well as a B.A. in religion and political science from Carson-Newman College. With more than 10 years of experience in web design and development, he has worked with a number of technologies for both server- and client-side applications. He specializes in ActionScript development on the Flash and Flex platforms. Kevin has extensive experience as an instructor, having taught at universities in Virginia, Iowa, Tennessee, and Lithuania. He runs Upper Case Textual Services, which provides book design, electronic typesetting, and digital conversion for publishers.