One Designer’s Leaps + Bounds.

• attended Waukesha West High School,Waukesha, WI
• graduated 2003, BFA Industrial Design
• currently works as an industrial + point of purchase display designer at DCI Marketing, WI

Laura Hackbarth

“My MIAD education got me the job that I currently have. One of my instructors saw potential and talent in me and offered me an internship with the company he worked for. Eventually that internship turned into a full-time job with benefits.”

A small child stands in one of the toy aisles at Target, and I stop briefly to watch him. His hands on the controllers, he is intensely focused on the small screen and learning game he’s playing. And this is the exact connection that Laura Hackbarth hopes for every time she creates a display. Point-of-purchase displays, like this one holding the Leapster L-MAX, allow a consumer to learn more about the product, and possibly even take it for a ‘test drive’, before buying. Hackbarth strives to find ways through her designs to get buyers excited about their purchases. And that little boy was definitely excited.

Q. As a child, what did you think you wanted to be when you grew up?

A. When I was a child, I couldn’t decide between being a zookeeper or a pizza maker.

Q. What is your first memorable experience with art and design?

A. In seventh grade I won an art contest. My still life drawing of glass jars drawn with ebony pencil took first place.

Q. What was the most valuable thing you learned at MIAD?

A. I would have to say that the most valuable thing I leaned at MIAD is that it is important to have a well-rounded education and to learn from the other students and faculty that cross you path while you are there. I know that sounds generic, but having liberal studies classes were a very nice break from the studio courses. You continuing learning about other subjects and are reminded that there is more to life than just art.

Q. What’s the one thing you would tell a high school student who is considering attending MIAD now that you have experienced life after graduation?

A. MIAD is a great school headed in an exciting direction. I know many of the students that I graduated high school with just kind of brushed over MIAD because they wanted to get out of the state. It is truly a unique school with an extremely valuable faculty. It’s hard to find a school which brings together so many major in one building like MIAD does.

Q. If you had to sum up your job in a single sentence, what would it be?

A. I work at a point-of-purchase and display design company where I do hand sketching, computer modeling, and prototype building, and travel around the world.

Q. What are some of your goals for the future, in design and in life?

A. As of right now, my goal is to gain an industry knowledge of point-of-purchase and display design. Since I initially went to MIAD to be a drawing major, I want to get back into doing mixed media drawing and painting for myself, and possibly some commission work. I also have a lot of interest in traveling, though I haven’t gotten to too much of it until I graduated. I want to see all fifty states before I’m fifty years old.

Q. Are there any specific parts of your résumé that you’d like to share? Any notable products or displays that are on the market?

A. I’ve done some substantial work since starting at DCI. At twenty-four years old, I’m the lead designer on the LeapFrog account (the third largest toy manufacturer in the world).

This Fall, four of my displays for some of their small learning products were launched in stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, and Toys-R-Us.

BFA Industrial Design, 1993
Owner, Billy Raygun Design and Listo Tax Solutions

corporate marketing environments for Texas Instruments

Bill Roozée

“The most important thing MIAD taught me was the business side of creativity…”

Bill Roozée’s first job after graduating from MIAD was as a toy designer in Chicago. In 2000, he started Billy Raygun Design, Inc. a trade show agency, named appropriately after his nickname while a student. In 2010, Roozée started a second business, Listo Tax Solutions which provides tax and accounting services to the Hispanic community.

Since founding Billy Raygun Design, Bill has designed for industry providers and for Fortune 100 and 500 companies directly. Throughout his career, Roozée sat on the Board of Directors for the Exhibit Designers and Producers Association (EDPA) local chapter as President. He has spoken multiple times about exhibit design at the Exhibitor Show in Las Vegas (The World Conference and Exhibition for Trade Show and Corporate Event Marketing) and has won multiple awards for his designs.

“During my four years at MIAD, I benefitted from knowledge of some of the best professors in Industrial Design such as Brooks Stevens, Pascal Malassigné, and Frank Lukasavitz whose experience combined, contributed to my actionable approach to design and business. The most important thing MIAD taught me was the business side of creativity. There is no point in being creative if the creativity can’t be applied to business imperatives. That statement alone has been the underlying drive to my success as a designer and businessman.”

corporate marketing environments for Texas Instruments

Graduated 2010, BFA in Industrial Desgin
currently Industrial Designer, Generac Power Systems

Final drawing of the front panel of a Honeywell product

Casey Dougherty

Casey Dougherty is an advocate of functional and smartly designed product experiences. He started his career path in industrial design after watching a show about the Harley Davidson design team, discovering how functionality drives styling. Since then he has attended The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and expanded his knowledge in the field of product design immensely working with several fortune 500 companies. He believes in research and solving problems with elegant solutions. Casey uses a variety of methods to communicate his design intent to internal and external clients: strong sketching skills, verbal/written communication and 3D modeling.

Casey is currently responsible for day to day industrial design activities (product design, CAD, prototyping, working with external vendors and internal teams). My role also includes the development of long term product design strategies and working cross functionally with large teams for product and brand launches.

Lifestyle photography of a Generac car inverter

“MIAD has allowed me to hit the ground running in my career. The experiences and knowledge I gained while in school have helped me immensely specifically; creativity, business knowledge, teamwork, core design skills and know when not to take things to seriously. My experience at MIAD put everything in place for me to become a future leader in innovation and design.”

(left) rendering (right) drawing of an iX1400, from Casey’s senior project done at MIAD in collaboration with Generac

Graduated 2010, BFA in Industrial Desgin
Structural Packaging Designer at Studio One Eleven, a division of Berlin Packaging, Chicago, Illinois

“Trek Bicycle,” digital rendering, 2010

Tien Nguyen

After graduating from MIAD, Tien Nguyen moved to Chicago for an Industrial Design position at CHOi Design, a design consultancy. At CHOi Design, he worked on numerous projects and products from electrical consumer products to home and outdoor appliances. CHOi’s most notable client is Weber Grills. At CHOi Design, Nguyen and his design team put a great number of products on the market, and more to come, for Weber Grills. More recently, Nguyen was offered an opportunity with another design firm and now holds the position of Structural Packaging Designer at Studio One Eleven, a division of Berlin Packaging. Since then, Nguyen has worked on projects for many well-known companies in the beverage industry.

“Trek Bicycle,” prototype, 2010

“Oh MIAD…if I could do it again, I would in a heart beat! From the first Industrial Design class to the very last, all helped get me to where I am now. MIAD and its devoted faculty taught me the fundamental skills I needed to be successful in the design industry. As part of my education, I learned to identify, approach, and solve through traditional techniques, as well as technologically based design programs. MIAD’s Industrial Design program is well rounded, and provided me hands-on experience to work with companies such as Fiskars and Harley-Davidson while in school. Being able to work with well-respected designers, engineers, and even marketing teams was a very valuable experience. MIAD builds strong designers every day.”

“Weber Grill Pincer Tongs,” digital rendering, 2010-11

From College to Car Design and Back Again.

• attended Instituto de Educacao Prof., “Alberto Conti,” San Paulo, Brazil
• graduated 1971, BFA in Industrial Design from Layton School of Art, MIAD’s predecessor
  1991, MFA in Design and Studio Arts from University of Illinois at Chicago
• currently Professor of Advertising Graphic Design at the College of DuPage

David Chu

“One of the most important decisions to make in life is to choose the right college. Choose one that has a dedicated faculty and successful alumni.”

David Chu has had a life well-lived.

As a student at MIAD, he learned fundamental skills which have led him on a diverse path through various art and design careers. “Growing up,” Chu said, “I always wanted to be a car designer.” And Chu lived that childhood dream not long after his studies, when he took a job with General Motors at a design and manufacturing location in Brazil. From car design to advertising, Chu now spends his time teaching design at the college level.

Q. What did you think you wanted to be when you grew up?

A. As a child, I wanted to be a car designer.

Q. What was is your first memorable experience with art and design?

A. My first memorable experience was winning first prize in a high school art competition.

Q. How did your MIAD education affect where you are today?

A. MIAD gave me the foundation I needed to be successful in the fields of art and design. I am fortunate to have chosen MIAD as a part of my education because I learned how to solve problems through traditional techniques and modern technology. When I left my job as a car designer, I was able to get a job in the advertising industry because of the foundations skills I learned at MIAD, such as life drawing, painting, photography, typography, art history, and others. I was able to see the inherent beauty and value of other art and design techniques outside of my major because of foundations.

Q. What are your goals for the future, both in art and design and in life?

A. I plan on writing a book about advertising and design, making video, and participating in community affairs helping minority students.

Q. Are there any specific parts of your résumé that you would like to share? Notable products you’ve created or job positions you’ve held?

A. After graduation, I worked as a package designer at Green Bay Packaging. After a year as a graduate student at the University of Illinois-Urbana, I was working as a car designer for General Motors in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

At advertising agencies, I’ve designed packaging, exhibits, advertisements, and promotional campaigns for companies such as Ford, Kodak, Nestle, and Unilever.

Employers + Clients:

• General Motors
• Frigidaire
• Ford Motor Company
• Nestle
• College of DuPage
• Kodak
• Unilever

Notable Awards:

• St. Regis Packaging Award
• Premio Colunista, Festival Brasileiro Promocao Embalagem
• Faculty Award at the University of Illinois in Chicago
• Best Instruction video “3-D Design Techniques with Plastic Models” for the College of DuPage at AECT Annual Conference + International Exposition sponsored by 3M + PBS.