MIAD professor brings love of branding to projects and students

Surfing Heritage & Culture Center; wordmark designed by Brian Bowles ’01 

Brian Bowles ’01, professor of Communication Design at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), finds freelance projects “deeply fulfilling” and beneficial to himself and to his students.

“Designing brand identities and logos engages every part of who I am…,” Bowles says. “I love every part of the process, and I love sharing these experiences with my classes. I do a number of freelance projects a year mostly focused on branding and/or packaging. Working on them keeps me connected to the design industry, ensuring my skills and knowledge stay current and relevant.

“These experiences also allow me to bring real-world challenges and insights into the classroom and help students understand how design theory gets used in practice. Because of the projects, I am able to model the adaptability, professionalism, creativity and grit that I encourage in my students every day.”

Bowles recently worked on rebranding the Surfing Heritage & Culture Center (SHACC) based in Los Angeles and founded by the surf photographer and industry pioneer Dick Metz. The project was brought to Bowles by Nick Waraksa ’04, who is a partner/creative director for Make.Believe.Pictures.

“The scope was to rebrand the SHACC visually and also to imagine the SHACC becoming The Surfing Hall of Fame,” says Bowles. “Several of us worked on new identity marks for the brand and mine was the one we moved forward with.

“When I get a project like this, I approach it the same way I teach it. It is about following the process of design: 1. Research; 2. Ideating and Sketching; 3. Designing & Iterating; 4. Getting Feedback; 5. Presenting Final Ideas, with steps 3 and 4 being a loop until the idea comes to fruition.”

“It can be a challenge at times balancing classes and faculty responsibilities with working professionally and also trying to have a life outside of work,” admits Bowles, who was a long-time creative leader at Kohl’s and Jo-Ann Stores. ”I make sure to never take on too much work or too many clients. The good thing is that all of the clients I work with are respectful of my time and understanding of my obligations to my students.”

View the wordmark that Bowles designed on the SHACC website. Learn more about MIAD’s award-winning Communication Design major.