Gail Anderson in conversation with Grace Enemaku

Brought to you by Design West, Design Skillnet and the Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI).

Join us for an intimate discussion between New York-based designer and illustrator Gail Anderson, and award-winning Irish designer and illustrator, Grace Enemaku.

Gail will share her incredible career story, from working at The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine leading Rolling Stone’s iconic design style from 1987 through to 2002; after which she established Anderson Newton Design with Joe Newton. Through all she has worked as an educator and advocate, has co-authored books with Stephen Heller, and has served on the board of the Type Directors Club and Adobe Partners by Design. She is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award by AIGA among many other accolades. 

She will be in conversation with Grace Enemaku, co-founder of IDI’s DesignOpp initiative to champion people of colour in the design sector. Together they will discuss career journeys, what it is to be a woman of colour working in design, and how to influence change for good.

The event comes prior to Gail joining colleagues from Pentagram, Studio Mut and leading Irish design Studios as part of the Design West summer school in Letterfrack, Connemara. 

It is brought to you thanks to FLOW, the IDI and Design Skillnet’s online platform to support designers and employers through their career journeys. 

About the Speakers

Gail Anderson

American designer, illustrator, writer, and educator Gail Anderson is Chair of BFA Design and BFA Advertising at the School of Visual Arts and creative director at Visual Arts Press.

Gail Anderson is the former creative director of design at SpotCo, a New York City advertising agency that creates artwork for Broadway and institutional theatre and served as a senior art director at Rolling Stone magazine (from 1987 to early 2002).

Anderson now serves on the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee for the US Postal Service and the advisory boards of Poster House and The One Club for Creativity. She is an AIGA Medalist, the 2018 recipient of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement, and a 2022 Art Directors Club Manship Medallion honoree.

Her work is represented in the Library of Congress’s permanent collection, the Milton Glaser Design Archives, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Grace Enemaku

Grace Enemaku is an award-winning, Nigerian-Irish multidisciplinary designer and illustrator from Dublin, who creates branding and illustration for the unconventional.

She is a founder of DesignOpp, an IDI initiative to champion diversity for People of Colour in the Irish design and creative industry.

Her work is filled with colour and playful shapes, featuring a diverse array of characters. Her projects vary from conceptual branding for startups and SMEs to print and illustration for the local arts.

Select clients include Arnotts, Guinness, Cadburys, Facebook/Meta, The Science Gallery, Gill Books & more.

She won a 100 Archive Award in 2020 for her Dublin Vinyl record packaging and has exhibited with Hen’s Teeth, Music, Memory and the Night and Where Are The Black Designers. 

Her first illustrated children’s book I Believe In You by Deborah Somorin was published by Gill Books in 2022.

Book your ticket

About FLOW

Created by Design Skillnet and IDI, FLOW is an interactive ​​career development tooldesigned to help designers and managers to plan career development, together.

Visit FLOW for more information.