REBECCA TARG

My interests as a graphic designer and artist involve the concepts of editing, systems, language, and palimpsests in the literal and metaphoric senses. The themes of collaboration, translation, indexing, and communication remain constant in my work, which has been shown in galleries and a thus far two-volume project titled fold: the reader, a journal of written and visual work which has been honored in Print Magazine’s Regional Annual. This project allows for collaborations with people from many disciplines, schools, areas and countries. I invite painters, photographers, designers, creative writers, theorists, and social scientists to contribute work under a thematic umbrella and design a book around this work.

My commercial work is often done for creatives and non-profit organizations. Projects include work for Wisconsin Coalition to Normalize Relations with Cuba, the branding of new Chicago creative firms sr4 and JBCreative, as well as work for the federally-funded Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University and bilingual advertising for the NEA-funded Latino Arts Project in Chattanooga, TN. I have done projects for Chattanooga’s Siskin Children’s Hospital and Cress Gallery and for fine artists Maggie McMahon and Angela Dittmar. A poster designed for art cooperative Seed won an award juried by Art Chantry.

I am a resourceful and interdisciplinary educator with high expectations for my students. I believe that teaching conceptual facility is just as important to being a strong designer as knowledge of technology and production techniques; that professional success can be achieved through both if complemented by attention to detail, significant time, energy, and a zest for the endeavor. I think that an educator’s job is to teach by example, cultivate excitement and opportunities, and advocate for her students.