Kyle Curtis | SUNY Oswego

BFA Graphic Design

Biography

Kyle Curtis is a graphic designer and photographer based in upstate New York. His background in computer science helped him develop an affinity for the combination of technology and the arts and has explored the intersection of the two through various mediums.

Kyle's experience with photography was refined through a product photography internship during the summer of 2019. As a graphic designer, his work has focused mainly on branding identity, web design, and vector art. He gained valuable experience in the field through a 2019 internship as a creative marketing designer for a Long Island based architecture firm. He took on the role of Creative Director for a startup company based in Binghamton, NY.

His work has been featured in the Pathfinder Bank Gallery and the SUNY Oswego Student Juried Exhibition. After graduation, Kyle is looking to work in the graphic and web design industry while starting his professional career in photography.

Artist Statement

Unlike most other art students, I didn’t discover my interest in the arts until halfway through my second year of college, when I was pursuing a computer science degree. Before that turning point, I had always unknowingly shown an interest in photography - constantly putting a great deal of thought into the perspective of my exposures and trying to follow the rules of composition I hadn’t even learned about yet, using the camera on my phone. It was in that second year of college that I became close friends with two BFA students who helped me realize my own passion for the arts, and upon the acceptance of one of my photographs to the 54th Annual Juried Student Exhibition at Tyler Hall, I promptly changed my major.

My goals since beginning my journey as an artist have been to become an experienced graphic designer and photographer, and to find a career in either one or both of those fields. Given my background in Computer Science, it’s easy to say that the tools brought to us by technology are those that I see among the most useful to me in the arts. While the foundation of my education in the arts focused on formal elements and traditional techniques, it’s those concepts that I aim to utilize in what I experiment with and create using technology.
The work I’ve included in the BFA Exhibition is intended to show a small collection of the various styles, forms and purposes of the work I have created during my time at Oswego. Some of this work investigates the functionality of design, some of it shows what the use of technology can reveal to us, and some are just meaningful pieces to me.

Illustrated postage stamps depicting scenes from Acadia, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Yosemite National Parks

National Parks Forever Stamps
Medium: Adobe Illustrator
2019
Type and Image
Illustrated postage stamps depicting scenes from Acadia, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Yosemite National Parks

A long exposure photograph showing the movement of stars in the night sky above the Bluffs and Lake Ontario in Sterling, New York

Star Trails
Digital Photography
5118x7673 px
2021
A long exposure photograph showing the movement of stars in the night sky above the Bluffs and Lake Ontario in Sterling, New York

A photograph of a glassy, calm river reflecting a purple night sky and stars above it in Fulton, New York.

In Passing #3
Digital Photography
1920x1281 px
2019
Intermediate Photography
A photograph of a glassy, calm river reflecting a purple night sky and stars above it in Fulton, New York.

A poster design featuring the face of a red panda made up of many lines of warped and colored text. The text contains words about how red pandas are being driven towards extinction. These words that make up the face also contain a call to action, “Save the Red Panda.” The poster says “Donate Now” at the bottom.

Save the Red Panda
Adobe Illustrator
11”x17”
2019
Type and Image
A poster design featuring the face of a red panda made up of many lines of warped and colored text. The text contains words about how red pandas are being driven towards extinction. These words that make up the face also contain a call to action, “Save the Red Panda.” The poster says “Donate Now” at the bottom.

An illustrated movie poster for a made-up film called “The Vet.” The poster shows a puppy laying down with a black shoe in its mouth, and a cat sitting and licking its paw. Both characters have blood splattered on their paws and mouths. In the background, there is a silhouette of a male figure (a veterinarian) wearing a white lab coat and nametag, and he has a target on his head.

‘The Vet’ Movie Poster
Photoshop
11”x17”
2017
Digital Media
An illustrated movie poster for a made-up film called “The Vet.” The poster shows a puppy laying down with a black shoe in its mouth, and a cat sitting and licking its paw. Both characters have blood splattered on their paws and mouths. In the background, there is a silhouette of a male figure (a veterinarian) wearing a white lab coat and nametag, and he has a target on his head.

The front cover design made for the SUNY Oswego Department of Art and Design. The cover shows a collection of artwork made by past and current students of the graphic design program. The artwork is arranged in a collage grid, and in the center is the title “Graphic Design.”

SUNY Oswego Graphic Design Brochure
Adobe InDesign
8.5x11”
2021
Graphic Design Practicum
The front cover design made for the SUNY Oswego Department of Art and Design. The cover shows a collection of artwork made by past and current students of the graphic design program. The artwork is arranged in a collage grid, and in the center is the title “Graphic Design.”

Great Eastern Brewing Company Logo
Adobe Illustrator
1500x1500 px
2018
Typography
This is a circular logo with a banner wrapped around the middle. The banner says “Great Eastern Brew. Co., Est. 2018. The circle behind the banner is a compass whose background is an overlay of an old sailing map, and at the center is a star shape.

TBD

Stuck in a Loop
Procreate Animation
1920x1080 px
2020
Multimedia
A digital hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation that looks like pencil sketched on paper. The black and white animating loop shows a figure smoking, falling backwards into a bed, and blowing out smoke, which leads to the start of the loop again.

This image is a 3-dimensional mockup rendered using Adobe Dimension. It shows three identical boxes with a redesign of the Crystal Light branded packaging, at 3 different angles. The design for the packaging was created in Adobe Illustrator using assets made with Adobe Photoshop.

Crystal Light Branding and Packaging Redesign
Adobe Illustrator
2000x1401 px
2021
Branding and Packaging Design
This image is a 3-dimensional mockup rendered using Adobe Dimension. It shows three identical boxes with a redesign of the Crystal Light branded packaging, at 3 different angles. The design for the packaging was created in Adobe Illustrator using assets made with Adobe Photoshop.

This piece is a close up representation of my clenched hand made using acrylic paint and colored pencil. The shape of the hand represents the feeling of stress and the way my body reacts to that emotion physically. The hand takes up the entire frame so that there is no background.

Stress
Acrylic and colored pencil on posterboard
18”x24”
2019
Painting I
This piece is a close up representation of my clenched hand made using acrylic paint and colored pencil. The shape of the hand represents the feeling of stress and the way my body reacts to that emotion physically. The hand takes up the entire frame so that there is no background.