What are you doing professionally?

I am the Creative Director of Events & Marketing at New York Magazine, and our websites including Vulture, the Cut, and Grub Street. I lead the team responsible for all non-editorial company design and branding. We do everything from creating house ads in the magazine and sales campaigns targeted to advertisers, to developing and executing multi-platform brand programs for our signature events, such as the Vulture Festival. Prior to New York Magazine, I was the Art Director of Climbing Magazine for three years.

What impact has SVA MFA Design had on your career

The MFAD faculty is drawn from the top designers in New York and studying under them was a life-changing experience. They pushed me harder than I ever thought possible, and prepared me to take my career to places I never thought I’d go. Specifically, the thesis project was a boot camp in solving real-world problems through design, and developing a fully realized brand narrative around that solution. This is a tremendously valuable skillset in today’s rapidly converging design marketplace.

Being a member of the MFAD community, both during and after school, is also an advantage. MFAD alums are working at high levels across the design fields in New York, and the network is influential. I was hired for my current position as a result of a reference from a fellow MFAD alum, and I have hired fellow MFADers.

Has our “do it all” approach changed the way you work or approach a project?

Through the MFAD program, I was able to develop and refine my creative process and approach to problem solving, no matter what medium I may be working in. In my current position, I must be able to seamlessly work across multiple mediums: print, digital, video, and experiential. I draw on the approaches, processes, and skills that I learned through the MFAD program on a daily basis. In particular, I am acutely aware of how a design decision made in one area of a project or brand affects other aspects, and how important it is to fully resolve these relationships across touchpoints.

What advice would you give incoming students?

Throw yourself into the program with reckless abandon. You may want to cut corners, or take the easy road, but don’t. The effort you put in to your time in the MFAD program, you will reap tenfold. You may want to get that extra hour of sleep … but don’t. You can sleep when you’re done.

You can view more of Andy Outis’s  work at http://andyoutis.com

— Andy Outis MFAD ’06