Kirk Simpson's Projects

BFA Student

Major: Graphic Design

Graduation Year: 2018

Artist Statement:

I am a graphic designer, a storyteller, shaping ideas with words, type, imagery, and color, forming a conduit between the events I create and my audience, eliciting emotional bonds that communicate and inspire. I’m also an actor. I have a theatrical voice. I am gestural, emotive, and larger than life. When I walk on stage my presence is felt. My facial expressions can be read across the room. My voice is clear and booming. These are the qualities of my design aesthetic. Through clarity, imagery, color, and form, my design reaches out to my audience. My design is the actor in lights, on stage, and in motion, ready for the audience to find meaning in, a story understood, and a voice heard.
Graphic design communicates an event to the viewer. It brings a voice to those who may not have one. We live in a world where diversity is celebrated and our inner and outer freaks can be embraced. Through this thesis myyourour: stories through design, my intent is to use graphic design to share my, your, and our story, stepping on–stage, letting the lights illuminate the narrative needing to be heard.

Biography:

As of May 2018, Kirk is a graduate of Maine College of Art holding a BFA in Graphic Design. He shapes ideas with words, type, imagery, and color forming a conduit between the events he creates and his audience, eliciting emotional bonds that communicate and inspire. In 2018 he was selected for both the Art Director’s Club Endowed Scholar and the James Dustin ‘81 Endowed Memorial Scholar award. Kirk was awarded 2nd Place Best Overall in the 2017 Maine College of Art Merit Scholarship Exhibit and won a Silver Broderson Award for his poster design for the Cape Elizabeth Beach to Beacon 20th Running. Kirk interned at the V/A Agency during the Summer of 2017, where alongside the Associate Creative Director, brainstormed, created and executed design concepts for Golden Corral Restaurant, CertainTeed, and Tandem Coffee Roasters. Whether creating by hand or on digital platforms, he is fearless in his making. Kirk’s second passion is acting, and as a lover of improvisation and interactive theater, he mixes that spontaneity into his designs bringing about larger than life work with playful, unexpected results.