COURTNEY UTT is an award-winning visual designer, branding strategist and photographer based in San Francisco. For the past decade, she has designed books, CDs, DVDs, print periodicals and marketing materials for some of America’s most influential publishers, including
VIZ Media,
Akashic Books,
Asphodel LTD,
PM Press and
Zeek. Courtney holds a BA in Fine Art/Photography from UC Santa Cruz, and was raised in San Diego, California. In her spare time, she has travelled throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Courtney speaks some Spanish, and is currently learning Japanese.
Download PDF
OVERVIEW
- Visual design strategies for product branding and identity.
- Design includes identity collateral, books, DVDs, CDs, magazines, product catalogs, product packaging, websites, posters, flyers, investment documents, marketing ephemera & convention booth displays.
- Some Flash, HTML and CSS.
- Expert knowledge of offset, web, stochastic, letterpress and silkscreen printing, as well as spot color separation and custom dies.
Photographic skills include color & b+w processing and printing, wet collodion (ambrotypes & tintypes), alternative processes, 35mm, medium and large format, Polaroid, subminiature and homemade pinhole cameras.
AWARDS
2010
Venus Febriculosa, 50 Best Covers,
The Name of the Rose
2009
DRAWN! Favourite Comics and Art Books,
GoGo Monster
2008
Batchelder Award,
Brave Story
2008
PASS Award,
From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther Robert Hillary King
NOMINATIONS
2010
Eisner Award,
Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka
2010
Spinetingler Magazine, Best Cover,
I-5: A Novel of Crime, Transport, and Sex
2009
Los Angeles Times Book Prize,
GoGo Monster
PUBLICATIONS
Fotolog.book, Thames & Hudson, 2006
Don’t Think Just Shoot, Booth Clibborn Editions, 2003
EDUCATION
University of California, Santa Cruz
BA, Fine Art/Photography, 1995-1998
1998-1999 William Hyde & Susan Benteen Irwin Scholarship
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
VIZ Media, San Francisco CA
Senior Designer, 2005-2010
Provided visual identity and graphic design services to the Editorial, Magazine, Marketing, and Animation Production departments which publish manga, anime, novels and trade books of original works and materials originally published in Japan. I also collaborated with editors, production staff, and marketing staff to determine strategic visual identities per property, and assisted in communicating these guidelines to both freelance and in-house graphic designers.
Winning Directions, San Francisco CA
Pre-Press, 2004
Pre-press for political direct mail pieces for the 2004 election season.
Stormm Graphicworks, San Francisco CA
Designer & Pre-Press, 2000-2003
Full-service shop for design + printing and fulfillment. Design included logos, business cards, stationery, catalogs, programs, postcards, restaurant menus, newsletters, annual reports, invitations and web banners.
Compton Research & Publishing, London England
Designer, 1999
Design and page layout for monthly newsletters.
University of California Literary Press, Santa Cruz CA
Designer, 1997-1998
Co-designed Quarry West 34,
Ron Silliman and the Alphabet, an edition of 2,000 with hand printed letterpress cover and bookmark. Printed in conjunction with Felicia Rice at
Moving Parts Press.
SELECTED FREELANCE CLIENTS
Nojo Restaurant, 2010
Identity and website design for Chef Greg Dunmore’s forthcoming restaurant.
State Bird Provisions, 2010
Identity, website design, investor package design for Chefs Brioza and Krasinski’s current catering business and new restaurant group,
Dove Oak.
Zeek, 2009-2010
Magazine, logo and marketing collateral redesign beginning with their Fall 2009 Issue.
Kung Pao Kosher Comedy, 2002-2010
Postcard, poster & advertising design for
Funny Girlz,
Kung Pao Kosher Comedy,
Make Laugh Not War,
The George Bush Going Away Party, and
The Color of Funny.
Akashic Books, 2000-2009
Book design & photography for
Joel Schalit’s Israel Vs. Utopia, Jerusalem Calling, and
The Anti-Capitalism Reader.
Blue Bottle Coffee, 2009
Assisted in creating the
Richard Avedon cake illustrations for their SFMOMA cafe.
Dimensions Clinic, 2009
Art direction and design of
The Little Black Book 2, a youth resource guide for Bay Area LGBT agencies.
PM Press, 2007-2009
Logo design for PM Press, their Pamphlet series, and science fiction imprint
Switchblade. Art direction, cover and interior book design for 15 books including
Banksy Locations & Tours, by Martin Bull;
From The Bottom of the Heap, by Robert Hillary King;
I-5: A Novel of Crime, Transport, and Sex, by Summer Brenner;
Labor Law for the Rank & Filer, by Staughton Lynd & Daniel Gross;
The Jook, by Gary Phillips;
Wobblies and Zapatistas, by Staughton Lynd & Andrej Grubacic.
Natural World Museum, 2007
Design and production of their catalog
Envisioning Change. Published in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme for the international traveling exhibition
Melting Ice/Hot Topic.
Other Magazine, 2007
Guest designer for Issue 13,
The Dead Magazines Issue. Published by
Charlie Jane Anders and
Annalee Newitz of
io9.
Rubicon Restaurant, 2005
Menu redesign for Chef Brioza.
Tikkun Magazine, 2004-2005
Design of marketing mailers and full-page advertisements placed in
The New York Times.
WritersCorpsSF, 2002-2004
Project management and design of the 2003 anthology
Talkin’ Back, a collection of 14 chap books and 2 CDs; and the 2004 10-Year Anniversary anthology
10, a collection of 10 chap books and 1 CD. These limited edition chap book collections were a joint project of the San Francisco Public Library and San Francisco Arts Commission.
Asphodel Ltd, 2000-2003
CD, LP, book and marketing materials design and production for
Broker/Dealer, Initial Public Offering;
Iannis Xenakis, Persepolis + Remixes;
Invsble Skratch Piklz, Vs Da Klams Uv Deth;
Ken Nordine, Colors;
Ken Nordine, Wink;
Ken Nordine, A Transparent Mask;
The Skeleton, by Spike Milliken;
[The User], Abandon;
Tipsy, Hard Petting;
Tipsy, Uh-Oh!;
Yasunao Tone, Yasunao Tone.
Incidental Music, 2001-2003
CD design and illustration for
Nothing Left To Lose: A Tribute to Kris Kristofferson;
Elders of Zion, Dawn Refuses To Rise.
