New to the DML: Carlin Soos

Carlin Soos Seed Packets, 2014 From thesis exhibition: Semiotics of the Garden Digital print

Hey, everyone! I’m Carlin, a first year MA student at the Bard Graduate Center, and the newest addition to the Digital Media Lab.

Carlin Soos Superstition, 2013 Screenprint

As one would expect when jumping into graduate study, the past few weeks have been filled with a lot of very exciting changes. I recently moved from Portland, Maine, where I did my undergraduate studies in graphic design and art history at the Maine College of Art. With this location switch, from a medium-sized city in New England to the largest on the East Coast, I am also launching a change in professional focus: from a practicing graphic designer to a researcher of the discipline.

For the past four years I was deeply involved in various graphic design practices. I interned for a moderately sized advertising firm in Portland, switched to a smaller design studio where I focused more on identity and print design, worked as an in-house designer for an art college, and did historical research for two type designers currently creating typefaces for N’ko and Ge’ez scripts. I’ve tried a bit of everything, and had some great experiences. However, as my academic studies turned more towards art history and theory, I began to think about graphic design not solely as a contemporary practice, but as a field with a rich history—a history that is, sadly, often neglected in contemporary art historical study. I’m excited to fuse my passions for graphic design and historical research, and seek to add contributions to the growing field of typographic history.

I have found at the BGC an amazingly supportive community that is encouraging of my research interests, which (at the moment) focuses mostly on twentieth-century graphic design, advertising, and print propaganda from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the history of typeface design. The DML is just one more place at the BGC where I can combine my various interests in material culture, design, and technology, and help others engage in the various fields I love. Over the years the DML has become a project hub at the BGC, supporting faculty and students in creating incredibly accomplished projects. During my time in the lab I hope to show others the amazing opportunities technology offers, and give them the support and encouragement they need to use it to the highest degree.

Carlin Soos Wormwood Wordmark, 2014 From thesis exhibition: Semiotics of the Garden Screenprint