RICK SLUSHER

Rick Slusher is Design Director at Addison in New York, with a decade of experience in the design industry. Born and raised in Cincinnati OH, at age 5 he picked up a crayon and started drawing and hasn't stopped since. Slusher is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (BS in Design). While in college, he interned with Michael Bierut at Pentagram, and with Clement Mok at Studio Archetype (since merged with Sapient). A hybrid print-andweb designer at Addison, Slusher has brought amultidisciplinary approach to communication needs for clients such as Master- Card, Merck, General Mills, AES, Ryder, Vulcan Materials, ARAMARK, Honeywell, McGraw-Hill, and many more. His ability to visualize strategic concepts with a focus on business objectives enables himto create effective solutions. Slusher's work has been published in GDUSA, Critique, HOW, PRINT, PDN, CA, and more. His designs have been featured on Good Morning America and MTV, and have won awards from a range of organizations. His work is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and has been exhibited in Germany as well. Slusher adds that he is a prolific tweeter.

Where were you born, where do you live, did this effect your design style or sensibilities? I was born and raised in Cincinnati and moved to New York City after interning here in college and falling in love with the city. New York's "mash-up" way of life, diversity, and clash of styles reminds me to not settle on any one design style. Keep it fresh.

If you were not a designer, what would you be? I'm fascinated by all kinds of human relationships and have convoluted theories on what motivates them. I love psychology. I'm the guy my friends come to for relationship advice. If I weren't a designer, I'd probably be some Dr. Phil type of cat.

What is your design process, do you sketch first, go to the computer, take days off to get inspired? I started to draw at about age 5; that's ultimately how I got into graphic design. My first step in realizing an idea is sketching it. I work fastest that way. Often my first round comps are storyboards. Typically I won't push pixels until I'm fairly far into the process.

What is one thing you have done to help weather the economic downturn? I cancelled my newspaper and magazine subscriptions, but it backfired because now I'm constantly buying them off the newsstand. Just can't help it.

What is your greatest strength and weakness as a designer? I have a strong ability to quickly boil a visual/verbal message down to its most impactful core expression. But sometimes doing that too quickly means you miss other solutions that might have been even better. "What could have been" is my curse as a

YOUR DESIGN HERO?
Alexey Brodovitch (for his compositions), Bill Cahan (for always avoiding Vanillaland), Michael Bierut (for reminding me design should not just be appealing to designers)

WORST HABIT?
Allowing stacks to pile up because I'm going to get to this right away ... and this ... and this.

FAVORITE COLOR?
Depends on what colors are around it! Okay, red.

FAVORITE TYPEFACE?
Depends on the application! Okay, Knockout.

FAVORITE TV SHOWS?
Lost, Friday Night Lights, Glee, Real Time with Bill Maher

FAVORITE BOOKS?
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil, The Revolution by Ron Paul, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

FAVORITE MOVIES?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Red Violin, The Empire Strikes Back, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Heat, Pi

FAVORITE MUSIC?
80s hair metal!

FAVORITE FINE ARTIST?
Franz Kline

FAVORITE GADGET?
My beloved Zune. Just kidding. iPhone, of course.

BOOKMARKED WEBSITES?
WhoDeyRevolution.com, MacRumors.com, Eonline.com, TheImpossibleCool.tumblr.com

BEST GIFT YOU EVER RECEIVED?
Surprise tickets to the Taste of Tennis charity event to meet my sports hero Andre Agassi.

ONE THING YOU NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT?
Health insurance card. You never know.

ONE THING YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT?
Coke Zero, and keep 'em coming

TALENT YOU WISH YOU POSSESSED?
The ability to play a musical instrument; I don't have a musical note in my body.