KATIE PARLAND

The Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland Ohio

Katie Parland was born and raised in Cleveland OH. She is currently a fourth-year Communication Design major, and can often be found in her studio with an endless supply of coffee, stacks of books, and several lengthy to-do lists. Parland is truly passionate about the creative process, and enjoys being involved in projects where she is able to experiment and collaborate. Some of her favorites include thrift stores, dogs, snow, live music, vegan food, silkscreening, discovering off-beat areas of cities, contemporary drawing, hand-made graphics, free coffee, riding trains, sneakers, vintage magazines, textures, collecting postcards, photographing work on wooden surfaces, old architecture, and plaid shirts. After completing her degree, Parland plans to relocate, possibly to the West Coast.

What makes you want to study design? There are lots of reasons why I love being a designer, but what stands out is the freedom that graphic design gives me to explore. Because every project is unique, I get to dive into interesting topics in new and profound ways. The lure is how research might require me to read about a process that I've never encountered before, watch a film, or even go to a record store. Regardless of the topic, there's always a fresh experience and way to gain insight. I really dig that.

YOUR DESIGN HERO?
Hard to decide because I really admire a lot of designers who go about creating in a more traditional way, but I truly respect unconventional designers that incorporate tactility into their work - fusing art, design, and craft, such as Mike Perry and Nazario Graziano

FAVORITE COLOR?
Grey

FAVORITE TYPEFACE?
I go through phases. I'm into Slab Serifs right now, they have a real presence.

FAVORITE TV SHOWS?
The Office and Flight of the Concords

FAVORITE BOOKS?
PRINT (magazine), Tactile: High Touch Visuals, anything by Augusten Burroughs or David Sedaris

FAVORITE MOVIES?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Juno and The Never Ending Story

FAVORITE MUSIC?
Indie Rock, Alternative and Ambient — I like different genres for different reasons, for example, ambient music is great to listen to as background noise when a project requires a lot of concentration. Music is genius, I gather a lot of inspiration from it.

FAVORITE FINE ARTIST?
Amy Casey (emerging Cleveland artist)

FAVORITE GADGET?
Pilot Fine Liner, Copic Markers and toasters

BOOKMARKED WEBSITES?
ffffound.com, good.is, booooooom.com, stereogum.com, itsnicethat.com, npr.com