Paul Leibowitz

PRESIDENT & CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER
LEIBOWITZ BRANDING & DESIGN, NEW YORK NY

Paul Leibowitz founded Leibowitz, a 12-person branding and design company started in 1991. Leibowitz enjoys working with clients in many industries, including financial services, media, higher ed and human services. At Leibowitz, we believe effective communication isn’t about being loud. It’s about listening. Driven by research, our strategists, designers, writers and developers use critical thinking to tell a brand’s story. Paul serves on the Dean’s Council for the Syracuse University College of Visual & Performing Arts, where he has endowed two awards in the School of Design and the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies. At Syracuse, he also taught Communications Design as a Professor of Professional Practice, traveling weekly from his home in Westchester. In addition, Paul is past Chairman of the AIGA Design and the Environment special interest group and is on the board of the Financial Communications Society. He has lectured on entrepreneurship, business practices, design and social media at Columbia Business School, Syracuse University, Gotham Media Ventures, Financial Communications Society, Gramercy Institute, Mutual Fund Education Alliance and the Investment Adviser Association. Paul lives with his wife and business partner, Teresa, and their two children.

Has the pandemic changed your workplace and your workflow? Do you expect to return to pre-pandemic ways of working or will any changes become the ‘new normal’?

While I don’t feel our creative work has suffered with team members now working from different cities around the country, I miss the casual daily interactions that trigger an idea that you really can’t replicate on a scheduled call. To me, design is more fluid. I’ve never been able to sit down at a scheduled time and come up with an idea. And, on our Zoom status calls, it’s obvious we miss each other, so I do hope to return to our office soon. As for changes, I just may encourage people to come to work in sweats and pajamas.

What do you expect 2021 to hold for graphic designers and the design business? Have the challenges of 2020 changed the way you think about your job and career or the role of design?

I’m optimistic about 2021! 2020 was emotional limbo. The past year did not change the way I think about the role of design, instead it strengthened what I feel our profession brings to the world. As designers, we have an innate ability to read people, to make the intangible, tangible and help the world communicate. Now, more than ever, we can contribute in a more meaningful way. People are ready to move on and connect!