My students with Margo outside her studio, which is in a converted office building that still has the original pesticide signage. Margo's in the middle with the black shirt, and I'm the guy on the far right squinting in the bright sunlight.

I’m going to shamelessly name-drop here for a moment. Two Fridays ago, I had the privilege of taking my Publication Design class at Westmont down for a visit & talk with Margo Chase of Chase Design Group. If you like graphic design and are not familiar with Margo’s work, you need to be—she’s recognized as one of the top designers in the field today. In addition to being a truly original and profoundly inspirational designer, she’s also a warm, friendly and charismatic person to be around.

I first met Margo back in 2004, when she graciously accepted an invitation to deliver a lecture at Westmont, which was quite literally the finest lecture I’ve ever heard to date. This past summer, I had the pleasure of getting to hire Margo for the re-design of the Westmont Athletics Department logo, and it was a real lesson in design management to watch how she deftly handled a tough audience of administrators and managed to finesse a logo through the various chains of command while maintaining the artistic integrity of her design concepts. It was a formidable assignment, but Margo and her team (including key personnel Shannon and Clark on that particular project) handled it beautifully.

So naturally, I boldly asked if I could bring a class of aspiring print designers down to meet her and tour the studio space. Not only did she say yes, but we were treated to an over two-hour visit, which included meeting all of the staff and viewing a slide presentation by Clark and Shannon which was truly inspiring. Margo and the entire team were incredibly friendly and accomodating, and extremely generous with their time on a workday. The students, needless to say, were pretty blown away. Thanks Margo!