Rick Griffith: Difference between revisions

'''Ricardo "Rick" Griffith''' (born 1969)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tedxboulder.com/speakers/rick-griffith|title=Rick Griffith|website=tedxboulder.com}}</ref> is ana AmericanBritish [[graphic designer]] and master [[Letterpress printing|letterpress]] [[Printmaking|printmaker]] of West Indian descent.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Sherin|first=Aarisweb |title=IntroductionCompression toPlates Graphic1 Design- A10 Guidefrom toSeeking Thinking,New ProcessSuprematist &Forms Through Typography {{!}} Denver Art Museum Style|publisherurl=Bloomsburyhttps://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/object/2010.5.6 Publishing|yearaccess-date=20172024-06-27 |isbnwebsite=9781350056046|location=London|pages=21www.denverartmuseum.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Carter |first=David E. |title=The Big Book of Design Ideas |publisher=HBI |year=2000 |isbn=9780688179861 |language=English}}</ref> and master [[Letterpress printing|letterpress]] [[Printmaking|printmaker]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Grace |date=September 17, 2020 |title=Field Notes Launches New Collection of Letterpress Notebooks Designed by Nine Printers Across the U.S. |url=https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/09/field-notes-united-states-of-letterpress/ |website=COLOSSAL}}</ref> of British-West-Indian descent.<ref>"Landscape restoration, art exhibit, new trees, a conference." (2023/02/27/, 2023 Feb 27). ''The Leaf Chronicle'' Retrieved from Proquest.</ref> He was [[Print (magazine)|PRINT Magazine]]'s first Artist-in-Residence.<ref name=":0" /> One of Griffith's best-known contributions to letterpress printmaking is annotation, and his most famed work is the poster “Introductory Ethic for Designers.”<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Doorley |first=Scott |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Assembling_Tomorrow/PSvSEAAAQBAJ |title=Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future from the Stanford d.school |last2=Carter |first2=Carissa |last3= |first3= |date=2024-06-18 |publisher=Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-9848-5819-1 |pages=284 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Interview with Exhibiting Denver-based Visual Artist, Rick Griffith |url=https://mcadenver.org/blog/interview-exhibiting-denver-based-visual-artist-rick-griffith |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=MCA Denver |language=en}}</ref> Griffith was [[Print (magazine)|PRINT Magazine]]'s first Artist-in-Residence.<ref name=":0" /> He owns and operates MATTER,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cezzar|first=Juliette|title=The AIGA Guide to Careers in Graphic and Communication Design|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|year=2018|isbn=9781501323676|pages=222, 147, 4, 7, 80, 79, 170, 78, 183, 221, 184|language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://morematter.com/|title=MATTER – Denver's only design studio, manufactory, and design (book) shop}}</ref> a design studio, [[typography]] laboratory, and design bookstore, which is the first Black-owned bookstore in Colorado.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> Griffith founded the Black Astronaut Research Project (BLARP.org)<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 18, 2020 |title=Other Worlds Film Festival announces lineup |url=https://sightlinesmag.org/other-worlds-film-festival-announces-lineup |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529052138/https://sightlinesmag.org/other-worlds-film-festival-announces-lineup |archive-date=2023-05-29 |website=SightLines: Art, Culture, News, and Ideas}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.westword.com/arts/rick-griffith-of-denvers-matter-studio-puts-his-faith-in-young-people-9768166|title=Rick Griffith's Sci-Fi Fantasy: A Post-Racial World|first=Susan|last=Froyd|date=December 8, 2017|website=Westword}}</ref> As a deisgner, art director<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blackcoffee Design Inc |title=The Best of Business Card Design 6 |year=2006 |isbn=9781610601634 |pages=57, 58, 59, 119, 132, 140, 141, 143, 184, 185, 192 |language=English}}</ref>, master letterpress printmaker, writer, curator, educator, lecturer, and activist,<ref name=":4" /> Griffith works to create and disseminate graphics geared towards dismantling [[white supremacy]] and [[racism]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Berry, Walters, Collie, Acayo Laker, Rittner, Noel|title=The Black Experience in Design Identity, Expression and Reflection|year=2022|isbn=9781621537861}}</ref> in the interest of [[reparative justice]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mashable.com/article/free-posters-black-lives-matter/|title=12 free and printable Black Lives Matter posters from Black artists|first=Shannon|last=Connellan|website=Mashable}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.culturetype.com/2020/07/03/art-for-change-12-black-designers-created-black-lives-matter-protest-posters/|title=Art for Change: 12 Black Designers Created Black Lives Matter Protest Posters}}</ref>

Griffith was born the UK, raised in Southeast London, and educated at Colfe’s College, [[Sidcup|Sidcup, United Kingdom]].<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":5" /> He immigrated to the United States in the late 1980s, and attended West Springfield High School, Fairfax County, VA.<ref name="auto:6">https://morematter.com/wp-content /uploads/2019/09/RG-Bio-and-CV.pdf</ref>

GriffithImmersed beganin the Washington, DC, punk rock scene, Griffith workworked in Washingtona D.Crecord store.<ref areaname=":6" record/> storesThere, whichhe movedfirst Griffithencountered [[Sound-on-Sound]], toby the group Bill Nelson's Red Noise.<ref name=":6" /> Inspired by the font used on their album cover, Griffith found his way into graphic design.{{Citation<ref needed|datename=February":6" 2022}}/> A freelance career on Madison Avenue funded his first practice, RGD (Rick Griffith Design), and he founded MATTER in [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], which, over the last two decades, has grown into a design consultancy, print shop, workshop<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lampoonmagazine.com/matter-denver-rick-griffith-debra-johnson/|title=Lampoon Magazine &#124; MATTER, Denver}}</ref> and Denver's only black-owned<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.5280.com/2020/09/colorados-only-black-owned-bookstore-is-ready-for-the-revolution/|title=Shop at MATTER Is Colorado's Only Black-Owned Bookstore|date=September 22, 2020|website=5280}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://theknow.denverpost.com/2020/12/18/tattered-cover-new-owners-backlash/250784/|title=New Tattered Cover owners defend claims of Black ownership amid national outcry|date=December 18, 2020|website=The Know}}</ref> retail bookstore.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=https://www.westword.com/news/rick-griffith-has-designs-on-denver-bold-ones-5111186|title=Rick Griffith has designs on Denver. Bold ones.|first=Joel|last=Warner|date=January 4, 2011|website=Westword}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theknow.denverpost.com/2020/07/31/independent-bookstores-denver/242589/|title=Looking for something to read? Here are eight independent bookstores in Denver to support|date=July 31, 2020|website=The Know}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/business/black-owned-bookstores-anti-racist-literature/|title=Demand for anti-racist literature is up. These black bookstore owners hope it lasts.|website=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/black-owned-bookstores-work-to-keep-up-with-high-demand-on-black-history-anti-racism-books|title=Black-owned bookstores work to keep up with high demand on Black history, anti-racism books|date=July 15, 2020|website=KMGH}}</ref>

In December 2020, Griffith was named [[Print (magazine)|PRINT Magazine]]'s first artist-in-residence,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.printmag.com/post/last-minute-gifts-for-designers-rick-griffith-s-words-to-design-and-live-by|title=Last-Minute Gifts for Designers: Rick Griffith's Words to Design (and Live) By|first=Zachary|last=Petit|date=December 23, 2020|website=www.printmag.com}}</ref> whereduring which he now writeswrote a weekly column, ''Processing.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.printmag.com/post/rick-griffith-a-love-letter-to-design-a-list-of-demands-and-a-stern-look|title=Rick Griffith: A Love Letter to Design, a List of Demands, and a Stern Look|first=Rick|last=Griffith|date=December 9, 2020|website=www.printmag.com}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.printmag.com/post/rick-griffith-the-art-and-craft-of-the-second-guess|title=Rick Griffith: The Art and Craft of the Second-Guess|first=Zachary|last=Petit|date=December 16, 2020|website=www.printmag.com}}</ref>

Griffith has lectured atwidely and worked as an adjunct and a visiting professort. University of Louisville Hite Art Institute, University of Southern California Roski School of Design, Montana State University, South Dakota State University, University of Texas, Austin, University of Minnesota, Duluth, and the [[Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} He has served as an adjunct professor at the [[University of Denver]], [[University of Colorado Denver|University of Colorado]], Denver, and has been a visiting artist at the [[Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design]] and the [[Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

In 2021, Griffith chaired the national AIGA Design Conference, and will chair it again in 2022.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} He also has been a judge for the [[Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum]]'s [[National Design Awards]].<ref>Smithsonian Institution: Cooper Hewitt Announces 2022 National Design Award Winners. (2022, September 8). ''Targeted News Service (USA)''. Available from NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current.</ref>