As the founder and namesake of Taylor, Dan is the creative and operating force of the studio. His design expertise and even-tempered, inclusive, “somehow-someway-get-things-done” approach are central to how Taylor Design delivers award-winning communications, digital, branding and marketing solutions. Partnering with clients such as Columbia University, Terex, Mount Sinai Health, Spectrum, Northwestern University, Starwood, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dan simply loves his job. To beat traffic, he rides to the office on his Cannondale. To come up with big ideas, he hires and collaborates with outstanding talent.
On the side: Dan is a Professor of Design at the University of Connecticut and serves on the board of the BCFC’s Growth Network and AIGA Connecticut.
Before Taylor: Creative director at William Snyder Design, Inc., NYC; Designer with Pushpin, Lubalin, Peckolick, NYC; Beau Gardner Associates, NYC; and Steve Burnett, Inc., NYC. Graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design from the Rochester Institute of Technology. As a high school sophomore, Dan was homecoming king—with Hollywood’s Meg Ryan as queen—in Connecticut.
Recommended digital field trips: Instagram, NY Times, Nike+, and Map My Ride
Favorite IRL field trips: Jay Peak, VT, Park City, UT, and Point Judith, RI
Restaurant owners in our studio’s neighborhood have crafted their own signs to communicate their state of affairs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some signs are computer generated while others are drawn by hand. Some signs are philosophical about their limited operations while others have thrown in the towel and simply written “closed.” The Peruvian restaurant below… Read More
Symbols of power, oppression, and hate have a long and sordid history. Germany’s Nazi swastika, Russia’s hammer and sickle, and Japan’s rising sun, branded three of the world’s most brutal regimes. Enter a more recent symbol known as Pepe the frog. Created by comic book artist Matt Furie in 2005, its popularity grew as an… Read More
One aspect of our industry that I have always valued is the variety of projects in which we get involved. At any one time, our studio is designing logos, magazines, posters, and websites for a mix of clients in different industries. It requires research, study, creativity, craft, and is rarely boring. Imagine then, being asked… Read More
In 1979, the year I graduated from high school, I remember seeing posters and ads for a new movie called Alien. Why was this cracked egg floating in space with acidic green vapors leaching out? And what did the headline “In space no one can hear you scream” mean? It left me wondering, anticipating, and… Read More
I commuted into Grand Central Terminal in the late 1980s. One of my daily pleasures included walking under the gigantic backlit photos (18 feet high and 60 feet wide) of the Eastman Kodak exhibit above the east balcony. I found out recently that fellow RIT alumnus Neil Montanus shot 55 of these Coloramas, more than… Read More
Images, names, and references to America’s native people are everywhere. From the Land O’Lakes butter maiden to the Cleveland Indians’ mascot. From the Jeep Cherokee to Indian motorcycles. From the Tomahawk missile to the recent political taunts of Pocahontas. I visited Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian for the first time last weekend. It’s… Read More
As a designer works his way towards the completion of a composition, how does he decide when it is done? Is there a point at which his continuing to rework his composition reaches a law of diminishing returns, making it worse? And by agonizing over small improvements in the composition, is he preventing himself from… Read More