Graphis

Biography/Work Experience

Martin French is an illustrator, designer and educator based in Portland, Oregon. His distinctive style, an interplay of marks, signs, and symbols spanning a diverse media context—has been recognized internationally for its dynamic visual exploration of life and culture. His images have won awards from the leading visual communication organizations across the United States, including Gold Medals from the Society of Illustrators in New York and Los Angeles. Martin’s studio practice relies on traditional drawing in various dry & wet mediums combined with digital composition and design. This emphasis in maintaining a balance between two forms of art making gives Martin’s work an unusual sense of dynamic life. His command of the human figure and all its nuances as a tool of communication is central to his work. Color, texture, and his use of space consistently build a stimulating context for his energized imagery. Born in the San Francisco Bay Area, Martin has a BFA in Illustration from ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. He spent 8 years as a designer and design director at Microsoft before launching Martin French Studio in 1996 while based in Seattle. 10 years later Martin moved to Portland where he designed the BFA program in Illustration at the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA). He is currently Dept. Head of Illustration, Chair of Design Arts and an Associate Professor teaching classes in Creative Professional Practice, Visual Thesis Development, and the intersection of Design & Illustration.

Philosophy on Work

My professional practice has been focused on taking symbols from daily life and reworking them into images potent enough to strike passing audiences with an experience of aesthetic and intellectual encounter. I've been especially fascinated by how an individual artist's unique vision, when developed and honed, can be at once exclusively personal and yet widely transcendent. This fascination with the expressive and communal paradox inherent in artistic development is what led me away from a career as a creative director to start my own illustration and design practice. Its contours and questions still energize my development and practice as a visual communicator. Thankfully, my disciplinary fascination happens to overlap with what has turned out to be vital professional practice—namely the need for the modern visual communicator to find ways of distinguishing their images in a hyper-saturated visual market. That quest isn't, of course, something that ends with a degree or an award. On the contrary, its ongoing, evolving challenges form a large portion of what we refer to as professional practice. How does a visual communicator remain savvy and able to read culture? How does a visual communicator retain a vision robust enough to start or redirect zeitgeists rather than being conformed to them? As I engage with these tensions I'd like to think my images could have worked in 1909, or again in 2099—the point being that their appeal depends not on tapping the hype of contemporary culture, but, almost the reverse, on stripping away the hype to offer up an image conveying a timeless appeal. Ultimately, I am trying to deepen the unity between my own professional practice, artistic voice, and cultural involvement, seeking greater rigor, expression, risk-taking, and clarity in my work.

Professional Specialties

Posters, illustration, icons, logos, hand-lettering & expressive typography.

Awards

American Illustration Bolivia International Poster Biennial 2021 Bolivia International Poster Biennial 2019 Communication Arts Design Annual (Multiple) Communication Arts Illustration Annual (Multiple) Communication Arts Magazine Feature Article / March-April 2003 Creative Quarterly (Multiple) Drawing Inspiration: Visual Artists at Work Graphis Poster 2023 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2023 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2022 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2022 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2022 / Honorable Mention Graphis Poster 2022 / Honorable Mention Graphis Poster 2021 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2021 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2021 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2021 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2021 / Honorable Mention Graphis Poster 2020 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2020 / Honorable Mention Graphis Poster 2020 / Honorable Mention Graphis Poster 2019 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2019 / Merit Graphis Poster 2017 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2017 / Merit Graphis Poster 2017 / Merit Graphis Social + Political Protest Posters / Merit Icons & Images: 50 Years of Illustration / Society of Illustrators 2008 Idea Design Magazine (China) Feature Article / February 2008 Illustration Age (illustrationage.com) Illustrator Illuminated Feature Article / Adobe Press 2003 Lines and Colors (linesandcolors.com) Luerzer's Archive 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide 2014, 2016, 2018 Mexico International Poster Biennial 2022 Mexico International Poster Biennial 2020 Mexico International Poster Biennial 2018 Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Annual Exhibition / Institutional Gold Medal Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Annual Exhibition / Patrick Nagel Award for Excellence 2023 Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Annual Exhibition / Patrick Nagel Award for Excellence 2019 Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Annual Exhibition / Advertising Gold Medal Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Annual Exhibition / Advertising Silver Medal Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Annual Exhibition / Institutional Silver Medal Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Annual Exhibition / Advertising Bronze Medal Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Annual Exhibition / Institutional Bronze Medal (3) Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Annual Exhibition / Unpublished + Self Promotional Bronze Medal Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Annual Exhibition / Honorable Mentions (Multiple) Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Annual Exhibition (Multiple) Society of Illustrators New York Annual Exhibition / Advertising Gold Medal Society of Illustrators New York Annual Exhibition (Multiple) Spectrum Peru International Poster Biennial 2022 / Best Artistic Poster Award Peru International Poster Biennial 2022 / Finalist for Best Artistic Poster and Best Advertising Poster Peru International Poster Biennial 2021 / Best Artistic Poster Award Print Regional Design Annual (Multiple) Revista Ilustrar (Brazil) / Feature Article / December 2007 Step by Step Magazine Feature Article / May-June 2000 3x3 Magazine

Graphis Awards

Graphis Poster 2023 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2023 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2022 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2022 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2022 / Honorable Mention Graphis Poster 2022 / Honorable Mention Graphis Poster 2021 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2021 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2021 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2021 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2021 / Honorable Mention Graphis Poster 2020 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2020 / Honorable Mention Graphis Poster 2020 / Honorable Mention Graphis Poster 2019 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2019 / Merit Graphis Poster 2017 / Silver Award Graphis Poster 2017 / Merit Graphis Poster 2017 / Merit Graphis Social + Political Protest Posters / Merit

Education

ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, California USA / BFA Illustration

Clients

American Airlines, American Express, Apple, Atlantic Monthly, Barneys New York, Boston University, Candlewick Press, Coca-Cola, Consumer Reports, Christianity Today, Columbia Pictures, Discovery Channel, DreamWorks, Dutton Children's Books, ESPN, Fila, Foreign Policy Magazine, The Gap, Gatorade, Grammy Awards, Hardy's Winery (Australia), Hershey's, Holland America Cruise Lines, Honda Motorcycles, House of Blues, Island Records, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Joffrey Ballet, John Deere, JVC Jazz Festival, Kate Spade New York, Lucas Films, Major League Baseball, Macy’s, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Multnomah Publishers, Nagano Winter Olympics, National Geographic, NBA, New York Times, NFL, NHL, Nickelodeon, Nike, Nintendo, Nokia, Oracle, Penguin Putnam, Pepsi, Rossignol, Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Smithsonian, Sony Entertainment, Sports Illustrated, Stanford University, St. Martin’s Press, Time/Warner, United States Olympic Committee, United States Postal Service, USA Today, Utne Magazine, Warner Brothers, Wizards of the Coast, and The Village Voice.

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