On Saturday, May 12, Bobby C. Martin Jr. (BFA ’99) will be the latest alumnus to serve as the VCUarts commencement speaker at this year’s spring ceremony at the Altria Theater.
Martin is a founding partner of OCD: The Original Champions of Design, a branding agency headquartered in New York City. For eight years, Martin and his team at OCD have built and implemented new identity systems for iconic brands such as MTV, MoMA, the Girl Scouts of America, Saks Fifth Avenue and the High Line park. They’ve transformed the looks of Ad Age, Dartmouth College, the New York Times and the WNBA, rocketing decades-old juggernauts far ahead of the curve. They’ve designed materials for new initiatives by the Apollo Theater, Good Housekeeping and NYU. Most recently, they’ve worked with The Atlantic, serving as art directors for a commemorative issue marking 50 years since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin earned his BFA in Communication Arts and Design in 1999. After graduating from VCUarts, he pursued his MFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York, moving on to lead a number of internal design teams over the next decade.
Following the 2004 opening of the Jazz at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, he worked with Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis to breathe life into the brand. At Nokia in London, he led an internal design team tasked with the redesign of their global packaging range. In 2006, he became a board member at the New York chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and in 2007 he returned to the School of Visual Arts as an instructor.
In 2010, Martin teamed up with Jennifer Kinon to co-found OCD. Their innovative work has been recognized with awards from AIGA 365, the Art Directors Club of New York, D&AD, FPO, Best of Show and Judge’s Pick in the 2011 Brand New Awards, and many more. Since founding the agency, Martin has been named one of the Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company. He’s been made a board member of the Type Directors Club, and has been featured in BusinessWeek and Graphic Design USA’s “People to Watch.”
Martin has lectured around the world, spoken at the AIGA Design Conference and continues to teach at the School of Visual Arts’ MFA Design program.
We are proud to welcome him back to Richmond, and VCUarts!
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