Board of Directors
Board members serve a two-year term that runs from June-May. In April of each year, chapter membership is asked to nominate AIGA Los Angeles members that you think will be an asset to the Board and our chapter. And remember, you can always nominate yourself!
› Contact the Board of Directors
Jimmy Moss, is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and Yale School of Art. Currently he is a professor in Department of Art at Cal State L.A., and Chair of the Graphic Design/Visual Communication Option. He has been a visiting critic, curator or lecturer at Stanford University, San Francisco Art Institute, Academy of Art College, Woodbury University, Otis College of Art, Loyola Marymount University, Cal State Northridge, and Cal Poly Pomona. Previously, Jimmy has served as the Creative Director of Corbis Images, and as a Senior Art Director for Foote, Cone & Belding Advertising in both San Francisco and Orange County. Jimmy has recently been named as one of only 17 Behance Ambassadors, worldwide. He maintains a strong interest in questions of applied design methodology, service design, the role of design in public spaces and in service to movements of social change. Recently, Jimmy's been fascinated by the usage of English language typography in China.
PresidentMelanie Paykos is a graduate of The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Having merged her award winning, 20 year Los Angeles design firm, Melanie Paykos Design, with Two West of Kansas City, she is currently the company Creative Director based in the Los Angeles office. She oversees visual branding, from trend research and conceptualization to final design application and production. Melanie has taught design at Otis College of Art and Design and has focused her own continuing education in the fine arts at UCLA extension and attended the acclaimed juried painting residency, Painting’s Edge in Idyllwild, CA. She continues to evolve her passion for the dialog between the graphic and fine arts.
Vice PresidentJose has not yet provided a bio.
Member since 2000Eduardo A. Braniff is the Global Insight Director for The Imagination Group, a London-based experiential design consultancy. In this role, Eduardo is responsible for tracking global trends in communications, technology and branding and from these creating value-add experiences for clients including Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Company, Samsung and Johnson & Johnson.
Paula Brown is Design | Creative Director for her creative consultancy Paula Brown Creative. The essence of her work is the ability to find and express the “heart” of her client’s unique emotional core into brand language. She has evolved and created brands resulting in award winning creative for ad agencies on both East (Arnold & Co and Ingalls) and West Coast; acting as a “brand whisperer” on brands such as McDonalds, Honeywell, GTE, to projects for NBC. Her delight in discovering the emotional essence of a product continues to be seen in the work for present clients spanning from The Four Season’s, Maui (amenity products) to OceanBoy Farms. She holds membership in the National Academy of Television Sciences and her interest in education and community has resulted in speaking at colleges and universities as well as teaching within the Digital Arts Program at UCSD in San Diego, CA. Paula’s love to authentically ignite and grow a brand recently sparked and grew her own brand. She is the author, designer and illustrator of “Fur Shui” which is now distributed in the US, Canada, the UK, and translated into Italian.
Brian has been a designer in the Los Angeles area for 25 years working in both print and interactive mediums. He is a graduate of Art Center College of Design. Currently he serves as Creative Director for romance brand, Kama Sutra, overseeing packaging, trade show design, websites, new business and branding initiatives. His past work spans a variety of industries, including television, retail, music, and technology, with clients that include IBM, Epson, UCLA Center for Performing Arts, the City of Los Angeles as well as AIGA. His work has been featured in Graphis, Print, How and numerous other design publications. In 2006 he was invited to speak in Mexico City at La Salle University and act as jurist of interactive design at the annual Quorum Awards. He continues to encourage the dialog necessary that maintains the value of graphic designers and the design process in an evolutionary and high velocity business climate.
Alex has not yet provided a bio.
Jodie Shotwell is currently an Assoc. Creative Director for SapientNitro, based in their Santa Monica office. She has been with SapientNitro for over 7 years and has an extensive strategic background in all aspects of the creative discipline – leading teams of design, user research, information architecture, copy/content strategy, and development. Over the past 11 years Jodie has accumulated an extensive knowledge of b2c/b2b interactive design, branding, design research, and marketing - working closely with brands in several industries including cosmetics/skincare, automotive, finance, and consumer electronics. And in 2008-2009, developed programming for AIGA LA that introduced AIGA student members from various Los Angeles schools to working collaboratively in a creative team environment and expose them to professional practices and methodology through the involvement of SapientNitro creative professionals. Creating new relationships between professionals and students, fostering easier transitions from academic to professional careers, and strengthens the design community in Los Angeles.
Peter has not yet provided a bio.
Brian Wen is Senior Strategist for Continuum, a global innovation consultancy. In Continuum, Brian's work spans service, product, and process innovation for companies across sectors in domestic as well as international markets. Over the years Brian has traveled around the world to talk with everyday consumers, and his passion for learning about people has helped his clients understand how to win the hearts of their customers. A graduate of Art Center College of Design, Brian was born and raised in Taiwan, and immigrated to The U.S. in 1998. Leveraging his multi-cultural upbringing, Brian is fluent in bridging gaps between cultures. He is currently working to help guide Continuum’s efforts toward understanding the growing market in Asia. Before joining Continuum's multidisciplinary strategy team in 2005, Brian was an award-winning animator and product designer. His clients include American Express, Tetra Pak, Fidelity Investments, Sony and Avery Dennison.
Volunteering for AIGA Los Angeles is a great way to meet other designers, hone your professional skills and give back to your community. Plus, without our dedicated volunteers, we would not be able to carry out the incredible events and initiatives planned throughout the year. So we need you!
