ABOUT
Howard C Smith
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1976
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
Milton Glaser Summer Program, 1985
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
AIGA: Business Perspectives for Design Leaders, 2003
Harvard Business School, Boston, MA
FINE ART EXPERIENCE
In college and during my 47 years as a practicing graphic designer I painted in watercolors, en plein air, and in the studio.
IMHO my most significant body of work is the “Over Kansas” series.
Over Kansas began with a photo taken during a cross-country flight on July 4, 2008. While aloft I sketched in pencil and painted with watercolor the fields visible out the window. The organic lines on the ground reminded me of topographic maps used to represent elevation change, streams and the edges of land masses. I used color as a tool to establish the space, used design principles to explore variations on the theme.
In 2014 I had a solo show of these watercolors at House of Steep, an Arlington, VA-based gallery and tea house.
I retired in 2024 and pivited to acrylics. In my first "Hard Edge Painting" class the instructor suggested we paint with triangles at first in an intuitive style—meaning no preplanning. After so many years of working on design projects that required an intense amount of planning I loved the freedom.
In 2025, one of my acrylic paintings was awarded Honorable Mention in a group show of 80 works at Glen Echo, an artists collective and education center in Glen Echo, MD.
PROFESSIONAL DESIGN EXPERIENCE
Graphic Design Principal, 1977-2024 (retired)
Communications strategist, project director, creative director and/or designer for the following project categories:
• Large-scale branding and information campaigns
• Environmental graphics, stage design and signage
• Exhibits and trade shows
• Print and collateral, annual reports
• Web design, video production and multi-media
Clients include: American Red Cross, Fannie Mae, Johns Hopkins University, Marriott International, GE, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Amtrak, and United Way, among others.
Professional work can be seen here: