Kevin Childress
I chose Kevin Childress as my design mentor because his work is in the field I am most interested in: design for games. It's certainly a less prestigious area of graphic design, but a challenging one, nonetheless. In designing game components, there is an abundance of information that must be presented to the ones playing the game, most of which cannot be reduced to any symbolic representation. It is no easy task to create a design that doesn't interfere with that information, but rather, enhances it. Kevin Childress has accomplished that task.
In his work for Fantasy Flight Games, he has designed rulebooks, cards, and other game components that are at the same time informative and visually striking. His use of detailed graphic elements appeals to the visually oriented audience that play the games, capturing the aesthetics of the concept or setting of the game. At the same time, his good use of form and a strong hierarchy produce a design in which the information is displayed with clarity.
Kevin Childress designs in an unusual field, but he designs well.
