Michael Gibbs has been a freelance illustrator and designer since attending Pratt Institute as a photography and illustration major in the mid-70s. His award-winning artwork has appeared in Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Worth Magazine, Consumer Reports, Harvard Business Review, and publications for United Airlines, Verizon, IBM, Sears, American Airlines, CitiGroup and Oracle. He has also illustrated the covers and features of dozens of alumni magazines including Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, the University of Chicago and American University.
His illustrations have been recognized by prestigious art publications such as Communication Arts, 3×3 Magazine, Print, and Spectrum. His work has also been exhibited at a variety of museums and galleries including the Society of Illustrator’s Museum of American Illustration in New York City, the Billy Shire Fine Arts Gallery in Los Angeles, and in Washington area at the Corcoran Museum of Art, the Sumner School Museum, Montgomery College Gallery and the University of Maryland Gallery.
View Michael’s portfolio at www.michaelgibbs.com.
Discover his award-winning alter ego M Glenwood at www.mglenwood.com.
Buy his stock illustration at www.stockillustration.com.
Congratulations to illustrator Michael Gibbs, whose artwork appeared today in The New York Times.
The article entitled, “Chasing Opportunity in an Age of Upheaval,” discusses the fact that while a series of extreme events in global financial markets this year have shaken investors’ confidence, some are maintaining his strategy of investing in undervalued companies.
May 29, 2010, Small Home Business magazine — Reporter Katelyn Thomas posted an article today about illustrator Michael Gibbs, that discussed how he earns a living as an artist.
“Technically, by doodling in school when I wasn’t supposed to. But my real interest in art began when I went to art school (Pratt Institute) as a photography major, got introduced to drawing, and gravitated toward it. I’d wanted to work for myself for as long as I grasped the concept of having to earn a living, so after art school and three years of working in a graphics department, I decided to jump into freelance illustration with both feet.”
Logo, illustration and design by Michael Gibbs
Client: Inkandescent Public Relations
Assignment: Create a logo that would be used on a website and other promotional materials.
Solution: The illustrated lightbulb worked as a focal point to illuminate the card, and also get across the message of being Inkandescent. The design was then translated into a website, which launched in September 2008 and a variation on the theme was integrated into a spin-off for the company, Be Inkandescent magazine.
Illustrated logo and design by Michael Gibbs
Concept and writing by Hope Katz Gibbs
Client: Hooks Book Events
Assignment: Create a promotional product to highlight the article about Hooks Book Events (HBE) that ran in The Washington Post magazine in January 2009, and also to feature the authors and high-profile corporations that hire HBE to bring those writers into their companies to inspire employees. Click here to view the back of the card.
Solution: By featuring the beautiful logo created by Michael Gibbs on the front of the card, and quotes from the authors and companies on the back, this card got people’s attention. Since it was designed as a postcard, it worked as a self-mailer, thank you note, and bookmark that the owners — Perry Pidgeon Hooks and Loretta Yenson — could tuck into all the books they sell.
Photo illustration and design by Michael Gibbs
Concept and writing by Hope Katz Gibbs, Inkandescent Public Relations
Client: The City of Fairfax School Board
Assignment: Create a postcard to mail to the 14,000 residents and business owners in the City of Fairfax, VA to inform them that the newsletter the School Board had been publishing since 2001 was going online.
Solution: By using an image of the homepage of the new website, and text that explained the reason for the shift from a printed newsletter to an online version, the School Board was able to inform its constituents of the change in an affordable, timely manner. In turn, the City residents responded by signing up to receive the electronic version of the newsletter. This enhanced the School Board’s reputation, and maintained the reach of Close-Up Online — a publication with important information about what is happening in the four City of Fairfax Schools. “Click here to read the back of the postcard”:
Click image for larger viewIllustration and design by Michael Gibbs
Website coding / database by Max Kukoy
Writing / Concept by Hope Katz Gibbs
About Be Inkandescent Magazine
In January 2010, the Inkandescent Group, LLC launched its new online magazine: Be Inkandescent: the ezine for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs: www.beinkandescent.com
Publisher Hope Katz Gibbs, president of Inkandescent Public Relations and a veteran journalist who has written for dozens of newspapers and magazines including The Washington Post and USA Today, created the publication as a way to share the expertise of her clients and other entrepreneurs who are making strides in their industries.
“At Inkandescent Public Relations, we focus on helping entrepreneurs get the visibility they need, frequent interviews by the nation’s top publications and also reach out with monthly newsletters to their own customers,” Gibbs notes. “Our goal for the magazine is to give a bigger voice to our clients and other entrepreneurs who have an important message for their fellow business owners.”
E-COMMERCE TIMES, MARCH 26, 2009 — “Apple wants a bigger chunk of the desktop computer market, but it’s unlikely to head downstream with stripped-down consumer offerings,” writes reporter Erika Morphy in a March 26 article for the E-Commerce Times and MacNewsWorld entitled Will Artists Still Love Macs Tomorrow?
“Artists and designers are loyal customers, but Apple already owns that segment. The enterprise is likely the most fertile ground for expansion,” she said. “Can Apple deliver a high-end product that meets both corporate and creative needs?” To find out, she interviewed illustrator Michael Gibbs, owner of Michael Gibbs Illustration & Design and art director of Inkandescent Public Relations.
Illustration by Michael Gibbs
Client: Vint Hill Craft Winery
Assignment: Create flyer to announce grand opening of Vint Hill Craft Winery
Opening for Harvest 2009
Orders taken beginning in March craft winery
Vint Hill Craft Winery will deliver a unique experience that focuses on winemaking; the skill, art and passion that surround it. Veteran Virginia winemaker Chris Pearmund is spearheading this new concept in personalized winemaking; ensuring quality, success and sustainability.
Illustration by Michael Gibbs
Client: Vint Hill Craft Winery
Assignment: Create rack card to promote Vint Hill Craft Winery
Client: Ray Summerell, CEO, and Chris Pearmund, winemaker
This rack card by Northern Virginia illustrator / designer Michael Gibbs was created for Vint Hill craft winery’s grand opening in the spring of 2009.
Clients: Ray Summerell, CEO, and Chris Pearmund, winemaker, approved the design and are distributing the rack cards at their other two wineries: Pearmund Cellars and The Winery La Grange.
Click image for larger viewIllustration and design by Michael Gibbs
Website coding / database by Max Kukoy
Writing / Concept by Hope Katz Gibbs
*About Hooks Book Events *
Hooks Book Events is a DC-based company that believes in the power of new ideas. This minority women-owned business specializes in providing low-cost book and author events for U.S. government agencies, corporations, non-profit organizations, trade associations, and corporations of all sizes.
“We know that by bringing the most important authors of our age into your organization, employees and constituents will be stimulated and inspired to develop new insights on important topics,” says Perry Pidgeon Hooks, who co-founded HooksBookEvents with Loretta Yenson in 2007, and since has arranged and organized hundreds of book events and given thousands of people the opportunity to listen to, talk with, question and applaud the world’s top thinkers — all in the comfort of their own offices.
In December 2008, Hooks Book Events hired Inkandescent Public Relations to update its website — just in time for a feature article to be published in The Washington Post Magazine.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the new site, and are so glad that Hope, Mike, and Max moved fast enough to get it launched before The Post article hit newsstands,” Hooks says. “We have gotten a ton of compliments.”
Illustration by Michael Gibbs
In celebration of Barack Obama’s election
Nov. 4, 2008
Medium: Digital
Size: 13 × 19 inches
Signed prints available on his website.
To view Michael’s entire portfolio, visit www.michaelgibbs.com
Blog by Illustrator Michael Gibbs
http://perceptiion.blogspot.com
Michael Gibbs’ blog, perceptiion gives readers insight into how an award-winning illustrator thinks and looks at the world.
Recent postings included an announcement that his work was featured in Novum, a German magazine covering the work of designers, illustrators and photographers. “Each year it publishes a special Illustration issue. The current issue (October 2008) features “a selection of illustrators worth seeing:” nine illustrators from around the world (USA, Italy, Canada, Finland, Denmark, Japan and three from Germany),” he wrote. “I am proud to be one of those nine illustrators. The article, which is essentially an interview prefaced by some truly flattering comments from the editor, can be found on my website.”
Another entry, entitled Here’s the Catch, talked about Gibbs’ struggle to know what’s best for his son: team sports or art class.
Illustration by Michael Gibbs
Client: Self published
That one — gets my vote! Obama 2008
Prints available on www.mglenwood.com.
Illustration by Michael Gibbs
Client: CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Article: This provocative piece asks: Why are schools limiting students’ ability to talk about religion on campus?
Illustration by Michael Gibbs
Client: University of Idaho
Article: From Gibbs’ stock illustration website, www.stockillustration.com, this illo was the cover of UI’s literary magazine.
CLIENT: Michael Gibbs, Michael Gibbs Illustration & Design
Editing by Hope Katz Gibbs
Design by by Michael Gibbs
CLIENT: Michael Glenwood, illustrator
M. Glenwood Designs
Fairfax, VA
ASSIGNMENT: Create promotional portfolio of artwork that is easy to mail and affordable to print.
TARGET AUDIENCE: Art directors, fine art buyers
SOLUTION: Hope and Mike helped M. Glenwood select the best images to put into the brochure, then assisted in the design of the pages and editing of the text.
CLIENT FEEDBACK: “I really wanted this promotional piece to show off my best work, but be as elegant and simple as possible,” M. Glenwood said. “I think we accomplished that goal.”
CLIENT: Michael Gibbs, Michael Gibbs Illustration & Design
Editing by Hope Katz Gibbs
Design by by Michael Gibbs
ASSIGNMENT: Create promotional portfolio of artwork that is easy to mail and affordable to print.
TARGET AUDIENCE: Art directors, fine art buyers
CHALLENGE: Because Michael has created literally thousands of illustrations over the course of his 30-year illustration career, he was having trouble deciding which pieces to put into his promotional portfolio.
SOLUTION: We decided he should focus on the editorial pieces he’s won awards for in the last 3 years for the first half o the brochure. In the back, we opted to include the posters he was commissioned to create for The Virginia Opera (pictured here), and other theater companies. These, too, have all won awards.
CLIENT FEEDBACK: “I am always slightly nervous to put my work out there, but this brochure proved to be especially effective as a means of drumming up business,” Mike says. “As always, I appreciated Hope’s feedback in choosing the pieces to include, and also in the editing of the copy. This was another nice joint effort.”
by Hope Katz Gibbs
Editor / City School Close-Up
Photos by Steve Barrett
Design by Michael Gibbs
Cover Story, November-December 2006
INSIGHTS INTO EDUCATION: K-12—THE FOUNDATION YEARS
What students need to know by the end of kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade
Since 2002, writer Hope Gibbs, designer Michael Gibbs, and photographer Steve Barrett have been creating the City Schools Close-Up newsletter, a publication that circulates to 14,000 residents and business owners in the City of Fairfax, Virginia.
The information in Close-Up helped pass a $86 million bond to rebuild Lanier Middle School and Fairfax High, and also has won six awards to date from the National School Public Relations Association.
For more, visit www.fairfaxva.gov/school/CloseUp.asp
Newsletter by Hope Katz Gibbs with Peter Noonan
Design by Michael Gibbs
Fairfax County Public Schools
Summer 2008: AHEAD OF THE CURVE
This newsletter is a quarterly publication for Peter Noonan, assistant superintendent of instructional services at Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). Its mission is to share thoughts and ideas about curriculum and assessment that are fundamental to the work that principals and teachers are doing to improve student achievement.
This first issue, entitled “Staying Ahead of the Curve,” was published in the summer of 2008. It focused on how three FCPS principals adopted strategies from the cutting-edge book on assessment (by the same name) edited by education expert Douglas Reeves.
“The 268-page hardback, published last year by Solution Tree, features essays by a dozen authors who I consider to be the greatest minds in assessment,” says Noonan, who selected three chapters to have his principals focus on.
Click image for larger viewIllustration and design by Michael Gibbs
Website coding / database by Max Kukoy
Writing / Concept by Hope Katz Gibbs
About the Delaware Market House
Originally built in the early 1900s, the Delaware Market House long been a go-to-spot in Gladwyne, PA. Hungry residents came looking for a good meal, a hot cup of coffee, and some warm conversation.
Award-winning Philadelphia Chefs Kim and Edgar Alvarez bought the Market in 2004 and continue the tradition by catering luncheons, parties and holiday meals, and serving up gourmet meals, fresh produce, baked goods, the finest cuts of meat, and providing customers with all the supermarket necessities of lifefrom cartons of fresh milk and bread to laundry detergent and diapers.
Kim and Edgar launched the Delaware Market House website in the summer of 2008, and credit it with attracting more customers to the shop — and their catering business. Featured on the site are Recipes of the Month, Holiday Catering Menus, and their year-round catering menu, which features hot and cold appetizers, mouth-watering entrees and side dishes, sandwiches and salads, and rich chocolate desserts.
Click image for larger viewIllustration and design by Michael Gibbs
Website coding / database by Max Kukoy
Writing / Concept by Hope Katz Gibbs
About The Essential HR Handbook / The Essential Performance Review Handbook
Created for human resources experts and authors Barbara Mitchell and Sharon Armstrong, “The Essential HR Handbook website is an easy-to-navigate website that focuses on the benefits of their backgrounds and useful guidebook.
The site also serves to illustrate the knowledge that both experts have developed in the field of human resources through articles and blog postings. And, the site helps to serve as a resource for those looking for HR experts to assist at their firms, for it profiles other professionals each month who work with Sharon Armstrong through her HR brokerage firm, Sharon Armstrong & Associates.
Both authors say they are pleased with the site and the effectiveness of the Inkandescent PR campaign.
“The best business decision I made this year was to call Hope Katz Gibbs. She listened, asked relevant questions, then offered expert guidance that reflects her wealth of knowledge about PR,” Sharon Armstrong says. “She offered invaluable recommendations to help my co-author and I get the word out about our new book and my consulting practice. Her work for us has resulted in increased book sales and more referrals for my business. Hope is creative, practical, and a delight to work with. She has terrific writing skills and incredible insights into an industry I knew nothing about. We couldn’t have done it without her.”
Click image for larger viewIllustration and design by Michael Gibbs
Website coding / database by Max Kukoy
Writing / Concept by Hope Katz Gibbs
About freelance writer Hope Katz Gibbs
“I wanted to be a writer since I was 8 years old,” says journalist Hope Katz Gibbs, a freelance writer who made her dream come true. “As a kid I always loved to write poems and short stories. Then one day my dad read something I had written for him and said, ‘boy honey, you really have a talent for this.’ That support was all it took to set me on my path.”
After graduating from the Annenberg School of communications at the University of Pennsylvania in 1986, Hope worked on the staff of a handful of publications (including working as an assistant editor / writer at The Miami Herald and an associate editor / writer at New Miami magazine).
In 1991, she went back to grad school for a degree in educational leadership at The George Washington University, and upon finishing launched her freelance career. Her articles appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, The Washington Times, Crystal City magazine, Global Business magazine, and dozens of other business, education, alumni, and general interest publications.
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