Robert Appleton, Canada

AGI member since 2001

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Robert Appleton is an artist, designer, photographer, musician and researcher. Born in Scotland, he left Saatchi & Saatchi in 1973 to study Fine Art at St Martins School of Art. A student of avant-garde percussionist Tony Oxley, he performed on the jazz & new music scenes, then spent 3 years as a photojournalist for BBC Television. Appleton emigrated to the US in 1983, relocated to New York City in 1994 and Canada in 2007. He has taught at Cooper Union, Parsons School of Design, CAFA and The Glasgow School of Art in Beijing. His work has been published by AIGA, the Brno, Lahti and Warsaw Biennales, CA, Graphis, ID, Novum, NYADC, etc. He is in the collections of the Library of Congress, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Lahti and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. In 2010 he began creating visual music, merging his design, art, music, and linguistics skills into a single art form and language of the senses called vorTEX. He creates, gives live performances, exhibits, researches, writes and speaks about this internationally. He is married to Cathe Ishino, former Art Director of the PBS Newshour. They live in Toronto with their cat Leo.

Design work by Robert Appleton


    Robert Appleton, Canada (2001)

    Robert Appleton is an artist, designer, photographer, musician and researcher. Born in Scotland, he left Saatchi & Saatchi in 1973 to study Fine Art at St Martins School of Art...

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    Robert Appleton is an artist, designer, photographer, musician and researcher. Born in Scotland, he left Saatchi & Saatchi in 1973 to study Fine Art at St Martins School of Art. A student of avant-garde percussionist Tony Oxley, he performed on the jazz & new music scenes, then spent 3 years as a photojournalist for BBC Television. Appleton emigrated to the US in 1983, relocated to New York City in 1994 and Canada in 2007. He has taught at Cooper Union, Parsons School of Design, CAFA and The Glasgow School of Art in Beijing. His work has been published by AIGA, the Brno, Lahti and Warsaw Biennales, CA, Graphis, ID, Novum, NYADC, etc. He is in the collections of the Library of Congress, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Lahti and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. In 2010 he began creating visual music, merging his design, art, music, and linguistics skills into a single art form and language of the senses called vorTEX. He creates, gives live performances, exhibits, researches, writes and speaks about this internationally. He is married to Cathe Ishino, former Art Director of the PBS Newshour. They live in Toronto with their cat Leo.

    Agencies

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    Awards

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    • 1982-

    Graphis Magazine
    • 1984-

    Graphis Annuals
    • 2008

    Graphis Posters, Gold Award
    • 1999

    Graphis Digital Fonts
    • 1990

    American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Design Annual, 10th anniversary cover design (commissioned)
    • 1982-

    American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Communication Design Awards (12)
    • 1988

    Los Angeles Art Directors Club, Silver Award (1)
    • 1982-

    New York Art Directors Club, Silver and Bronze Awards (5)
    • 1982-

    Boston Art Directors Club Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards (14)
    • 1988

    Designers and Art Directors Association (D&AD) London, Annual Exhibition
    • 2001-

    Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) Member

    Other Professional Activities

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    • AIGA/NY Chapter Board

      1992 – 1994