Currently Art Director at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Vivian Kerstein oversees the design for a myriad of mathematics programs delivered through print, online, and interactive means for the educational market. After a long and successful career as a fine artist showing at major galleries and museums in Los Angeles, Chicago, New Jersey, and New York, Vivian developed a career as a designer and art director in New York City’s publishing world, beginning with Macmillian McGraw-Hill where she designed elaborate visually layered spreads for their music program. Vivian later joined Golden Books where she was Art Director for licensed titles from LucasFilm, Mattel’s Barbie, Sherri Lewis’ Lambchop, Children’s Television Network, and Precious Moments, as well as legacy Golden Books. After a short time in trade publishing with Penguin Puffin, she went back to educational publishing and joined Harcourt in 1999. Vivian’s textbook designs and covers have won numerous awards from NY Book Binders Guild.

As creative director of Kym Abrams Design for over 25 years, Kym collaborates with the client and the design team, directing the development of integrated and creative solutions. Kym has been featured in Communications Arts magazine and received the first Woman of the Year award from Women in Design/Chicago. She has served as a board member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and as advisor to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Design Department. She served as a judge for Communication Arts’ national Design Annual and is a frequent contributor to design publications. She and her staff have worked with market leaders to create, launch, and refresh effective brands. Kym holds a BFA from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Currently a full-time faculty member in the Department of Graphic Design at Virginia Commonwealth University, John DeMao, Jr. was previously Interim Director for VCU’s da Vinci Center for Product Innovation and Development, VCUArts Associate Dean for VCUArts-Qatar, and Chair of the Communication Arts and Design Department at VCU. As Chair, he directed studies in graphic and interactive information design, illustration, scientific and preparatory medical illustration, and digital and kinetic media, and in the graduate area of visual communications. He has a design background in information analysis/organization, publication planning/production and design methodology. Working with local, regional, and national clients, his experience includes private sector, public, and academic projects in both design and administrative capacities. He was the Southeast Regional Representative on the governing board of the Graphic Design Education Association, the only national organization for graphic design educators, and was one of the original seven steering committee members who founded the organization.

Fred Daunno attended Ringling College of Art and Design, majoring in Advertising, Design, and Illustration. He has over 30 years of experience in all areas of management, design, illustration, art, and production, most notably as the Creative Director/Art Director for Tupperware Brands Corporation in Orlando, Florida. Under his own Daunno Studio, he has worked with clients such as AAA, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, General Mills Corp., Saturday Evening Post, and many others.

Mike Havekotte is employed by Harcourt School Publishers where he is Senior Managing Art Director, primarily working in their Science division. The New York Book Show has bestowed many awards to Mike and his team for both Cover and Series Designs, concurrently breaking many sales records within educational publishing.  In the realm of technology, his team has also pioneered paperless publishing by testing and implementing server-based book creation. Mike currently manages all aspects of publishing, from the creative work on covers and layout to art direction and design management – which is instrumental in getting quality materials published and distributed to the public.

As Principal at Hoogstraten Photography, Sharon has specialized in educational and trade publishing. Previously she taught at the University of Illinois (UIC). Sharon has won many awards for her work in broadcast design: two Emmy awards for Individual Achievement in Graphic Design, Gold and Silver Broadcast Design Association awards, and as the producer of several animated short films, she won a Birmingham Children’s Film Festival award. Sharon’s clients have included McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin, Harcourt Brace, Scott Foresman, Contemporary Books, National Geographic and the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Chris Murray has worked as a 3D artist and producer for more than 20 years. He is currently employed at Autodesk Media and Entertainment working in 3dsMax, CAT, Composite, and Matchmover. He has also worked at University of Central Florida in the FIEA Administration and Managerial Departments.

Fred Murrell has been a design consultant, design manager, creative director and educator for over 20 years, providing design/strategy solutions that have helped shape many leading companies. He previously worked for global consultant Sapient as Vice President of Experience Design, where he built design communities, design systems, and design initiatives in Germany, Japan, Australia, India, and the United States. Fred has also held the position of Director of Design Worldwide at Texas Instruments, Corning Incorporated, and Tenet Healthcare, where he designed and implemented integrated communications programs, interactive web experiences, information design environments, and product design initiatives.

Upon graduating from Georgia Tech with a BS in Industrial Design, Stan was recruited by Chrysler in Detroit. Shortly thereafter, Mattel hired him as a member of their in-house creative group. Stan designed for the Hot Wheels, toy, and doll divisions, and he was awarded a number of patents for a Hot Wheels stunt set he designed.

Later, Stan would move to Orlando, Florida to join the Walt Disney World Art Department. Stan designed a wide variety of graphic and three-dimensional projects while at Disney. Some of his concepts and designs are well-known and recognized not only locally, but around the country and the world. Some of these projects included the Mickey Ears Sand Trap at the Magnolia golf course and Disney character hot air balloons such as Earforce One (Mickey Mouse), which earned a first place National Addy Award.

Stan was also responsible for the photographic documentation of the building of Epcot, and during that time, he attended Rollins College and obtained his MBA. As an Art Director at Disney, Stan co-conceived and oversaw many marketing and advertising projects, both print and video, including regional and national TV commercials. Now retired from Disney, Stan enjoys freelancing and consulting work, traveling, and spending time with his family.