UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Heads of State, an in-demand graphic design firm that boasts clients such as Apple, Nike, Starbucks and The New York Times, will visit Penn State's Stuckeman School on Oct. 9 to talk about their work and process as part of the school’s 2019-20 Lecture and Exhibit Series. Hosted by the Graphic Design program, the lecture will be held at 6 p.m. in the Jury Space of the Stuckeman Family Building at University Park, while the firm’s work will be on display in the building’s Willard G. Rouse III Gallery through the end of October.
Founded in Philadelphia in 2002 by Jason Kernevich and Dustin Summers, The Heads of State helped usher in a new wave of American poster art with their screen-printed show posters and handbills. Today, the studio effortlessly shifts between national branding campaigns, local projects, personal experiments and illustrations.
Kernevich and Summers have created an award-winning mix of design and illustration for a diverse and impressive list of clients, from Penguin Books and Columbia University to American Express and the Oscars. Their recognizable combination of bold imagery and smart visual thinking has elevated iconic brands, well-loved bands, books, packaging, hot-button issues, small businesses, cultural institutions and urban experiences.
The firm has received awards from Communication Arts, American Illustration, Print magazine and the Type Directors Club. Kernevich and Summers have taught graphic design and illustration at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture, which is where they both studied, as well as the University of the Arts and Maryland Institute College of Art.