Tom Wedell

Senior Critic - Graphic Design
Image
BA, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art

Thomas Wedell began his education as a photo major at Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, WI. He went on to the University of Michigan to complete a BFA in photography and then to Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he received an MFA studying both graphic design and photography. He then started a practice in Boston with his partner, graphic designer Nancy Skolos, whom he met at Cranbrook. The two designers work to diminish the boundaries between graphic design and photography—creating collaged, three-dimensional images influenced by modern painting, technology and architecture. With a home/studio in Providence, they balance their commitments to professional practice and teaching at RISD. Both have been awarded the AIGA Medal in recognition of their exceptional achievements in advancing design as a respected craft, strategic advantage and vital cultural force.

The studio’s client list has included Boston Acoustics, Cambridge Arts Council, Digital Equipment Corporation, EMI Music Publishing, Steelcase Design Partnership, Walker Art Center, US Department of Health and Human Services, and the US Postal Service. The work has received numerous awards and has been widely published and exhibited. Skolos/Wedell’s posters are included in the graphic design collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN. They’re also included in the collections of such international venues as The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; the Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich, Switzerland; Bibliothéque Nationale de France, Paris; Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg; the National Museum in Poznan, Poland; The Poster Museum at Wilanów, Poland; and The Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Courses

Fall 2023 Courses

GRAPH 319G-01 - GRADUATE FORM I
Level Graduate
Unit Graphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

GRAPH 319G-01

GRADUATE FORM I

Level Graduate
Unit Graphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: TH | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Tom Wedell Location(s): Design Center, Room 206 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This 3-credit studio course will teach design fundamentals to the elective non-GD major students entering the field of Graphic Design from other disciplines, and will feature in-class instruction which may include 2D and 3D form basic principles of color; image-making from photography, drawing, collage, etc. point and plane / figure and ground exercises; sequencing and exposure to various formats, etc.

Please contact the department for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday. 

Major Requirement | MFA Graphic Design (3yr)

GRAPH 3193-01 - WKSHP: STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY
Level Undergraduate
Unit Graphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 1
Format Workshop
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

GRAPH 3193-01

WKSHP: STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY

Level Undergraduate
Unit Graphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 1
Format Workshop
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-08 to 2023-09-29
Times: F | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Tom Wedell Location(s): Design Center, Room 501 Enrolled / Capacity: 10 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This workshop is an introduction to the methods involved in studio photography for designers with an emphasis on lighting-bringing objects to life by articulating their shapes and surfaces with various lighting sources: soft/hard, direct/reflected, focused/diffused, etc. Additional attention will be given to digital file preparation and printing. Throughout this workshop, students will explore the use of DSLR cameras, lenses, exposure meters, and related equipment to create original images of selected 3D objects.

Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior and Graduate Graphic Design Students only. Please contact the instructor to be added to the waitlist.

Elective

GRAPH 3193-02 - WKSHP: STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY
Level Undergraduate
Unit Graphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 1
Format Workshop
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

GRAPH 3193-02

WKSHP: STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY

Level Undergraduate
Unit Graphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 1
Format Workshop
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-10-06 to 2023-10-27
Times: F | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Tom Wedell Location(s): Design Center, Room 501 Enrolled / Capacity: 10 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This workshop is an introduction to the methods involved in studio photography for designers with an emphasis on lighting-bringing objects to life by articulating their shapes and surfaces with various lighting sources: soft/hard, direct/reflected, focused/diffused, etc. Additional attention will be given to digital file preparation and printing. Throughout this workshop, students will explore the use of DSLR cameras, lenses, exposure meters, and related equipment to create original images of selected 3D objects.

Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior and Graduate Graphic Design Students only. Please contact the instructor to be added to the waitlist.

Elective

GRAPH 3193-03 - WKSHP: STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY
Level Undergraduate
Unit Graphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 1
Format Workshop
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

GRAPH 3193-03

WKSHP: STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY

Level Undergraduate
Unit Graphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 1
Format Workshop
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-11-03 to 2023-12-01
Times: F | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Tom Wedell Location(s): Design Center, Room 501 Enrolled / Capacity: 10 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This workshop is an introduction to the methods involved in studio photography for designers with an emphasis on lighting-bringing objects to life by articulating their shapes and surfaces with various lighting sources: soft/hard, direct/reflected, focused/diffused, etc. Additional attention will be given to digital file preparation and printing. Throughout this workshop, students will explore the use of DSLR cameras, lenses, exposure meters, and related equipment to create original images of selected 3D objects.

Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior and Graduate Graphic Design Students only. Please contact the instructor to be added to the waitlist.

Elective

Spring 2024 Courses

GRAPH 3216-01 - DESIGN STUDIO 4
Level Undergraduate
Unit Graphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Spring 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

GRAPH 3216-01

DESIGN STUDIO 4

Level Undergraduate
Unit Graphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Spring 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: W | 11:20 AM - 4:20 PM; M | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Tom Wedell Location(s): Design Center, Room 210 Enrolled / Capacity: 16 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Students are expected to develop personal working methods and interests through more general questions posed by the faculty. Longer-term projects will be intermixed with shorter projects posed by visiting critics. Students should complete the Design Studio track with a developed sense of self, and able to start framing questions and lines of inquiries of their own. End forms will be more emphasized than in Design Studio 1 and 2, in part as evidence that craft and working methods are sufficiently evolved. The twice-a-week format is intended for juniors or advanced designers who have completed the first two semesters of Design Studio or an equivalent design principles track.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Junior Graphic Design Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Graphic Design

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BA, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art