Peter Kaplan is a designer and educator who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He is a designer in the Student Affairs department at California Institute of the Arts where he handles printed collateral for the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (Redcat). Peter also teaches typography and publication design at CalArts.

Could you start off by telling us what you were doing before CalArts and how you got into graphic design?

Yes I can, I studied graphic design for my undergrad at the University of Delaware and worked as a designer in NY for about seven years following school. That was when I applied to CalArts.

You worked in New York for a short time after graduation, was it hard to leave? What do you like/dislike about New York compared to Los Angeles?

Leaving California so soon after school was both good and bad. The bad was the abrupt end to my school experience… suddenly much of what I knew was gone. It was a shock. However this was equally good as it gave me the opportunity to learn who I was post-school free from the school environment. Does that make sense?

What did the CalArts graduate program do for you?

I’m hopeful that the answer to the question will be constantly evolving. For now I’ll say it was an experience I was glad to have.

What is it about CalArts that made you want to come back after graduation?

Actually, I did not intend to come back to CalArts to teach or to work, but I’m happy things worked out as they did. I moved back to LA to teach at Otis and was offered the job at CalArts after I had returned.

How is it having the role reversed? You’re now apart of the wonderful faculty that was once teaching you.

Honestly, there is much about CalArts that is pretty great and it’s exciting to be able to participate in it as a faculty member. Having said that, being a teacher at a place where I was a student can be strange.

What kind of qualities make for a good design teacher?

From a student point of view, I enjoyed any teacher who was invested in what I was doing and yet was never fully pleased by the results.

You work in the public affairs office which designs REDCAT collateral, how is it working there?

I like working there, it’s a pretty good job. Nice people and decent work.

What big projects are you working on now?

Every year I do two REDCAT season brochures and related promotion collateral. Those are the major projects I work on.

With working and teaching, how much time do you have for personal work?

I feel like I don’t have as much time for personal work as I would want, but I think this is a lie I tell myself. I seem to find plenty of time to watch TV or google random crap.

Do you have any advice for students who are near graduation?

Clearly these seem to be tricky times, but I kind of believe it all works out. Does that help?

Can you give a motivational quote for all of us hard-working, tired and starving design students?

Actually no, I can’t.
If I’m being honest, school is hard and stressful. That’s how the experience works. Having said that, it’s probably not as important as it seems at the time. I don’t know. This is a hard question.

With all of the design blogs out there, for us and students all over what would you like to see with FISK?

What would like to see in FISK? Are you having fun with it? That I what I want to see. Just make something interesting with it. Thanks!

Do you wear patterned/designed socks, plain socks or no socks?
Lately I’ve been wearing black socks, but I do have a few striped pair that I feel good about.

Thanks Peter for the interview!