kateconsumption

I make piles of work about the things that we BUY (and want) and the emotions attached to our STUFF. I also happily think and draw for good people and companies. I have been making work about consumption since 2002, teaching since 2004 and drawing until my hand cramps since 2006 (ouch).

Along with being an educator and illustrator, I organize events, installations, workshops and I probably talk a bit too much.

My first book, Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today? was published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2010. Since then, I have collaborated with them to produce two more titles about documentation and consumption in 2012 and 2014.

My design clients include Chipotle, Hallmark, IDEO, VH1, Girl Scouts of America, Madewell and the Gap as well as locally loved institutions like the Museum of Contemporary Craft, Reading Frenzy and Know Your City. I am also actively involved in the organization of Design Week Portland and the IPRC.

For me, teaching and making go hand in hand. Without one, the other wouldn’t exist.

I am also an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Portland State University. In 2013, I was the recipient of the 2013 College of the Arts Kamelia Massih Outstanding Faculty Prize as well as a TEDXPortland Speaker. I am the faculty advisor for the PSU.GD student design group Friends of Graphic Design (FoGD) and the in-house student design studio A+D Projects.

Watch for the grand opening of KBB Outlet in 2017. KBB Outlet will be my new studio, workshop and event space, shop and zine library open to the public.