Eric Karjaluoto

Current

• Founder at MakeFive
• Creative Director & Principal at smashLAB

Past

• Sessional Instructor at Vancouver Film School
• Designer/Prepress at The Prince George Citizen
• Visual Artist (Self-employed)

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Education

• Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design

Recommended

17 people have recommended Eric

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Design

Websites

• smashLAB
• ideasonideas
• Design Can Change

Eric Karjaluoto’s Summary

Eric Karjaluoto is a designer, business-person, and author of numerous articles on design. He is a founding partner at smashLAB (www.smashlab.com), a strategic interactive agency located in Vancouver, Canada.

Since 2000 he has served as the agency’s Creative Director, and in this role he fosters an atmosphere of pragmatism and design-focused thinking. He is a self-professed advocate of “hardcore” design, in which problem-solving, consistent methodology and accountability are held above styles and trends. He has directed many diverse projects for clients including CN, Northern BC Tourism, MDA, Canadian Heritage and a number of international organizations.

In 2007, he spearheaded Design Can Change (www.designcanchange.org), an effort to unite designers to address climate change. Over 1,500 designers around the world have taken the Design Can Change Pledge, embracing and committing to more sustainable professional practices. Most recently, Eric and the team at smashLAB have launched MakeFive (www.makefive.com), a community that enables people to connect through their interests and opinions.

He is particularly interested in creating work that builds a meaningful dialogue with viewers and engages them in experiences. His work at smashLAB has been recognized by HOW Magazine, Applied Arts, Lotus Awards, Rockport Press, and Graphis, and has been featured in: Desktop Magazine (Australia), PingMag (Japan) and Behance (USA). He has presented at events for groups including the AIGA, HOW, and VIDFEST. He also has taught branding for the Digital Design program at VFS.

Eric writes about design, brands and experience at ideasonideas (www.ideasonideas.com), a blog that is frequented by over 60,000 readers monthly. He is a professional member of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada and a member of the AIGA. Eric studied at the Emily Carr Institute and worked as a visual artist (www.karjaluoto.com) prior to his career in design.

Eric Karjaluoto’s Specialties:

Interactive Strategy, Brand Strategy, Creative Direction, Interaction Design,

Eric Karjaluoto’s Experience

• Founder

  MakeFive

  (Internet industry)

  May 2007 — Present (2 years 3 months)

  MakeFive is a website that allows people to connect through top-five lists. In it users can start topics of any nature and then share their opinions. This can be useful for finding new restaurants, noting favorite movies, debating topical issues, and a raft of other possibilities. Active members earn points for their activity, which increases their authority in the community.

• Creative Director & Principal

  smashLAB

  (Partnership; 1-10 employees; Design industry)

  May 2000 — Present (9 years 3 months)

  Creative direction and account management on interactive design and web development properties, as well as overseeing general operations and planning.

• Sessional Instructor

  Vancouver Film School

  (Educational Institution; 201-500 employees; Higher Education industry)

  March 2008 — August 2008 (6 months)

  Designed course materials and delivered instruction for Branding classes in the Digital Design Program.

• Designer/Prepress

  The Prince George Citizen

  (Public Company; 51-200 employees; Newspapers industry)

  October 1996 — February 2001 (4 years 5 months)

  Design of advertisements as well as prepress coordination and creation of special publications.

• Visual Artist

  Self-employed

  (Self-Employed; Fine Art industry)

  May 1995 — June 2000 (5 years 2 months)

  Exhibited painter with showings in public, private and independent venues in cities including Seattle, Vancouver and Prince George. Additional information and work viewable at: www.karjaluoto.com

Eric Karjaluoto’s Education

• Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design

  Diploma , Fine Arts - Studio , 1991 — 1995

Additional Information

Eric Karjaluoto’s Websites:

• smashLAB
• ideasonideas
• Design Can Change

Eric Karjaluoto’s Interests:

My wife and son, reading, running, film

Eric Karjaluoto’s Honors:

Awards
• Advertising & Design Club of Canada
• Applied Arts Interactive Awards
• Graphex 2008
• Graphis Interactive Design 3
• Icograda +DESIGN
• Lotus Awards
• STEP Inside Design Best of Web
• Summit Creative Awards
• TIME Magazine Design 100
• Web Marketing Association

Books
• 1,000 Bags, Tags, & Labels
• Almanac of Asia-Pacific Design
• North and South America's Logos
• Sex in Design
• Sustainability in Construction
• Graphic Designer's Guide to Better Business Writing
• Web Design Index

Presentations
• HOW Design Conference 2008
• AIGA Y13: Seeds of Change
• AIGA Seattle/School of Visual Concepts
• New Media BC
• SFU - Future of Publishing
• VIDfest 2006

Articles, Features, and Mentions
• Adobe Insider
• Applied Arts
• Behance
• Creative Latitude
• Desktop Magazine
• Design Edge
• DesignSessions
• DigitalArts Magazine
• Graphic Define
• HOW Magazine
• Icograda
• Metropolis
• PingMag
• Shared Vision
• TAXI Design Network
• Treehugger

Eric Karjaluoto’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch