Hi. I'm Amanda Buck, a freelance visual communication designer and letterpress artist from Ohio. I'm currently living and working in Chicago, Illinois.

My next adventure: Pursuit of an MFA in Graphic Design from Maryland Institute College of Art.

Email

mandabuck@gmail.com

Previous Experience | Linked-In

• Senior Designer at Obama for America 
• Independent Freelance Designer for clients including The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, GOOD, and Brute Labs
• Freelance Contractor for IDEO, Kym Abrams Design, Column Five Media, Tandemodus, and Tom Dick & Harry Creative Co.
• Teaching Artist Assistant at Marwen
• Designer, Co-founder, Baker, and Event Planner/Facilitator at PieLab
• Designer, Teacher, Co-founder, and Project Manager at Pecans
• Participant of Project M in Belfast, Maine, March 2009
• Designer at Ologie

INSTAGRAM

Recognition/ Lectures/ Interviews

• Presented in The Ohio State University's Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series. 2012
• Interviewed for Portland State University's Show & Tell. 2012
• Interviewed on Column Five Media's Blog. 2012
• Communication Arts: Fresh Online. 2011
• GOOD's list of 25 Female Designers and illustrators We Love. 2011
• Quite Strong Lust List. 2011
• Work published in “Visual Storytelling: Inspiring a New Visual Language” and “Cause and Effect: Visualizing Sustainability,” by the international design and art book publisher, Gestalten. 2011-12
• Work published in “Designing for Social Change,” curated by Andrew Shea and published by Princeton Architectural Press. 2011
• Work featured on “The Daily Show” and in Fast Company, NYT, and GOOD. 2009–12
• Columbus Society of Communicating Arts: Creative Award of Excellence. 2007

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Obama for America

In 2012, I was extremely fortunate to land a gig working on the design team for President Obama's re-election campaign. It was incredible to be a part of such an amazing organization and to experience the political world during an election season. 

Personal highlights from the campaign include seeing our work in field offices, at the DNC, and in LGBT Pride parades; meeting inspiring volunteers across the country while canvassing in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ohio; seeing “The Life of Julia” in a segment on “The Daily Show;” meeting and working with the most talented, smart, and creative people; shaking the hand of the First Lady; the moment we found out we won the election; witnessing this speech; and shaking the hand of AND hugging the President of the United States of America. FORWARD.

The Story of PieLab

In March 2009, I was among a group of young graphic designers from all over the country that gathered in Belfast, Maine for a 2-week session of Project M. We wanted to offer a way to unite people within the community, and our chosen vehicle was free pie. On 3/14/09 (Pi Day), we hosted the very first Free Pie Day. It was founded on the idea that simple things, such as pie, can bring people together and spread joy. This inaugural event was so successful that it led to several other Free Pie Events around the country, and ultimately, a permanent pie shop and community space in Greensboro, Alabama, called PieLab. 

This idea first manifested as a small pop-up pie experiment, which was possible through the guidance and technical support of a local non-profit housing resource center, HERO. After securing grant funding and raising money through Kickstarter, we purchased and renovated a building on Main Street. The space evolved into a full-service pie shop, community space, plus design collective on Main Street. While PieLab operated day-to-day as a cafe and bakery, we also developed a job-training program in hospitality and small business principles for local youth, provided design services for local businesses, planned and facilitated small business workshops for local entrepreneurs, and held an array of community events.

Today, PieLab continues to thrive as a bustling cafe and lunch spot, and is still operated by HERO.

PieLab was a collaborative project, built by many, including John Bielenberg, Amanda Buck, Archie Lee Coates IV, Megan Deal, Pam Door, Breanne Kostyk, Jeff Franklin, Brian W. Jones, Dan Gavin, Haik Avanian, Robin Mooty, and Ryan LeCluyse, among others.

PieLab was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2010 and has been featured in the New York Times, Southern Living, KCRW's Good Food podcast, Fast Company, and ID Magazine.

Pecans!

Pecans! is a small business the designers at PieLab co-founded in conjunction with the YouthBuild program. Made possible by the Design Ignites Change Grant, our goal was to teach the principles of small business while using a plentiful local resource, pecans. Designers at PieLab helped the students acquire the skills they needed to formulate a business plan, develop pecan products, brand and market those products, and successfully sell them to delighted customers in Hale County and around the country. The project has evolved and changed over the years, but it continues to thrive as a sustainable small business that operates out of PieLab to provide internship opportunities for students in the HERO Youth program. 

The original identity and packaging, which I designed with Robin Mooty, incorporated the YouthBuild students' drawings as well as a leather bracelet made by a local leathersmith.