Sandford Design and Illustration

About Aaron

Hi! I'm Aaron Sandford, and I'm a graphic designer with experience in book and magazine layouts, editorial illustration, and information/data graphics. I've spent most of my career as an in-house designer, with side roles in photography and editing, and I've been freelancing since 2008. I also dabble in web design—I designed this site from scratch using the Oxygen site builder for WordPress—and build WordPress sites for clients on occasion.

I have a bachelor's degree in fine art from Hillsdale College, where I concentrated on graphic design and sculpture. I also was editor-in-chief of the school yearbook for a couple years and designed posters for conferences and lectures from visiting speakers.

My most influential art class was History of Graphic Design and Photography. They say the best artists steal, and it turns out there are a lot of design schools and movements to steal from. I've been influenced by the likes of Jan Tschichold, Lester Beall, Joseph Müller-Brockmann, and Massimo Vignelli, as well as more recent designers such as Ellen Lupton, Michael Bierut, and David Airey.

I also enjoy exploring ways that work outside of graphic art can inform and influence my designs. Architects such as Le Corbusier, Santiago Calatrava, and Jonathan Hale, composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Edvard Grieg, and my own studies of sculpture (guided by my college professor Anthony Frudakis) have directly or indirectly affected how I approach the printed (or digital) page.

I love using systems that provide order and a sense of confidence—my favorite design projects start out with lots of math and applications of the golden ratio—and applying creativity and innovation within the resulting framework.

I still try to sculpt on occasion, working with clay to produce realist but classically inspired human figures. I also sing classically (lyric baritone), play the piano, and enjoy cooking, rock climbing, reading, studying German, and playing volleyball. I grew up in the beautiful state of New Hampshire and now live in Cincinnati, Ohio, where I am renovating my 1931 Tudor-style home.

aaron@sandford.design
603.867.8431
New Boston, NH, USA

© 2018 Aaron Sandford