Alumni Profiles

Patty creates multi-million dollar water features around the world and works on a scale she never thought possible. As a student at CIA she acquired skills in pattern and design that infuse her current work with a sense of chorography and a signature style.

Frank Kobak '03, graduated from CIA in Industrial Design and is now the Senior Men's Designer at Frye shoes. We interviewed Frank in the amazing Frye showroom, full of his designs, in New York City. We also learned about the secrets to Frank's success and how his CIA education applies to his work.

Valerie Mayen graduated from CIA in 2005 in Illustration and Graphic Design. Today she operates Yellow Cake, her own fashion label, out of Cleveland and was a contestant on season 8 of Lifetime Television's Project Runway.

Alex is the designer and owner of Greenpoint Craftworks, a custom jewelry and bike boutique in Brooklyn, NY. Prior to launching his company, Alex worked with an international fashion label. At Greenpoint Craftworks, Alex has created a sought-after line of jewelry, and he is regularly commissioned to create one-of-a-kind pieces. In addition to developing wearable art, Alex is well-known for his bicycle restoration work. In December 2009, he was featured in the Japanese magazine, Pedal Speed.

Lisa scours the international design market to find antique and contemporary designs that she brings back to Hallmark designers for use in card, giftwrap, and home product designs. Everyday she's thrilled to apply her love of history and design to keep Hallmark at the forefront of visual design.

As founder and president of a multi-disciplinary design firm, René’s portfolio includes hundreds of successful products for companies across the globe, including Rubbermaid, Ninja, and Fisher Price. Creative problem solving, and a sense of balance, are both traits that René attributes to his CIA education.

New York-based artist Mark Reigelman '06 was recently recognized for creating one of the country’s top 10 public artworks in 2010. His foundation gives three-dimensional form to his highly-acclaimed concepts. Mark, a renaissance artist, creates work across myriad art forms. He has installed at the Cleveland Museum of Art's summer solstice party two years in a row. His product designs include original pieces that you can find in New York and Paris boutiques; he crafts pieces for elite exhibitions; and he even designs interiors. Mark credits much of his success to his education at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where faculty encouraged him to take art and design classes outside of his major and bring those experiences back to his artwork. The results of his artistic exploration are unique—and award winning

Steven Tatar, a 1985 Cleveland Institute of Art graduate in glass and sculpture, runs the Ohio Knitting Mills clothing company out of Cleveland, Ohio. His mainstay brand is built on the artifacts of thousands of 1940s–70s knits he uncovered from the garment factory’s archives. He releasedThe Ohio Knitting Mills Knitting Book in the summer of 2010, and his pop-up shop in Cleveland opened in December 2010.