Christopher Norcross Email & Phone Number

Greater Philadelphia Area

A designer mediates the interface between art and the public, carving out a balance between intuition and reason. 'Disruption,' is when the noise of production is drown out by reason, when the broader systems conspire to produce a singular, elegant solution to a communicative question.In my career as a freelance Artist/Designer I've learned that what matters is the one-millionth part that differentiates a product from its competitor. I've learned that a design exists at the intersection of its physicality, functionality, and the transcendent surplus those elements produce. I've designed websites for photographers and sculptors, literary magazines, musicians, and streetwear companies. I've branded personal assistants, obscure company gift-beers, Swiss herbal bitters, guitar pedal companies, and fine-art exhibitions. I've learned to make my graphics functional, interactive, static, dynamic, playful, or austere if they need be. I've learned that the aesthetic language is infinite but not unknowable, and that in the knowing a designer might improve the lives of the people around them by improving their aesthetic condition.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Worked closely with design team members and clients to best represent a concept visually. Led the design and installation of several high-end homes. Drafted and designed project proposals and promotional materials. Defined and developed creative solutions for design/logistical issues. Developed and implemented an inventory re-organization strategy to improve design/installation efficiency.

Florence Area, Italy

I personally founded ‘Marine Terminal,’ a literary and visual arts publication. There I condensed a network of artists and writers into a reliable network of clients and contributors, acted as the point of contact during initial production (negotiating with our submissions platform, developing the aesthetic and tone of the magazine, branding the magazine), oversaw the process of optimizing the site's search compatibility, and developed a clean, ergonomic site format with interactive features which I personally coded. I also oversaw production of the magazine's bi-annual print editions. Specifically, I was responsible for overseeing the development of the magazine's physical design--it's orientation, the tactile character of the paper, and the spacial distribution of its content-- and ensuring that all design decisions complied with the printer's technical syllabus. Because of my experiences here I've learned that good design is born of intent. I know that clients thrive on authentic, creative experiences and that the questions you ask at the beginning of a project are essential to it’s success. It’s that attention to detail that enables me to think in terms of broader systems in order to tease out the peculiar communicative quality of my designs; transforming aesthetic rumination to practical reality.

While at ICEVIEW I sponsored a series of acquisitions which brought all production in-house, was personally assigned to several high priority clients and authors, streamlined submissions acquisition and processing with the development of a sorting algorithm, created and maintained an efficient, consolidated client database, personally increased distribution through outreach and networking, and contributed to the publication’s style and tone through design and copy.

Philadelphia Pennsylvania

While at Penn I was personally tasked with several comprehensive editorial assignments, developed new procedures for permissions acquisition which reduced the amount of time required to process a journal submission, used cutting-edge technology to streamline the coordination of in-house publishing teams, and acted as lead editor on multiple long-term research projects-- A retrospective examination of 'The Walls That Remain: Eastern and Western Germans Since Reunification,' an exhaustive, first-hand deconstruction of the trauma of German reunification in 1990 as it affected ordinary Eastern and Western Germans.'Of G-Men and Eggheads: The FBI and the New York Intellectuals,' an academic account of the F.B.I's decades-long pursuit of a group of prominent intellectuals, documented through meticulous case studies and heavily redacted F.B.I documents.'Between Self and Society: Inner Worlds and Outer Limits in the British Psychological Novel,' a scrutinizing look at the rhythms of psyche and demos in six important works of British fiction since the mid-eighteenth century.

Greater Philadelphia Area

As an Outreach Coordinator I drafted daily outreach strategies which increased our office's monthly fundraising capacity, built a reliable clientele through networking and , researched and sponsored a series of technical measures which greatly improved our office's ability to coordinate outreach groups, created and maintained a more ergonomic system for maintaining consultant assignment files, and developed an intuitive system for accessing project information databases.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Area

As an editor at 'The Georgestreet Carnival,' I composed and published short stories, poems, and essays while helping to facilitate the day-to-day operations of the journal. Operating under strict deadlines I drafted press-releases and promotional materials, researched and applied for several literary-arts grants, and planned and prepared a series of fundraising events which enabled the journal to re-structure its publication schedule from annual to quarterly.

Graduate Certification, Studio Art And Design, 4.0

Activities and Societies: “Automatism,” a linguistic parsing application intended to assist in producing and categorizing prose.

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Political Science And Government. English Literature.

Activities and Societies: Millersville University Cine´ Club (Film Club at MU), Allies: The Gender and Sexuality Alliance at MU (GSA).