Eric Karjaluoto
I'm Eric Karjaluoto a designer and entrepreneur. My friend Eric Shelkie and I run an interactive agency called smashLAB and we make neat things like MakeFive and shiftCMS. I'm married to Amea and we have and we have an amazing kid named Oscar.
| Headline: | Entrepreneur |
| Work status: | Employed Full-Time |
| Website: | http://www.erickarjaluoto.com |
| Industries: | Internet |
| Location: | Vancouver |
| Interested in: | Finding business partners, Meeting new people, Professional opportunities, Promoting my startups, Raising money, Recruiting for my startup |
| Tags: | designer, entrepreneur, makefive, smashlab, writer |
| Schools: | Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design |
FEATURED STARTUP
MakeFive
MakeFive
MakeFive is your top five everything.
- Startup type: Company
- Status: Active
- Stage: Growth
FULL BIO
Eric Karjaluoto is a designer, serial entrepreneur, and author of numerous articles on design. He is a founding partner at smashLAB, 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, 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, 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 TIME, 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 taught branding in the Digital Design program at VFS.
Eric writes about design, brands and experience at ideasonideas, 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 prior to his career in design.
WORK EXPERIENCE
| Employer: | MakeFive |
| Position: | Founder |
| Time period: | April 2007 - Present |
| Description: | 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. |
| Employer: | smashLAB |
| Position: | Creative Director & Principal |
| Time period: | April 2000 - Present |
| Description: | Creative direction and account management on interactive design and web development properties, as well as overseeing general operations and planning. |
| Employer: | Vancouver Film School |
| Position: | Sessional Instructor |
| Time period: | February 2008 - July 2008 |
| Description: | Designed course materials and delivered instruction for Branding classes in the Digital Design Program. |
| Employer: | The Prince George Citizen |
| Position: | Designer/Prepress |
| Time period: | September 1996 - January 2001 |
| Description: | Design of advertisements as well as prepress coordination and creation of special publications. |
| Employer: | Self-employed |
| Position: | Visual Artist |
| Time period: | April 1995 - May 2000 |
| Description: | 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 |
EDUCATION
| University: | Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design |
| Time period: | 1990 - 1995 |
| Degree: | Diploma in Fine Arts |
PUBLICATIONS
| Articles: | Selected Published Writings
• ‘Brands can Kill Blogs’ ideasonideas, February 2008 • ‘The Heart of the Matter’ Applied Arts, January 2008 • ‘Focused?’ Graphic Define, October 2007 • ‘I Believe that Design Can Change’ Icograda, April 2007 • ‘5 Foundries that Make Us Go Mmmm...’ Taxi Design Network, April 2007 • ‘Designers Must Write’ Creative Latitude, April 2006 Selected Press and Publications • ‘The Little Lab that Could’ by David Coates, GDC.net, March 2008 • ‘Rise of the West’ by Kevin Brooker, Applied Arts, September 2007 • ‘Spreading the Green Message’ by Michael Burns, DigitalArts (UK), August 2007 • ‘Sex in Design’ by Lou Savoir, MaoMao Publications (Spain), July 2007 • ‘Intelligent Design’ by Jennifer Croll, Shared Vision, June 2007 • ‘Challenging Perfection’ by Scott Belsky, Behance (USA), May 2007 • ‘Grassroots Projects: Design Can Change’ by Verena Dauerer, PingMag (Japan), May 2007 • ‘The Greening of Design’ Adobe Insider (USA), May 2007 • ‘Graphic Designer’s Guide to Better Business Writing’ Janoff and Cash-Smith, Allworth Press, April 2007 • ‘Time to start planning’ by Jack Yan, Desktop Magazine (Australia), March 2007 • ‘Eric Karjaluoto’ Interview by Anjula Duggal, Design Sessions (USA), February 2007 • ‘North and South America’s Logos’ by Pedro Guitton, Index Books (Spain), April 2006 |
INFORMATION
| Hobbies: | Websites
• Blog: Discussion on design, brands and experience, www.ideasonideas.com • Corporate: smashLAB is a strategic interactive agency, www.smashlab.com • Advocacy: Designers unite to combat climate change, www.designcanchange.org • Artwork: Selected paintings from 1995 - 1999, www.karjaluoto.com |
| Memberships: | • GDC: Society of Graphic Designers of Canada
• AIGA: American Institute of Graphic Arts |
| Awards: | Recognition and Awards
• Advertising and Design Club of Canada • Applied Arts Interactive Awards • Communication Arts Online • Davey Awards • Graphis Interactive Design 3 • HOW Top 10 Websites of the Month • Icograda +DESIGN • International Design Yearbook 2007 • Lotus Awards • STEP Inside Design Best of the Web 2007 • Summit Creative Awards • Web Design Index 7 • Web Marketing Association |
