John Hutchinson graduated from the Industrial Design Technology Program in 1998. John’s love for art and creating goes back as far as he can remember. Some of John’s earliest memories are those of entertaining himself with nothing more than some Legos, or a box of crayons and blank paper. As he grew older, the process of bringing figments of his imagination to life took on new forms in sculpture, painting, and model-making.
When he reached high school, John figured he was going to become an architect. This seemed like a natural direction because at the time this was the only career he knew of that would allow for the combination of artistic skill, a love for creativity, an understanding of special relationships and his problem solving abilities. John wasn’t 100% sold on the idea, but was content to follow the path everyone around him seemed to think was the best direction.
In his junior year of high school, John elected to take a creative design studio course that opened his eyes to a whole new world of design. Presented with the challenges of designing things from furniture to perfume bottles, he was able to put together a portfolio of work that helped him win a full tuition scholarship to The Art Institute of Philadelphia for Industrial Design.
John appreciated all his classes at The Art Institute, particularly the classes about design and form and the history of industrial design. It was through these classes John learned that industrial design and architecture were two very related, yet different fields. John’s study with The Art Institute also exposed him to a wide range of job opportunities in industrial design. Unsure of which direction he wanted to go, John utilized internships to aid him with gaining a sense of aspects he enjoyed and didn’t enjoy in design. He’s thankful for the internship experiences that didn’t work out because they encouraged him to devote more time with an independent study of graphic design.
Since 1998, John has been working for Van Sickle & Rolleri, Ltd, which is an exhibit design firm located in Medford, NJ. Van Sickle has specialized in designs for interactive visitor experiences for over 25 years. John works closely on a daily basis with the principals of VS&R, who are industrial designers with a lifetime of experience. John has worked both as designer and project manager, overseeing the design and production on a variety of projects, ranging from local museums like the Historic Burlington County Prison Museum to the upcoming 25,000 square foot - all new 2006 Consumer Electronics Show booth for Sony Electronics, Inc.
The past design work for Sony’s Electronics Broadcasting division has won awards from Exhibitor Magazine. In March 2005, John was individually recognized by Nemetschek North America, maker of Vectorworks Software. Samples of his computer renderings were published in Images of CAD, an internationally distributed coffee table book celebrating CAD rendering as an art-form around the world.
John’s computer generated art work has been and continues to be used for ongoing fundraising efforts by museums across the country such as: The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA; Owensboro Regional Museum of Science and History, Owensboro, KY; Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, Birmingham AL. John has created digital artwork that has been featured in museums such as the Experience Music Project, Seattle, WA, and in Native Lands, Indians and Georgia, a traveling exhibit developed for the Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, GA. John has also designed the graphical layouts that have been used for a number of VS&R’s environmental projects.
Outside of work, John enjoys giving back to The Art Institute of Philadelphia community by participating in alumni events, as well becoming a player and an active committee member in the City of Brotherly Love Softball League. This past summer, John led the design effort to create a new logo and corporate branding strategy for the over 20 year old organization. John feels with each experience in his professional and personal life that he can in some way grow and increase his talents, skills and career in the field of industrial design. By being open and aware of the world around him, he is creatively inspired each day.