Scott Stowell, Open, New York

Rejecting the idea of specialization, Scott Stowell embraces the open-ended possibilities of design by, in his words, “mixing form and content in two, three, and four dimensions.” Open’s two-dimensional work includes more than 200 covers for The Nation and the identity for “docfest,” the New York International Documentary Festival. In three dimensions, its packaging design can be found on special cans of Coca-Cola for the Atlantic Olympic Games (which included such useful tips as how to ask for directions to the bathroom in 12 languages or the rules to obscure Olympic sports) and on packaging for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, including the beautifully produced six-CD box set, Anthology of American Folk Music. Open’s Web site and motion-graphic work include MTV’s So Five Minutes Ago, as well as comprehensive identities for the Nick at Nite channel (done in collaboration with illustrator Chip Wass, with whom they share studio space) and art:21, a series on contemporary American artists that recently aired on PBS. Despite Open’s wide-ranging media, graphic simplicity and conceptual accessibility prevail across the entire range of work. Stowell’s penchant for humor and conceptually driven designs is no doubt a product of his tenure with Tibor Kalman at the legendary M&Co and later as art director of Colors, a magazine about social issues for global youth culture sponsored by the Italian fashion company Benetton.