Hiya folks. I’m Joey Sweener, a graphic designer and typographer living in Upstate New York. I'm working with the cool, creative people at Syracuse University ➚.


Branding, Identity, Environmental, Print, Digital

🍊 Syracuse University

As part of Syracuse University's Division of Marketing team, I help develop and elevate the university's brand to reflect our inclusive student-focused research, engaged global citizenship, and leading with distinction. Go Orange! 🍊

new posters! | Print, Exhibition, Personal

🎨 “Support the Arts” Poster Series

“Support the Arts” is my ongoing personal poster series, which takes a critical look at how toxic philanthropy plagues the art and museum worlds.

Oswego County Business Magazine spreads in isometric mockup, designed by Joey Sweener.

Art Direction, Print Production, Layout, Identity

📝 Oswego County Business Magazine

Print design and art direction for Oswego County's award-winning business publication from publisher Wagner Dotto. The publication recently celebrated it's 30th year of ground-breaking business and economic development journalism.

brand identity, environmental, wayfinding, print

🏛 Oswego County Historical Society

Branding and identity for a 19th century Italian Villa and treasured historic landmark on Oswego's east side.

🎵 LISTENING TO :: Unreal Unearth by Hozier ➚
📕 READING :: Greenwood by Michael Christie ➚
📽️ WATCHING :: Game Changer on Dropout ➚

about

“He hasn't [wept] since his father left. But over the course of his long, pain-ridden life, he's learned that if one were to give over to the weeping, there'd be only tears. Seas of them.”— Michael Christie, Greenwood.

There is so much suffering in the world. This much is obvious. We live in pre-apocalypse, on the precipice of an irreversible heat, and the outlook is bleak.But if you really go searching for it, you'll also find the world is full of love and sacrifice, generosity and resilience, growth and transformation. Those that tend to wounds, listen intently, ask about your day, talk to strangers, give to their communities, pick others up, and fight for a better world... one painstaking act of love at a time.The answer is not a cabin in the woods. The answer is kindness at the end of the world.The guide book to the apocalypse, then, is this — as you're able, put one foot in front of the other each day. Give what you can; if it isn't money, give kindness. Do the next right thing until it's all over. This is all that we can do. Breathe, grieve, love, and repeat.

I graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from SUNY Oswego ➚, here in good ol' Upstate New York. It's gotten me far. I minored in Art History, too, and currently serve as the youngest sitting board member at the Oswego County Historical Society ➚. I live in Syracuse with my life partner Megan and our burdensome yet indescribably adorable gray-haired cat, Knight.When I'm not working, chances are you'll find me buried deep in a book (though the backlog on my nightstand may say otherwise...), jamming out to some hardcore music, watching a soccer game, doing some personal artmaking, or buying novelty coffee and craft beer (a particular guilty pleasure of mine...!). If I wasn't a designer, I would probably take up life as a cartographer and draw maps all day long. Doesn't that sound like the coolest thing someone can do?Oh, if you wanna view my resume, you can do that here ➚ (last updated: Sept. 2022).Thanks for stopping by. And remember: "Make art, make rent, and help others do the same."


© 2023 Joey Sweener. All rights reserved. All lefts, too.Type is set in Adobe's Source Sans Pro and Undercase Type's Fraunces. Website hosted by carrd.co. All thoughts and opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my current or past employers. Cool? Cool.

Syracuse University logo

Syracuse University

Branding
Identity
Environmental
Print
Digital
Website: www.syracuse.edu ➚

Syracuse University is a private research university in the heart of beautiful Central New York. Established in 1870, and with a spanning and eclectic history — did you know the very first Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in the nation was awarded by Syracuse University in 1877? — the university has provided an unparalleled combination of academics and expression across myriad disciplines for those who can afford the price tag.Since 2022, I've been fortunate enough to work alongside some intimidatingly-impressive creatives as part of the university's Division of Marketing. Here, you'll find a selection of my work, ranging from print and digital materials all the way up to a custom typeface and environmental signage.


I should note that the thoughts and opinions expressed on my website do not reflect those of Syracuse University or my coworkers. I like working for the university, and would like to continue to make cool shit with them. Cool? Cool. The college is pretty expensive, though...!

Syracuse Block Condensed

First developed internally by former creative director Christos N. DeVaris in 2020, Syracuse Block Condensed is Syracuse University's exclusive display typeface. Taking DeVaris' original work on the typeface — which included 9 weights and slanted forms to match — I slimmed it to six weights and optimized it for use on the web. This included redrawing nearly every glyph to turn it into a variable font and expanding the font's language support.With these edits, Syracuse Block Condensed now supports extended Latin characters. This natively provides language support for up to 100 Latin-based languages, excluding Vietnamese. In the long-term, I'd love to continue designing more language support!

Career Services Recruitment Materials

Syracuse University's Office of Career Services maintains and forges relationships with various industry partners looking to hire recent university graduates. As part of that outreach, I helped develop a branded pocket folder and other materials used to encourage recruiters to consider Syracuse University students when hiring.Recruiters may recognize the Syracuse University brand but may not be aware of the academic reputation of the institution and the real-world experience and opportunities our students receive with the help of a robust career services unit and powerful alumni network.This piece won a Platinum 2023 MarCom Award in the educational publications category!

Admitted Students Kit

The creative team, led by creative director Jesse Darling, sought to reimagine the university's existing admitted students packet (which before had a single sticker, a generic folder, and some inserts alongside an acceptance letter) into a much more robust and engaging experiential mailer.The overhauled design has a bespoke folder with custom dieline, a sheet of stickers, a felt pennant, bite-sized "'Cuse Cards" with information and next steps, a limited-edition poster, and a "Z-Fold" piece designed around sharing on social with the #SyracuseBound. All below photos courtesy of our senior photographer, Jeremy Brinn.

Social Toolkit

In collaboration with our in-house social team, I used Adobe XD to develop a suite of reusable templates for the team to utilize across social channels, but primarily on visuals-based platforms like Instagram and YouTube.The templates make clever use of components and imagery to make expressive, brand-aligned expressions in a variety of styles, from more academic and reserved to loud and amplified. The toolkit intends to be ever-evolving, and there have already been expansions to this system with one-off carousel designs for important university events, like the Volunteer Military Summit, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Symposium, as well as motion graphics for Juneteenth, Women's History Month, and our weekly events calendar.

support the arts

“Support the Arts” Poster Series

Poster Design
Exhibition Design
Personal

“Support the Arts” is my personal poster series tackling toxic philanthropy and capitalism in the art and museum worlds.Originally conceived as a single poster in response to protests calling for the resignation of Warren B. Kanders’, owner of the weapons manufacturer Safariland, from the board of directors at The Whitney Museum, the series has since expanded to cover even more odious figures and institutions within and around the arts community.The landscape of the modern museum is bleak. Museum board rooms are the biggest laundromats of ill-begotten money, and museums the world over look the other way to collect donations from opioid manufacturers (Sacklers), fossil fuel lords, war profiteers (Kanders), private prisons and more. All this while systemic racism, colonialism, sexism and classism plagues museums and continues to go ignored, too. I urge artists and non-artists alike to call on museums to divest their time and resources away from immoral industries, decolonize their collections, and root the toxic philanthropy out of the art and museum worlds.


Know of an odious figure in the art world worthy of skewering? Any recent juicy stories? Just want to call me an asshole? This project is ongoing, so do drop me a line at [email protected] and let's chat. Thanks.

Support the arts on the Lolita Express: Favored by Epstein and MoMA board members alike! Sex trafficking funded in part by MoMA.
Support the arts with fascism in New York State: Lee Zeldin backed by gallery namesake Ronald Lauder to the tune of $11 million. The alt-right sponsored in part by the Neue Galerie.
Support the arts with Fidelity Pension, the largest contribution to funding private prisons in all the art world! Brought to you by MoMA.
Support the arts with looted Parthenon marbles! Give them back to the Acropolis? Greece can purchase a ticket just like everybody else! Routine art theft supported by The British Museum.
Support the arts with military-grade, maximum-choke tear gas. Palestinians love it! Standing Rock, too! Sponsored in full by The Whitney Museum and Warren B. Kanders.
Support the arts with stolen native art for sale! Stolen Kiowa prison art on auction now at Bonhams Auction House. No profits for stolen art!

At the end of 2022, Tyler Art Gallery at SUNY Oswego hosted an alumni art show, organized by art department chair Cynthia Clabough. "Support the Arts" made its exhibition debut at that show, to a generally positive response.As more work in this series gets developed, a long-term goal of mine is to continue exhibiting these pieces. Know of any places willing to exhibit this style of work? Let me know using the email at the bottom of the page!

Oswego County Business Magazine

Oswego County Business Magazine

Art Direction
Print Production
Layout
Identity
Website: www.oswegocountybusiness.com ➚

Oswego County Business Magazine is the only publication devoted to covering business and economic development in Central New York (Oswego and Onondaga counties). It has received numerous awards from both the Oswego County Press Club and the Syracuse Press Club, and was recognized as the “Media Advocate of the Year” by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in 1999.For two years, I worked as production designer and art director for Local News, Inc., the parent company of Oswego County Business Magazine, under the guidance of editor and publisher Wagner Dotto. During that time, I both developed my layout skills and helped re-imagine the publications operated by Local News, Inc., which includes an active senior adult magazine, a health-oriented publication, and yearly regional guides.All of that and more in the images and slideshows below. I want to especially thank Wagner and the whole team for taking a chance on a young designer like me — fresh out of college, no less! — to guide the look and feel of their publications, and give me the space to experiment in layout and production design. The results are like nothing else being published in our area, and I walked away from this experience with a lot of knowledge in production and pre-press that I don't think I'd get anywhere else. So, major kudos for that.You can keep up with Oswego County Business on their website ➚, and read the publications for free in-browser on Issuu ➚. I've since handed over the role to my good friend and co-conspirator Angel Campos-Toro ➚, who is doing an amazing job continuing to elevate the publications. Check him out when you're done poking around here!

Oswego County Business #181, 30th Anniversary Edition
Oswego County Business #180, Novelis' First Female Plant Manager
Oswego County Business #179, High Turnover on Local TV News
Oswego County Business #177, A New Brewery in Town
Summer Guide 2022: 10 Best Bets For The Summer
Summer Guide 2021: The Best of Upstate New York
Oswego County Historical Society

Oswego County Historical Society

Brand Identity
Environmental
Wayfinding
Print
Website: www.rbhousemuseum.org ➚

Founded in 1896, the Oswego County Historical Society is a not-for-profit organization that has preserved and promoted the history of the greater Oswego area for over 100 years. In 1946, the Society received the generous gift of a historic 19th century Italian Villa on Oswego's east side to serve as their permanent headquarters and museum.Listed on the National Register of Historical Places, the Richardson-Bates House Museum is the most intact house museum in New York State. The museum offers a unique glimpse into the lifestyle of a prominent wealthy Oswegonian, and serves as a place to interpret the history of the people of Oswego County through exhibitions and educational programming.I joined the Society’s board of trustees in September 2021 as their youngest board member. Since then, I’ve offered my expertise and opinions on all issues design, and other things, too. I'm a leading voice on efforts for strategic planning, and chair of the Collections Committee, which recently overhauled our Collections Management Policy to bring it in-line with modern museum practices.

The History

The Richardson-Bates House was built in two stages as a private residence for Maxwell B. Richardson, a local attorney, real estate broker and two-term mayor of Oswego, NY.

Portrait of Maxwell Richardson, c. 1880.

Pictured, left to right: Harriet Richardson Bates, Maxwell Richardson, Naomi Richardson and Lawrence Richardson. c. August 1889, Norman Bates.

A lifelong bachelor, Max lived in the house with his widowed mother Naomi Richardson, his divorced sister Harriet Richardson Bates and her son Norman.

Max commissioned Rochester architect Andrew Jackson Warner to design the opulent Italian villa for him and his family.

Blueprint from A.J. Warner Co. showing the initial elevations of the building. Note that this stage of the house does not include the south wing, and features a covered porch on the north side of the structure.

Photo of the first stage of house construction, c. 1875.

Completed house, featuring the prominent front porch on the south wing façade, c. 1889.

The first stage of the house was built in 1867 as an addition to the original wooden homestead on the property. That original homestead would later be torn down in 1889, and the second stage of the house — the south wing — would be completed that same year.

Photo of the Richardson-Bates House, c. 1980. Note that the porch on the south wing has been removed by this point.

The south wing was originally constructed with a porch on the front façade, matching a similar porch on the north side of the house. Both porches were at some point removed; the evidence of their existence remains by looking today at the difference in stonework cladding along the foundation.The opulent interiors of the Richardson-Bates House reflect the art and culture of the 19th century Victorian elite. 90% of the family's original furnishings were included when the house was gifted to the Society in 1946.

All interior photos sourced from Oswego Expeditions, 2018.

Norman Bates, c. 1890.

Harriet’s son, Norman Bates (no, not that one...), was the sole heir to the Richardson family and inherited the house in 1910. He lived in the house with his wife, Florence, and their four children, Betty, Norman Jr., Sally and Maxwell, along with at least two live-in servants which are inferred to be of Irish origins.Norman had quite the storied history of his own. Serving as secretary of the Historical Society until his death in 1925, his pursuits outside of the house included joining uncle Max's real estate and insurance businesses, directing Oswego's Chamber of Commerce, and serving as president of the Oswego Country Club. He also sought interest in photography, being an early user of consumer camera equipment (which you can see at the museum today!).

"Bates Mansion Gift of Heirs to County Historical Society to be Museum and Society Headquarters." Article in the Oswego County Historical Society Journal announcing the gift of the Richardson-Bates House, 1947.

Multiple generations of the Richardson and Bates families were active members of the Oswego County Historical Society, going all the way back to Maxwell joining the Society in 1896. Following Norman and Florence’s deaths in 1923 and 1945 respectively, the three surviving children donated the museum back to the Society along with all its furnishings. Thus, our headquarters was born!

The odds and ends!

ephemera

Here's where...basically everything else goes. This page contains pieces from previous projects, one-off bits of illustration or design, logos, and more. Expect this page to change regularly, and check back often for the latest odds-and-ends. Thanks!