. . . . – . – – . JohnGravdahl
DESIGNER, ILLUSTRATOR, EDUCATOR
• Professor, Graphic Design Department of Art and Art History • Director, Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition (CIIPE) • Core Faculty, Richardson Design Center Colorado State University
Recent work: Researching experimental techniques in visual storytelling. Ongoing creative focus on poster design, book illustration, and public art.
Recognition: Many juried and invitational design exhibitions, competitions and publications worldwide over 35 years. Including one Platinum, 17 Gold, and numerous Silver Awards in various Graphis Annual competitions (Poster/Design/Type in Use/Designers for Peace).
International exhibitions and museum collections include - Warsaw, Ulaanbaatar, Toyama, Trnava, Tehran, Taipei, Sofia, Shanghai, Seoul, Seoungam, San Diego, San Luis Potosí, Rzeszow, Querétero, Pecs, Macau, Moscow, Mexico City, Nagoya, Nanjing, La Paz, Lahti, Kharkiv, Jiangnan, Jerusalem, Florence, El Paso, Dalian, Busan, Brno, Beijing, Baltimore.
Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition (CIIPE) Colorado State University, Dept. of Art and Art History,
RECENT WORK
COLLABORATION - Taiwan/Korea International Poster Exhibition. 2026
RECENT HONORS
• Graphis Design Master 2023 • Visiting Professor, Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts • Graphis Journal #379 – Career profile • Juror, Graphis Poster Annual 2027 • Solo Exhibition, Autonomous Metropolitan Univ, Mexico City Oct 2022
Producer/Curator - PAST MASTERS Memoriam Exhibition 2024 Features works of passed exhibitors over the 45 years of the Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition (CIIPE). Exhibition Chengdu Academy of Fine Art, China.
RECENT WORK
CHILDHOOD - International Outdoor Poster Exhibition, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem. 2026
Posters Without Borders, Biennial International Invitational Exhibitions.
Designers for Glaser, international invitational poster exhibition, La Paz, Bolivia, 2021
Poster Masters of the USA, selected exhibitor honoring contributions of the United States in international poster design, Seventh Biennial of the Poster in Bolivia (BICeBé) - 2021
Fellini Project Homage, international invitational poster exhibition, 2020
Zero Corruption, 4th Block invitational poster exhibition, Ukraine 2020
Jan Rajlich 100 Homage, invitational poster exhibition, Czechia 2020
Marine Environmental Protection, invitational poster exhibition, Taipei Taiwan, 2020
Foucault’s Pendulum Homage to Umberto Eco, invitational poster exhibition, Sixth Biennial of the Poster in Bolivia - 2017
The Evolving Silk Road, invitational poster exhibition, Florence Italy, 2015
Workshop, Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. December 2023
Asia University 2019 Taichung, Taiwan
Workshop students, Autonomous Metropolitan Univ Azcapotzalco , Mexico City 2021
WORKSHOPS & CONFERENCES
Speaker: 10x10 Shanghai Global Design Summit. Workshop: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs). 2023
Workshop: Tolerance and Safety, Autonomous Metropolitan Univ Azcapotzalco, Mexico City 2021
Workshop: Discovery and Design, The Power of Asian Design Conference, University of Asia, Taichung, Taiwan 2019
Workshop: Alice in Wonderland, Congress of International Design, San Luis Potosí, Mexico 2016
Speaker, Fifth Biennial of the Poster, La Paz, Bolivia 2015
Juror, International Student Design Competition, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan 2013
Workshop: Jose Guadalupe Posada, Congress of International Design, Querétero, Mexico -2012
Speaker, 23rd National Meeting of Graphic Design Schools, Universidad Ibero-Americana, Mexico City 2012
Speaker, Taiwan International Student Design Competition Advocacy Conference, Taipei, Taiwan 2011
Speaker, Design Encounter/Ninth International Biennale of the Poster in Mexico, San Luis Potosi, Mexico 2002
Research Wall Mural - Colorado State University, Lory Student Center. Permanent installation of digital screen-prints on brushed aluminum with digital video monitors in place.
Research Wall Mural Panels • Lory Student Center • CSU
PROPELLER PRESS – Founder
• Award winning educational posters, cards and books for youthful audiences. • The Tale of Dog Giovanni - Children’s Picture Story Book: Author, Illustrator & Designer • Curious Catwalk - Children’s Picture Story Book: Author, Illustrator & Designer Author, Illustrator & Designer.. • Reading Room Series - 25 posters on children’s reading and literacy. • Lunch Room Series - 25 posters on good food and nutrition.
Curious Catwalk - Image Gallery Propeller Press
Reading Room Series - Propeller Press
Lunch Room Series - Propeller Press
PUBLICATIONS:
Essay: “Watch, Look, Listen,” Taiwan International Student Design Competition (TISDC ) 25 Years Anniversary commemorative book, 2024
Works featured in graphic design text books: •Design Composition Training – Rikuyosha - Publishing, Japan. 2017 •Communicating Design Through Numbers – P.I.E. Books - Japan 2016
Interviewed/Contributor: •Graphis Journal #379 – Career profile and portfolio - 2022 •Brain Magazine - Taiwan 2011 •Communication Arts Magazine - USA 2010
Co-Author: “The Physical Characteristics of Poster Art,” Visual Resources: An International Journal of Documentation, 1992
Student works featured in international design exhibitions: •International Poster Biennial in Mexico (IPBM), “Category D” finalists 2013–2026 •Graphis New Talent Awards, Gold, Silver, Honorable Mention, 2017-2026 •SDGs Taiwan International Image Design Invitational Exhibition 2025 •Taiwan International Student Design Competition 2017, 2023 •B.I. International Poster Art Biennale, South Korea 2023 •Biennial of International Design/Poster in Bolivia (BICeBé) 2022 •Print Magazine (CSU graduate program highlighted) 2015. •Novum Magazine (CSU undergraduate program highlighted) Germany 2001. •Brno International Biennial of Graphic Design, Czech Republic 1992