Associates Advisory

Digital Digest Spotlights Things to Make Your Stay-at-Home Summer More Interesting

Each Wednesday the Smithsonian Associates emails a special compilation of content which spotlights re-openings, reflections on history, and a virtual global choir whose music is out of this world.

These digests are designed to make sure you continue to enjoy what you've come to value from Smithsonian Associates: programs and experiences that are entertaining, informative, eclectic, and insightful.

You can read the current and archived issues here.

Ric Garcia Makes the Associates Look Good

by Janet Hewitt, Guest Blogger

Editorial Note: One of Ric's recent projects was the redesign of the header for this blog.

The Smithsonian Associates monthly program guide is like a trusted friend offering up the most irresistible treats for the mind and body.  And it’s all wrapped up in a pretty package, with the hardest part being narrowing down the choices. You can choose amazing lectures by best-selling authors, talks on your favorite painters, and virtual escapes to the ends of the earth (at a time when your passport won’t get you there).

 But who is behind the program guide’s alluring look and feel? Well, that would be Ric Garcia, visual design specialist for Smithsonian Associates ever since 2004. The Florida transplant has been doing graphic design work for the Associates—both print and online--for 16 years.  We caught up with him recently for an email-facilitated chat.

Garcia earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design and illustration from the University of Miami. He relocated to the DMV area in 2002 from Florida in search of better employment opportunities. After arriving, he worked as a freelance graphic artist for ad agencies before landing his job at the Associates in 2004. Back then, he also settled into a new home in Maryland.

 We wondered if Garcia has a favorite cover from the many program guides he has helped shepherd into print.  He says, “It’s hard to pick a favorite, they’re all so good looking, but to date my favorite is the May 2020 cover. That is the first cover I designed. I’m looking forward to designing many more.”

 Garcia is also an accomplished artist in his own right. Some of his favorite artists include Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg. He says, “The Associates played a key factor in my early success as an artist because I met my first mentor when volunteering for a beginning oil painting class at SA.”

 We wanted to learn a bit more about Garcia, whose work puts a face on Associates’ offerings for so many. Here’s some of what we found out.

 Q: Did you always want to be a graphic designer? When did you first discover you had an interest in graphic design?

 A: I had wanted to be a veterinarian or a firefighter, but starting at about 10 years old I decided being an artist would be a better idea. That decision would evolve into a career in graphic design and art.

 Q: I understand you recently got a promotion, so congratulations on that! How has your job changed since the promotion?

 A: I’ve always played a role in the production of the Associates program guide, but my new and expanded responsibilities allow for a fundamental involvement with the planning and design of the program guide. I continue to develop online marketing graphics and advertising. To meet the new demand for online advertising, I’ve developed multiple easy-to-use templates that expedite the process of creating ads. One set of templates, for example, is meant to empower marketing and public relations staff to independently create ads on social media.