Duration: Since 2008.

Staff: The Office of Amanda Buck is just me. However, every project involves collaboration with clients, other designers, writers, art directors, studios and/or printers.

Education: I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in design with a focus on visual communication from Ohio State University in 2008. I spent one semester studying design at Hochschule Darmstadt in Germany.

Cultural Influences: Impressionists Renoir and Degas; Cubism and Picasso; Dadaist Duchamp; the De Stijl movement; artists from the Bauhaus (Albers, Itten’s work on color, etc.); Ray & Charles Eames; Rivera’s murals; Surrealism; Walker Evans’s photographs of the Deep South; Pop Art and Andy Warhol; Outsider Art; films by Wes Anderson; Gaudi’s architecture; letterpress printers at Hatch Show Print; music, literature and theater; Paula Scher’s hand-drawn maps; romantic languages; antiques found in old flea markets; nature; food and cooking.

Environment: I recently moved from rural Alabama to the city of Chicago. Partly due to the recession, I’ve found myself in temporary positions and locations over the last few years. That situation has actually become my preferred method of practice—it’s made me nomadic, taught me to be mobile and adaptable and allowed me the opportunity to meet a lot of amazing people. I work from home, coffee shops, libraries and occasionally from studios that I am collaborating with.

Philosophy: Be both a big-picture and a detail-oriented thinker. Remember that design is about people, relationships, culture and place. Work hard, be honest and stay optimistic!