B.B.A., Belmont University
Rachel Briggs is a graphic designer and illustrator. Recognized by Society of Illustrators, her clients include: Airbnb, Budget Travel, Deli, GQ,HARP, NATIVE, No Depression, Outside, Paste, Relix, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Texas Music Monthly, Time Out Chicago, and Travel + Leisure magazines, as well as The Village Voice andThe Guardian.

BFA Graphic Design, Watkins College of Art
Aaron Johnson is the senior staff artist at Anderson Design Group where he creates retro posters and works with many large commercial clients including Macy’s, Miller Lite, Vince Gill, Igloo, and Ram Trucks.

BFA Graphic Design, Watkins College of Art
Korfhage works in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee as an illustrator and commercial artist. He specializes in engaging, fun illustrations, and has had the pleasure of creating images for magazines, ad agencies, authors, and small businesses. His work is fueled by spontaneity and discovery, and his influences include folk art, mid-century design, and storytelling. Korfhage is represented by Lindgren and Smith. His clients include: TIME, American Greetings, The Atlanta Braves, The Boston Globe, Fast Company, Warby Parker, Viacom/CMT, Family Circle, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Compendium, PeachDish, Rhode Island Monthly, and Nashville Lifestyles.

BFA Illustration, Ringling School of Design
Lauren Lowen’s art—which celebrates her love of pattern, color, and whimsical illustration—has been used for a variety of products, such as books, magazines, stationery, and even children’s luggage. Lowen is represented by Jennifer Nelson Artists, and her clients include Scholastic Press, LG Mobile, Hallmark, American Greetings, and KLUTZ books. Besides Watkins, Lowen has also taught at RISD, Montserrat College of Art, and Maryland Institute College of Art.

BFA Graphic Design, Watkins College of Art
Payne is a storyteller concerned with the black American narrative. Through art and design, he creates work that pushes back against the marginalized narrative of black culture and experiences. His creative goal is to exalt the culture in its entirety through establishing a new black iconography while conversing with the past and contemporary art influences.

Nott began his art career in Austin, Texas as a graphic artist. His work appears in a number of poster retrospectives from that era, including the books, The Art of Rock (1987, Abbeville Press) and Homegrown (2015,Texas Monthly Press). During that same time, he was privileged to study photography under the legendary Garry Winogrand, who made a profound impression on Nott through his philosophy of photography. His early work in music and street art has come full circle and found its place in his current work in street photography, capturing the zeitgeist of this remarkable time and place in Nashville.

BFA Graphic Design, Middle Tennessee State University
Stephanie Simkin is the owner and creative director of Stone + Steel Creative. Stone + Steel Creative was established in 2010 with a mission to develop strong nonprofit organization brands through design and strategic communication. She has worked with a variety of organizations to strengthen their community presence and tailor their communication to their mission and audiences. Simkin has been a branding consultant and trainer with Center for Nonprofit Management since 2013 and an adjunct professor of graphic design at Watkins College of Art since 2017. Her clients include: Antiques & Garden Show, American Heart Association, Center for Nonprofit Management, Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Friends of Radnor Lake, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee, Hands On Nashville, Heritage Foundation of Williamson County, Nashville Health Care Council, Swan Ball, Tennessee State University Foundation, Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities, and Tennessee Craft.

BFA Graphic Design, Watkins College of Art
Alicia Waters is a creative explorer believing in good people and great hearts, also known as an illustrator and graphic designer in Nashville. Over the years, her work has spread across print, web, and tech, with illustration and print being my first and leading true loves. She often works and collaborates with her husband, Drew, on various print and design projects at M.I.D. Goods. She is the co-founder and host of CreativeMornings Nashville. Her clients include: Sun Studios, Paramount Pictures, Dropbox, Dolly Parton, Ray LaMontagne, Sean Watkins, Studio Calico, Her Magazine, and Nashville Scene Magazine. Her work has also been featured in Country Living Magazine, Country Gardens Magazine, Martha Stewart, and The Jungalow, along with a handful of tech papers and design books.