Erik A. Evensen/EH-ven-sen/ is a graphic designer, illustrator, and educator whose creative work often reinterprets topics from history, mythology, and folklore. His Xeric-winning debut graphic novel, Gods of Asgard, has been featured at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, and the Wexner Center for the Arts, and adopted as a textbook at several colleges and universities.
Erik is an Associate Professor and Director of the MFA in Design at the University of Wisconsin–Stout. His creative work, research, and teaching focus on the synthesis of illustration and visual communication design, specializing in design drawing and visualization, concept art, and illustration. As an instructor, he has been recognized with the Outstanding Teaching Award for the UW-Stout College of Arts, Communication, Humanities, and Social Sciences, as a Faculty Ally, and nominated as Outstanding Graduate Faculty.
He has presented at and reviewed for academic conferences sponsored by the Design and Emotion Society, the International Association of Societies for Design Research (IASDR), Motion Design Education (MODE) Summit, and the AIGA National Design Conference. A student of Design Research pioneer Liz Sanders, Erik's academic research on educational board game design is a featured case study in her textbook, Convivial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of Design. His creative work with myth and folklore occasionally yields appearances and presentations in academic settings on history, culture, and comparative literature.
Erik holds an MFA in Visual Communication Design from Ohio State University, and a BA in Studio Art from the University of New Hampshire, with post-baccalaureate study at Boston's School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Prior to entering the “family business” of education, he began his career as a graphic designer specializing in advertising, branding, publication, and digital illustration, with his illustrated advertisements recognized by Graphic Design USA. He is married to conductor/composer Erika Svanoe.
NOTE: Evensen is pronounced with a short E, just as it is in Norway.
