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alumni profiles
Julia Vakser ’00 Deroy Peraza ’01
BFA Illustration Brooklyn-based Hyperakt Design Group, Inc., was founded in 2002 by Parsons graduates Julia Vakser and Deroy Peraza. Today the firm creates identities, websites, and print design for clients including the global brands Virgin and Camel and civil rights organizations like the ACLU. Vakser and Peraza’s partnership is built on friendship and mutual regard that began at Parsons. “We met on the first day of school,” says Vakser. “We admired each other’s work and always compared it. After 13 years, we still work very collaboratively.” Recently the pair created the Billboard for the People initiative, publicly congratulating President Obama through grassroots-funded ad space in New York City. “We work very organically. One of us can start a project and the other can pick it up fairly seamlessly,” explains Peraza. “We have high expectations for each other’s work. It’s very important to each of us to get the other’s stamp of approval.” www.hyperakt.com
Anna Rank ’93 Moira Matas ’93
MFA Fine Arts When Anna Rank and Moira Matas met in the MFA Painting studio at Parsons, they immediately recognized each other as kindred spirits. “Anna’s work and her approach made a great impression on me,” says Matas. “I felt a strong connection to her because we both look for the complexity and the simplicity in nature.” After attending Parsons, the Uruguayan-born Rank moved to Argentina, where she continues to paint and teach. She has also served as artistin-residence at Altos de Chavón School of Design, Parsons’ partner school in the Dominican Republic. Matas stayed in New York, where she paints, teaches, and works in communication design. The duo collaborated on an art project for the International Vigil of Peace, held in Central Park this fall. They also continue to give each other feedback. “Anna and I speak honestly to each other about our work,” says Matas. “I’d be a different artist if I hadn’t met her.”