Donovan Foote is an illustrator/designer who lives in the Midwest, just north of Chicago. For over twenty years, his work has impacted Chicago's publishing industry, theater community, and music scene.
Donovan Foote is an illustrator/designer who lives in the Midwest, just north of Chicago. For over twenty years, his work has impacted Chicago's publishing industry, theater community, and music scene.
Beginning in 2003 as the first graphic designer for Champaign, Illinois' Community Concierge Magazine, Donovan helped shape the creative by developing style guides, designing regional maps, working with local businesses, illustrating a library of "concierge men”, and setting the tone for future designers. The magazine would go on to have a 15-year run.
From 2006–2012, he collaborated with the Chicago International Film Festival, creating key art, marketing and event collateral, merchandise, and sub-festival branding.
In 2008 and 2009, as Associate Art Director for Publications International Ltd. (PIL), he designed children's books and provided compositional layout sketches to illustrators for publications and packaging with companies such as Sesame Street, Marvel, Disney, and Nickelodeon. While at PIL, Donovan also illustrated and designed two German-language board books: Gute-Nacht Lieder and Kinderlieder.
In 2010, Donovan began his four-year collaboration with Redmoon Theater (and Frank Maugeri's wild imagination) on a shadow play entitled The Astronaut's Birthday. As Lead Illustrator working with a team of twelve, they created hundreds of cells—some flat and some incorporating movement (essentially flat puppets)—which were projected onto the front windows of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago using overhead projectors. The result was a luddite animation that the audience watched from the exterior amphitheater.
As Art Director for Modern Luxury Media from 2010–2013, Donovan designed CS, Manhattan, The Atlantan, Brides Book Chicago, Mensbook Chicago, and Interiors Chicago. He also worked with editor Christina Cuomo to launch Beach magazine. During this time, he functioned as the staff illustrator, creating illustrations for multiple publications across the organization.
Also in 2010, Donovan worked with design firm Wilburn Thomas, creating the illustrations for the packaging of Evanston, Illinois' first distillery, FEW Spirits.
After several smaller projects, his last big project with Redmoon came in 2014 in collaboration with the Chicago Sinfonietta, celebrating Die de los Muertos. Over the course of 400 hours, Donovan illustrated two scrolls hundreds of feet long. These scrolls were operated manually while being filmed. A live animation was created by cross-fading the two cameras/scrolls set to live music by the Sinfonietta.
Donovan moved on to the role of Design Director at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. The six years (2013–2019) he was there were years of significant change: rebrands, leadership changes, a new bar, a new theater space, and more. Perhaps his time there is best summed up in this somewhat quirky, fairly extensive, albeit incomplete list:
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In 2019, Donovan took on the role of Art Director with an old client. Back in the mid-2000s (when he worked there on contract), GLC was a textbook and custom publishing company called General Learning Communications. Since then, the company has become a content and marketing agency, creating editorial marketing for associations and the healthcare industry. While involved in marketing campaigns, branding, and illustration projects, most of his time is spent designing quarterly and bi-monthly publications. Pulse magazine, a 36-page quarterly publication created for the American Medical Technologies association, has won multiple awards for its design: the 2021 APEX Award of Excellence for most improved magazines, journals & tabloids (Fall 2020); the 2021 EXCEL Silver Award for Design Excellence (Spring, Summer, Fall 2020); the 2021 HERMES Platinum Award for Print Media Design Overall (Fall 2020); the 2021 38th Annual Healthcare Advertising Bronze Award for Publication External (Spring 2020); the 2020 HERMES Platinum Award for Print Media Design Overall (Winter 2020). HealthU magazine, a quarterly publication customized for four regions for Hackensack Meridian Health, has won multiple awards for design: the 2023 HERMES Platinum Award for Print Media, Publications (Winter 2023); the 2023 40th Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards (Winter 2023); the 2023 winner of the Content Marketing Award (CMA) for Best Content Marketing Program in Healthcare; the 2022 APEX Award of Excellence, Magazine—Design & Layout (Fall 2021); the 2021 APEX Award of Excellence for Design & Illustration, Illustration & Typography (Summer 2020); the 2021 38th Healthcare Advertising Merit Award for Publication External (Summer 2020).
Perhaps the most satisfying work during this time has been what Donovan called "Portraits in Place." In 2020–21, he created nearly 100 portraits of patients to be featured in HealthU magazine during the height of the pandemic when photoshoots couldn't occur.
Perhaps the most satisfying work during this time has been what Donovan called "Portraits in Place." In 2020–21, he created nearly 100 portraits of patients to be featured in HealthU magazine during the height of the pandemic when photoshoots couldn't occur.
Since the beginning, Donovan has freelanced, focusing on illustration. He has created season art for The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Theatre School at DePaul University, Portland Opera, Definition Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, and Writers Theatre.
Client list
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THEATERS & NON-PROFITS
Active Transportation Alliance Chicago Children's Theatre Chicago Public Schools Cinema/Chicago (The Chicago International Film Festival) The College of Medicine at the University of Illinois Definition Theatre Company Illinois School District 300 Kohl Children’s Museum Lifeline Theatre Redmoon Theater Steppenwolf Theatre Company The Theatre School at DePaul University The University of Chicago Writers Theatre BREWERIES & DISTILLERIES FEW Spirits Blue Island Beer Co. Lagunitas Brewing Company Off Square Brewing |
AGENCIES & BUSINESSES
American Medical Technologists AmPride Communications Blue Chip Blythe Home Scents Chicago Sign Systems GLC Hackensack Meridian Health Ingraham Creative J. Walter Thompson Patrick Mooney Photography Paasche Airbrush Co. Potbelly RIPT Apparel SG2 Shelle Optical Saverio Truglia Wilburn & Thomas PUBLISHERS Chicago Reader Dirt Rag Magazine The Doghouse Press Eye Trauma Comics General Learning Communications Glencoe McGraw-Hill Harcourt School Publishers Holt, Reinhart, and Winston Million Dollar Round Table Modern Luxury Media Newcity Publications International, Ltd. Time Out Chicago Zaner Bloser |
MUSIC
The Abbey Pub Bluebottle The C-Sides The Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Code Kids Conn Selmer Curio Division & Honore The Dynamo Theorem Robert Rolfe Feddersen The Game The Headspins Innocent Words J. Church Ladyradio Ludwig Gary Landess Gatorwater Lickity Split Marmora Rec Records The Reunion Jazz Orchestra Silent Sirens Slow Gun Shogun Sound on Sound Torch Singer |
