Rafael Esquer

Esquer was born on December 31, 1966, in Álamos, Sonora, Mexico. His father was a teacher, and his mother was a cattle rancher. Until he was 8, his family lived in farming villages around Álamos where his father set up and ran elementary schools.{{Cite web |last=Sudbanthad |first=Pitchaya |date=September 1, 2008 |title=Design Journeys: Rafael Esquer Biography. |url=http://www.aiga.org/design-journeys-rafael-esquer |url-status=dead |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=AIGA.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031094232/http://www.aiga.org/design-journeys-rafael-esquer |archive-date=31 October 2016 }} In 1974, the family moved to Huatabampo, Sonora, a city of 70,000 people on the Gulf of California. Esquer completed elementary and high school there. At 19, he moved to Mexico City to study photography at the Coyocán School of Photography (1987-1988) and to begin his university education at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (1988-1989). In 1989, Esquer took a break from his studies in Mexico City to learn English in Los Angeles, California. He enrolled at Los Angeles Trade–Technical College (LATTC) and in 1992 received his Associate of Arts with honors in Commercial Art. He did not return to Mexico City. Instead, with encouragement from his professors at LATTC, he applied to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he was accepted and awarded a scholarship to continue his study in design. He received his Bachelor of Fine Art with distinction in Graphic and Packaging Design at Art Center in 1996.{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Carolyn Gray |date=April 25, 2014 |title=New York's Newest Icon, Rafael Esquer (BFA 96). |url=https://www.artcenter.edu/connect/dot-magazine/articles/new-york-s-newest-icon-rafael-esquer.html |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=ArtCenter, DOT Magazine.}}

After graduation in 1996, Esquer worked as a graphic designer at Rebeca Méndez Communication Design in Altadena, California. In September 1996, he moved to New York City to begin work as a graphic designer at Poppe Tyson Interactive. He has lived in Manhattan ever since. In 1997, he joined RadicalMedia as an Art Director, and worked in its Communication Design group for 7 years, rising to Creative Director. His group at RadicalMedia won the National Design Award in Communication Design from the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in 2004.{{Cite web |date=2004 |title=2004 National Design Award Winners. |url=https://www.cooperhewitt.org/national-design-awards/2004-national-design-awards-winners/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.}}{{Cite news |last=Shustack |first=Mary |date=October 21, 2004 |title=At Cooper-Hewitt, winners by design. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/916118986/?match=1&terms=Cooper-Hewitt%20Announces%20Winners%20of%20the%20National%20Design%20Awards%202004 |access-date=May 19, 2025 |work=The Journal News (White Plains, NY) |pages=1E–2E}}{{Cite web |date=2004 |title=Accession 05-236, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Education Division National Design Awards Files, 2000-2004. |url=https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_259151 |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=Smithsonian Institution Archives.}}

Esquer left RadicalMedia in 2004 to open his own design firm, Alfalfa Studio. He selected the name "Alfalfa" as a reference to his childhood in Sonora, Mexico, where alfalfa is widely cultivated for grazing and fodder. Esquer said, “As a farm boy, I would feed my family’s cows with it. So, the name is a general reminder of where I come from, but also a specific reminder of that boy who dreamed that anything was possible, whose dreams were as fresh and green and nourishing as alfalfa.”{{Cite web |last=Butler |first=Andy |date=August 11, 2014 |title=Interview with graphic designer Rafael Esquer of Alfalfa Studio. |url=https://www.designboom.com/design/interview-graphic-designer-rafael-esquer-alfalfa-studio-nyc-08-11-2014/ |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=designboom.}}

For more than 20 years, Esquer has run Alfalfa Studio as a small, independent agency, creating enduring work in sports, arts and culture, hospitality, entertainment, and government. In its early years, the studio was on Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District followed by many years on Centre Street in SoHo. In 2019, Esquer moved it to Convent Avenue on Sugar Hill in West Harlem. His philosophy has remained unchanged: Make the idea clear and simple, the design surprising and beautiful.{{Cite web |title=About Alfalfa Studio. |url=https://www.alfalfastudio.com/about |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=Alfalfa Studio.}} His clients have included Paramount, Brookfield Properties, New York City Football Club, Booz Allen, Darden Restaurants, Open House New York, Guggenheim Partners, Ford Foundation, Museum of the City of New York, Goethe Institut, Kate Spade New York, The Glass House, Björk, Amphibian Stage, Repertorio Español, the Houston Rockets, The New York Times Magazine, Nike, AIGA, International Flavors & Fragrances, Target, Scholastic, El Museo del Barrio, the Government of New York City, and MTV.{{Cite web |title=Alfalfa Studio/Clients |url=https://www.alfalfastudio.com/clients |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=Alfalfa Studio.}}

In November 2013, Esquer was hired by New York City Football Club (NYCFC) and its parent organization, Manchester City Football Club, to create the original club badge for NYCFC.{{Cite web |last=New York City FC |date=February 12, 2015 |title=Welcome to the Club, Episode 1, The Badge. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v90EgUj8xhQ |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=YouTube.}}{{Cite web |last=New York City FC. |date=February 12, 2015 |title=New York City FC lifts the lid on the birth of a new club: Watch episode 1, The Badge. |url=https://www.newyorkcityfc.com/news/new-york-city-fc-lifts-lid-birth-new-club |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=New York City FC.}}{{Cite book |title=Win Out: The Best of Sports Graphic Design and Branding. |date=2019 |publisher=Sandu Publishing Co, Ltd. |isbn=978-988-79475-4-7 |location=Wang Shaoqiang, ed. Hong Kong |pages=6-7, 204-205}} On March 10, 2014, NYCFC announced that two of Esquer’s badge designs (one shield-shaped, the other circular) would be put to a public vote by NYCFC fans.{{Cite web |last=New York City FC |date=March 10, 2014 |title=Vote Now: It's up to you, New York. |url=https://www.newyorkcityfc.com/news/vote-now-its-you-new-york |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=New York City FC.}}{{Cite web |last=Prince-Wright |first=Joe |date=March 10, 2014 |title=New York City FC announce final badge designs, which do you like best? |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/soccer/news/photo-new-york-city-fc-announce-final-badge-designs-which-do-you-like-best |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=NBC Sports.}} Claudio Reyna, Sporting Director of NYCFC said, “Thanks to the work of Rafael Esquer, we feel that we have two designs that truly represent our Club and our City, and we’re excited to see which badge they choose.” On March 20, 2014, Tim Pernetti, Chief Business Officer of NYCFC, unveiled Esquer’s circular badge as the winner and the official club badge.{{Cite web |last=New York City FC |date=March 20, 2014 |title=New York City FC Official Badge. |url=https://www.newyorkcityfc.com/news/new-york-city-fc-official-badge |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=New York City FC.}}{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Peter |date=March 21, 2014 |title=Schwartz: A Badge Of Honor For New York's Newest Team. |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/schwartz-a-badge-of-honor-for-new-yorks-newest-team/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=CBS News.}} A video and photos of the unveiling ceremony were posted online by Major League Soccer and NYCFC.{{Cite web |last=Major League Soccer |date=March 20, 2014 |title=New York City FC Badge Unveiling. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQkWio6gdtg |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=YouTube.}}{{Cite web |last=New York City FC |date=March 20, 2014 |title=New York City FC made MLS history tonight. The countdown to kick off rolls on. |url=https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=263039820536148&set=a.160653384108126 |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Facebook.}}{{Cite web |last=New York City FC |date=March 21, 2025 |title=Our distinguished badge designer, Rafael Esquer. |url=https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=263141167192680&set=a.263140980526032 |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Facebook.}}

In 2002-2003, Esquer designed the new logo and typeface for the Houston Rockets in collaboration with Eiko Ishioka, who designed the new uniforms.{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Logo Design |date=2015 |publisher=Taschen |isbn=978-3-8365-5634-7 |location=Julius Wiedemann, ed. Köln, Germany |pages=12–19 |language=English, French, German}}{{Cite web |date=2005 |title=Merit Award, Graphis Logo Design 6 competition, the NBA's Houston Rockets. |url=https://graphis.com/entry/303aa12a-4b2c-11e2-a2c9-f23c91dffdec |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=Graphis.}}{{Cite book |title=Graphis Logo Design 6. |date=2004 |publisher=Graphis |isbn=978-1-931241-19-9 |location=B. Martin Pedersen, ed. New York |publication-date=2004 |pages=120, 194, 243, 248}}

In 2001-2002, Esquer collaborated with Eiko Ishioka on designs for Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics uniforms for Switzerland, Japan, Canada, and Spain, manufactured by Japanese sportswear company Descente.{{Cite book |last=Landa |first=Robin, Gonnella, Rose, Brower, Steven. |title=2D: Visual Basics for Designers |date=2007 |publisher=Thompson Delmar Learning |isbn=978-1418011604 |location=Clifton Park, New York |pages=166}}{{Cite journal |last=Chen |first=Aric |title=Descente's Superhuman Olympic Suits. |url=https://graphis.com/publications/all/issue-343-digital-version |journal=Graphis |volume=Jan/Feb 2003 |issue=343 |pages=19, 21}}{{Cite web |last=Rutnik |first=Alixandra |date=March 12, 2012 |title=Eiko Ishioka: The Boldness & The Brilliance. |url=https://www.oneclub.org/articles/-view/eiko-ishioka-bold-brilliant/ |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=The One Club for Creativity.}}

In 2004, Esquer designed the Made in NY logo at RadicalMedia for the New York City Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting.{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Small Studios. |date=2009 |publisher=Page One Publishing |isbn=978-9812458230 |location=Jianping He, ed. Victoria, BC, Canada |pages=54}}{{Cite web |last=Oliver |first=Katherine |date=March 13, 2015 |title=Building a Brand with Local Pride: How film and tech helped revitalize New York City's economy. |url=https://medium.com/%40kolivernyc/building-a-brand-with-local-pride-7d93a0ac045b |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=Medium.}}{{Cite web |title=All Work/City of New York |url=https://www.radicalmedia.com/work/city-of-new-york |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=RadicalMedia.}}{{Cite web |date=2005 |title=Silver Award, Graphis Logo Design 6 competition. |url=https://graphis.com/entry/2de25d3c-4b2c-11e2-a2c9-f23c91dffdec |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=Graphis.}}

In 2002, Esquer designed the NYC311 logo and branding for the launch of New York’s comprehensive city government information and services call center.{{Cite journal |last=Iezzi |first=Teressa |date=2003 |title=Dial-a-Complaint Campaign. |journal=Creativity |volume=Nov 2003 |pages=65}}{{Cite web |date=2004 |title=Gold Award, Graphis Logo Design 6 competition. |url=https://graphis.com/entry/2a563698-4b2c-11e2-a2c9-f23c91dffdec |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=Graphis.}}

File:Esquer poster design for lecture at Louisville-Graphic-Design-Association.jpg

• Cocoon by Björk, CD single. Created in 2002 in collaboration with Eiko Ishioka.{{Cite web |title=Alfalfa Studio. |url=https://www.commarts.com/project/2167/alfalfa-studio |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=Communication Arts.}}{{Cite web |date=September 21, 2017 |title=5 Novel, Subversive + Unforgettable Works by Latinx Graphic Designers. |url=https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/5-novel-subversive-unforgettable-works-by-latinx-graphic-designers/ |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=AIGA Eye on Design.}}{{Cite web |date=2002 |title=Björk "Coccon" CD. |url=https://designarchives.aiga.org/#/entries/Rafael%20Esquer/_/detail/relevance/asc/8/7/484/bjrk-cocoon-cd/1 |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=AIGA Design Archives.}}{{Cite web |title='Cocoon' by Björk. |url=https://peoplesgdarchive.org/item/2983/cocoon-by-bjoerk |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=The People's Graphic Design Archive.|date=16 March 2021 }}{{Cite web |title=Björk "Cocoon" CD, Rafael Esquer and @radical.media, 2002. |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/bj%C3%B6rk-%E2%80%9Ccocoon%E2%80%9D-cd-rafael-esquer-and-radical-media/0AE3rNZqYCYV5A?hl=en |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=Google Arts & Culture.}}
• Chavela at Carnegie Hall, CD. Created in 2004, a special collector's edition with a custom foil-embossed double cover and a 20-page book of Esquer’s original illustrations.{{Cite web |title=Chavela CD packaging. |url=https://www.commarts.com/project/16209/chavela-cd-packaging |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=Communication Arts.}}
• Vote, poster. Created for the AIGA “Get Out the Vote” initiative in 2004 and included in the Library of Congress poster collection and the Stewart Collection at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.{{Cite web |title=Get out the vote posters sponsored by the AIGA. |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010634847/ |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=Library of Congress.}}{{Cite web |title=Modern Design Midcentury to Today, p24-25. |url=https://www.artsandartists.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Modern-Design-Prospectus_spreads.pdf |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=International Arts & Artists.}}
• Iconic Places, poster series. Iconic New York won the Merit Award in the Graphis Poster 2015 competition;{{Cite web |date=2015 |title=Merit Award, Graphis Poster Annual 2015, the Iconic New York Poster. |url=https://graphis.com/entry/49382356-d2b3-4619-a524-df7884d7ca8e |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=Graphis}} Iconic New York Illuminated and Iconic London are in the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection at Stanford University;{{Cite web |title=New York. R. Esquer. |url=https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~332305~90100788:New-York--R--Esquer?qvq=q:esquer;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=0&trs=2 |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=David Rumsey Historical Map Collection at Stanford University.}}{{Cite web |title=London. R. Esquer. |url=https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~332310~90100748:London--R--Esquer?qvq=q:esquer;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=1&trs=2 |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=David Rumsey Historical Map Collection at Stanford University.}} and Iconic Florida is in the Touchton Map Library at the Tampa Bay History Center.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}
• The Passions of Rafael Esquer, poster. Created in 2009 for the Louisville Graphic Design Association in Louisville, Kentucky. An homage to the April 1968 Esquire cover of Muhammad Ali by George Lois.
• East LA Lowrider Bike, silk screen print. Created for the international show Chain Reaction: Posters About Bikes at the Design Museum of Chicago in 2018.{{Cite web |last=Staugaitis |first=Laura |date=November 28, 2018 |title=Chain Reaction: An International Print Show Featuring Two-Wheeled Artwork. |url=https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/11/chain-reaction-2/ |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=Colossal.}}

School of Visual Arts (SVA), Division of Continuing Education, New York City.{{Cite web |last=Murg |first=Stephanie |date=December 17, 2007 |title=Hablas Diseno?: SVA to Offer Courses in Spanish. |url=https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/hablas-diseno-sva-to-offer-courses-in-spanish/ |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=AdWeek.}}{{Cite web |last=Quito |first=Anne |date=July 27, 2022 |title=Talking With 'Curious Story Lab' Host and SVA Alumnus Michele Washington. |url=https://sva.edu/features/talking-with-curious-story-lab-host-and-sva-alumnus-michele-washington |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=School of Visual Arts.}}

École Intuit Lab. International Workshop, Poster Design. Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, India.{{Cite web |last=École Intuit Lab India |date=2020 |title=Iconic Mumbai, A Graphic Anthropology: Rafael Esquer at école intuit.lab. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkeFl8acE9U |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=YouTube.}}{{Cite web |last=Techno India University |date=September 13, 2024 |title=Iconic Map of Kolkata: A Student-led Tribute to the City's Essence. |url=https://technotimes.info/index.php/2024/09/13/iconic-map-of-kolkata-a-student-led-tribute-to-the-citys-essence/ |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=Techno Times.}}

Preface, “The X Factor of Sports Design.” Win Out: The Best of Sports Graphic Design and Branding. Wang Shaoqiang, ed. Hong Kong: Sandu Publishing Co, Ltd., 2019.{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Win Out: The Best of Sports Graphic Design and Branding. |date=2019 |publisher=Sandu Publishing Co, Ltd. |isbn=978-988-79475-4-7 |location=Wang Shaoqiang, ed. Hong Kong |pages=6-7, 204-205}}

Design Journeys: You Are Here. AIGA National Design Center, New York, 2010.{{Cite web |date=2010 |title=Design Journeys: You Are Here. |url=http://www.aiga.org/aiga/content/events-and-competitions/exhibitions/design-journeys-you-are-here/ |url-status=dead |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=AIGA.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630025129/http://www.aiga.org/aiga/content/events-and-competitions/exhibitions/design-journeys-you-are-here/ |archive-date=30 June 2017 }}

Björk Retrospective. MoMA, New York, 2015.{{Cite web |date=2015 |title=Björk Retrospective. |url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1458 |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=MoMA.}}

AMPL!FY: Advancing the Front Lines of Social Justice. MAD: Museum of Arts and Design, New York, 2017-2018.{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=AMPL!FY: Advancing the Front Lines of Social Justice. |url=https://madmuseum.org/exhibition/amplfy |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=Museum of Art and Design (MAD)}}

Chain Reaction: An International Print Show Featuring Two-Wheeled Artwork. Design Museum of Chicago, 2018-2019.

IdentificarX, Celebrating ArtCenter's Latina/e/o/x Alumni Community. Art Center College of Design, 2024.{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=IdentificarX, Celebrating ArtCenter's Latina/e/o/x Alumni Community. |url=https://www.artcenter.edu/about/exhibitions/identificarx.html |access-date=May 20, 2025 |website=ArtCenter.}}

{{reflist}}

https://www.alfalfastudio.com/

https://alfalfanewyork.com/

Category:Living people

Category:American people of Mexican descent