Thomas Wedell

Tom Wedell began his education as a photo major at Layton School of Art, in Milwaukee. He went on to University of Michigan to complete a BA in photography and then to Cranbrook Academy of Art where he received an MFA studying both graphic design and photography. Within a year of graduation, he started a practice with his partner, graphic designer Nancy Skolos whom he met at Cranbrook.

Husband and wife, the two work to diminish the boundaries between graphic design and photography—creating collaged three-dimensional images influenced by modern painting, technology and architecture. With a home/studio halfway between Boston and Providence they balance their commitments to professional practice and teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design.

The studio’s client list has included Boston Acoustics, Cambridge Arts Council, Digital Equipment Corporation, EMI Music Publishing, Steelcase Design Partnership, Walker Art Center, US Department of Health and Human Services, and the US Postal Service. The work has received numerous awards and has been widely published and exhibited. Skolos/Wedell’s posters are included in the graphic design collections of the Museum of Modern Art, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem and the Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich, Switzerland. 

Publications:

2007 AGI Graphic Design Since 1950 Taschen

2007 The Anatomy of Design–Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic, Rockport Publishers

2006 Type, Image, Message–Nancy Skolos and Thomas Wedell, Rockport Publishers

2006 Meggs History of Graphic Design Fourth Edition–Philip B. Meggs and Alston W. Purvis, Wiley

2003 Graphis Magazine 345 “Skolos-Wedell: In Tandem” – Elisabeth Resnick

2001 US Design 1975–2000, Denver Art Museum Prestel Verlag

2000 Novum “Showroom: Skolos/Wedell,” Germany

2000 Poster Collections of Contemporary American Famous Designers China

1998 Critique “Page Craft” – Marty Neumeier

1998 Typography When Who How – Friedrich Friedl, Nicolaus Ott and Gernard Stein Konemann

1993 Eye No. 8 Vol. 2 “Techno Cubists,” –Mike Hicks UK

1993 Graphis 284 “Skolos-Wedell: Bringing Guitars to Life” –Nancy Skolos

1992 Creation No. 15 “Skolos/Wedell,” –Stewart McBride Japan

1990 Cranbrook Design: The New Discourse, Rizzoli

1990 Communication Arts “Skolos, Wedell + Raynor” –Robert A. Parker

1989 New American Design–Hugh Aldersey-Williams, Rizzoli

1989 Graphic Design in America A Visual Language History, Walker Art Center Minneapolis