JAKE BARTON - Principal  Jake Barton is founder and principal of Local Projects, an award-winning media design firm for museums and public spaces. Jake is recognized as a leader in the field of interaction design for physical spaces, and in the creation of collaborative storytelling projects where participants generate content. Currently, Local Projects is partnered with Thinc Design as lead exhibition designers for The National September 11th Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center. Other projects include interaction design for StoryCorps, six films for The Beijing 2008 Olympics, media design for The National Museum of American Jewish History, media design for the Official New York City Visitors Information Center, and co-creation of Timescapes for the Museum of the City of New York. Additional clients include jetBlue, the Tribeca Film Festival, the New-York Historical Society, the National Building Museum and the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum.

     Jake was a finalist for the National Design Award in Communications in 2006 and attended the White House reception hosted by the First Lady and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. He has lectured extensively at conferences including the Gravity Free Design Conference in Chicago, UX Week in San Francisco, and the IDEA Conference in both Seattle and New York. His work has received two gold, one silver, and one bronze medal from the IDSA Industrial Designers Society of America, as well as five awards from ID Magazine, and three from the AIGA. He serves on the board of AIGA/NY and on the advisory council of the Gravity Free Design Conference. He has a master's degree from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, where he currently teaches the master's thesis class. Before founding Local Projects, Jake worked as an exhibition designer for Ralph Appelbaum Associates for seven years.

IAN CURRY - Senior Interaction Designer  Ian Curry comes most recently from frog Design where he helped create websites, large-scale interactive displays, product UI, and iTV interfaces for clients including MTV, BBC, Hewlett-Packard, IPC, and Microsoft. Previously, he has worked on interactive projects for Eyebeam R&D, and the United Nations. He has an M.P.S. from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and a B.A. in Comparative Literature from The Colorado College. His installation artwork, interactive and otherwise, has been shown at the International Center of Photography (ICP), the Lab Gallery, 3rd Ward, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Redhead Gallery.

KATIE LEE - Senior Graphic Designer  Katie Lee is a graphic designer working in print, interactive, and motion design. She began in New York City as a print designer for Shapiro Design Associates, then as a Web designer for Razorfish in the New York and San Francisco offices. In 2004 she moved to Los Angeles, where she worked for the Brand Integration Group at Ogilvy & Mather, ReVerb, and Prologue Films. While at Prologue, she designed and art directed motion graphics and titles for television and film. Katie holds a B.A. in Art from Yale University and an MFA in graphic design from the Yale School of Art.

ARIEL EFRON - Designer/Filmmaker  Ariel Efron is a cross-media artist operating between media art and media design. His work combines the use of media in installations, spatial design for dance, music, and theatre performances, and museum and art installation. Ariel has shown his work throughout the world, including the Venice Architecture Biennale 2004, the Rotterdam Biennale 2005, the Tokyo Dance Biennale 2002, and others. Ariel completed his master's degree at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University.

TIYA GORDON - Studio Director  Tiya Gordon directs operations while developing and producing individual projects for the company. Prior to joining Local Projects, Tiya worked as a Media Producer for the American Museum of Natural History where she designed and executed media installations for permanent halls and international exhibitions. Her work has received awards and recognition from The New York Academy of Sciences, The Cannes Film Festival, The American Association of Museums (MUSE), RESFEST, MIT/Leonardo, CINE and I.D. among others. She graduated from Parsons School of Design where she currently teaches in the Communication Design and Technology Program.

BRIAN HOUSE - Creative Technologist   Brian House is an artist, programmer, musician, and bricoleur whose work incorporates database cinema, algorithmic narrative, and mobile technology. Previous to Local Projects, Brian co-created Yellow Arrow, a seminal project in locative media that involved cities, stickers, and mobile phones and included participants in over 400 cities around the world. Brian's work has been presented by the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Rhizome at the New Museum, The Beall Center, Stockholms Kulturhust, Art Interactive, Glowlab Conflux, STEIM, and Dorkbot, and has been featured in the New York Times, Dagens Nyheter, and Wired magazine. He holds an M.S. in Innovative Design from Chalmers University in Göteborg, Sweden, and studied computer science and religion as an undergraduate at Columbia University.

CLAIRE LIN - Junior Graphic Designer   Claire Lin holds a B.F.A in Graphic Design from New York City's School of Visual Arts. In 2008 she showcased Re: collection, an audio and dynamic video installation which utilized everyday commercial mediums to engage the viewer and create an anonymous dialogue between the maker and the spectator; the private and the public. Prior to joining Local Projects, Claire art directed and managed design production for Domino Records.

A'YEN TRAN - Interactive Project Coordinator A'yen Tran is an interactive project coordinator, artist and story collector. Before joining Local Projects, she managed large-scale interactive art and media projects for non-profits and artists. She directed logistics and external relations for artist Swoon's nautical art projects with Deitch Projects, and served as Online Director for non-profit organization Seeds of Peace before joining Swoon. A'yen helped found art collective The Miss Rockaway Armada with whom she has installed artwork in the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and floated 800 miles of the Mississippi River recording oral histories aboard homemade eco-art rafts and a solar-powered story-boat. She has spoken at PS1, MASSMoCA and the Conflux Festival, and collaborated with Swoon in 2009 to float to the Venice Biennale on the Swimming Cities of Serenissima. A'yen holds a B.A. from Columbia University.

ADAM KOSBERG - Lead Content Developer   Adam Kosberg directed research and development as the Associate Producer on the Errol Morris documentary, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, winner of the 2004 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In 2006 he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked extensively on documentary and feature film projects for director Jeffrey Blitz. Previous to joining Local Projects, Adam produced several of the permanent exhibition films for the new Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. Adam holds a B.A. in the Comparative Study of Religion from Harvard University.

ROBERT PAYNTER - Motion Designer   Robert Paynter is a motion designer who comes most recently from R/GA where he was part of award winning design teams for an array of media ranging from mobile applications and video game development to the design of digital signage for Times Square. Previous to joining Local Projects, Robert worked with clients such as HBO, AT&T, Nike, Universal Music Group, and the American Museum of Natural History. Robert holds a B.A. in Mass Communication with an emphasis in Electronic Media Communication from Middle Tennessee State University.

RODRIGO DE BENITO SANZ - Front End Developer   Rodrigo DeBenito Sanz is a web designer and programmer. He has extensive experience in the conception and development of online projects related to the arts. Prior to joining Local Projects he executed work for major international organizations throughout Spain, Germany and New York including the Liceu Opera House in Barcelona. He has received numerous awards including a La Caixa fellowship and the Opera Web Award from the University Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona for his design of the site The Ring of the Nibelung about Wagner and his epic tetralogy. He holds an M.P.S. from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and a B.F.A. in Graphic Design from The University of Salamanca, Spain.

KAREN BENDER - Researcher   Prior to joining Local Projects, Karen Bender worked in production management and research and development for documentary house New Animal Productions; scouted scripts for A Band Apart films; and researched and oversaw implementation of architectural design as well as multimedia branding for several restaurants by Keith McNally. Karen holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature and Film Studies from NYU and an M.Phil. in Writing from Trinity College, Dublin. She has been recognized for her writing by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York Foundation of the Arts and the Dodge Foundation.

YULIYA PARSHINA - Motion Designer and Animator   Born in Moscow, Russia, Yuliya has worked in New York for over a decade as an animator, illustrator and prop-maker. Using both digital and traditional mediums Yuliya has extensive work experience on commercial, cultural and children's television projects includng installations created for the Guggenheim Museum (New York) and the American Museum of Natural History. Yuliya holds a B.F.A in Computer Art from the School of Visual Arts.

ERIK CARTER - Graphic Design Intern  Erik Carter is currently pursuing a B.F.A in communication design from Parsons the New School for Design. In the past he has interned with RCRDLBL, Vh1, and the Wilderness and also works with Eardrum NYC. His work crosses various media including motion, apparel, and print.

JIUN JENNIFER CHOI - Motion Graphics Intern  Jiun Jennifer Choi is currently pursuing a B.F.A in Design and Technology from Parsons the New School for Design. Within her studies she is focusing on graphic design, motion graphics, animation and illustration.

MIRANDA ELSTON - Content Development Intern   Miranda Elston holds a B.A. in History from Western Washington University and is currently pursuing a M.A. in History of Decorative Arts and Design from Parsons the New School for Design. She recently spoke at the Museum Futures Symposium hosted by the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Her studies include a focus on research and curatorial work.