Charles Wilkin is the principal of Automatic Art and Design and Prototype Experimental Foundry in New York City. Wilkin founded Automatic based on his belief that personal expression and professional application should interact as an integral part of the design process. This conceptual approach to design blends elements of art and design together - resulting in work that relies on instinct rather than expectation to engage its audience emotively.
Automatic provides creative services in the areas of print and web design, illustration and typography. Clients have included: Adidas, Altpick.com, American Eagle, Analog, Art Academy
of Cincinnati, Australian Vogue, Billabong, Burton Snowboards, Cahan and Associates, Capitol Records, Grove-Atlantic Press, Iams, Knopf (Chip Kidd), Limited Corporation, Mattel, Proctor & Gamble, Showtime, Sprint, Target, Tolleson Design, Urban Outfitters and Velocette records.
Under Wilkin's direction Automatic has won international recognition for its innovative work including: American Center for Design - The 100 Show, Communication Arts - Design Annual, Print Magazine - Regional Design Annual, I.D. Magazine, Type Directors Club 19, AIGA - Graphic Design USA 18 and Graphis - Logo 5.
Automatic has also been published in a variety of books and magazines including: Metropolis magazine, Computer Arts (UK), Emigre #63, IMG SRC 100, Alphabook and Printed Matter by Roger Walton, Type in the Digital Age by Steven Heller, Idea magazine (Japan), Shift magazine (Japan), I-DN magazine (Japan) and Lurzer's Archive.
In 2003, Wilkin was nominated for a National Communication Design Award from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City. He also published his first monograph titled Index-A through Die-Gestalten, a 144-page book that showcases his extensive collage, Polaroid and typographic design work.
Wilkin's work was added to the permanent design collection at the museum of Decorative Arts, Hamburg Germany in 2003. His typographic explorations have also been exhibited at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City and the Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography.
Charles Wilkin was born in Buffalo, New York, and received his BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design in 1992. Wilkin returned to CCAD from 1999-2001 to teach typography and develop new curriculum for the typography program. In 2001, Wilkin relocated Automatic Art and Design to New York City from Columbus, Ohio, where he founded the company in 1994.
