Erik Schmitt is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and photographer whose work explores the landscape of human communication, from cryptic urban markings to marginalia within books. His concept-driven practice merges his design background with meticulous archival methodologies, investigating overlooked subjects with cultural resonance.
Schmitt's major projects include The Pages Project, an ongoing exploration of marginalia begun in 2007. The digital archive garnered coverage from El País, The New Yorker, The Global Digital Citizen Foundation, and Fast Company, and will be published as a 320-page volume by Slanted Publishing in 2026. His publication Roman Epigraphy emerged from a 2022 residency at The American Academy in Rome, where he walked the city's roads and piazzas documenting contemporary inscriptions. Each example was carefully drawn and its coordinates recorded. The resulting publication explores the contemporary layer of communication that rests upon the city's surface and gives voice to the everyday Romans and myriad visitors who have left their mark upon the city.
From lithography to digital printing, and from guerrilla public interventions to intimate artists' books, Schmitt explores form and structure as vehicles for meaning. His work reveals hidden patterns, relationships, and cultural narratives embedded in place, text, and image.
Recent residencies include the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and the American Academy in Rome.
Schmitt's work has been featured in The San Francisco Chronicle, CBS National News, El País, and The New Yorker. His work is held in collections at the Center for Fine Art Photography, Yale's Haas Family Arts Library, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Letterform Archive, Kunstbibliothek, Franklin Furnace Archive, Stanford University Rare Books Collection, and the Museum of Modern Art's Artists' Books Collection.
Education
BFA California College of the Arts, San Francisco, California, 1993
Professional Experience
studio1500, Partner and Creative Director, 2007–Present
California College of the Arts, Senior Lecturer, 2014–present
San Jose State University, Guest Lecturer, 2013, 2012
Art Institute of San Francisco, Guest Lecturer, 2012, 2011
University of California Berkeley, Guest Lecturer, 2011, 2010
Pentagram, Senior Designer, 2001–2007
Artist Residencies, Commissions, and Fellowships
Artist in Residence, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy, 2024
Visiting Artist, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy, 2022
Finalist, Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy, 2022
Finalist, Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy, 2021
Finalist, Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy, 2018
Fellow, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, 2017—2018
Juried design competition winner, Market Street Prototyping Festival, San Francisco, CA, 2016
Juried design competition winner, Market Street Prototyping Festival, San Francisco, CA, 2015
Artist In Residence, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA, 2013
All-College Honors Award, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, California, 1992
Workshops
Large Scale Digital Printing Workshop with Jon Zax, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, California, 2010
Painting Workshop with Jamie Brunson, California College of the Arts, Oakland, California, 2005
Darkroom Technique Workshop, California College of the Arts, Oakland, California, 2004
Photographic Techniques, University of California Extension, Berkeley, California, 2003
Owens Valley Photography Workshop with John Sexton, Carmel, California, 2002
Selected Group Exhibitions
The Center for Fine Art Photography, "Consumption", Fort Collins Colorado, July 2010
Cecile Moochnek Gallery, "Notations", Berkeley, California, May 2007
Published Books
40 Blows, Object Editions, Berkeley, California, 2025
Roman Epigraphy, Object Editions, 2025
American Bauhaus, Slanted Publishing, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2022
Work in Collections
Letterform Archive, San Francisco, California, 2024
Museo della Stampa e del Design Tipografico - Tipoteca, Cornuda, Italy, 2024
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA 2022
Stanford University Rare Books Collection, Stanford, California, 2024
Rare books collection at the J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2024
Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library | Yale University, New Haven, CT, 2022
Museum of Modern Art / Artists' Books Collection, New York, NY, 2022
Franklin Furnace Archive, New York, NY, 2022
Kunstbibliothek Sitterwerk, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2022
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center (BMCM+AC), Asheville, NC, 2022
Letterform Archive, San Francisco, CA, 2022
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 2022
Environmental Design Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA 2022
Problem Library, San Francisco, CA, 2022
San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA, 2022
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit - MOCAD, Detroit, MI, 2022
Jonathan Laib, Gallery Director, David Zwirner Gallery, New York, NY 2002
Claire Graves, President, The Webby Awards, New York, NY 2002
Mark Sinc, co-founder, The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver, CO, 2022
Awards and Honors
Photolucida Critical Mass finalist, Portland, OR, 2022
A' Design Award. Como, Italy, 2017
Webby Award. New York, NY, 2015
Graphis, New York, NY, 2008
Exhibitor Silver Award for exhibit design, Rochester, MN, 2008
HOW, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2007
The Western Art Directors Club. New York, NY 2002
The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Certificate of Excellence, New York, NY, 2001
The Industrial Designers Society of America, Great Falls, VA, 2001
International Design Excellence Award (IDEA), Herndon, VA 2001
Membership/Juries
Member of The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
Juror for the 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd annual Webby Awards.
Juror for the 2018 Spark Awards.
Selected coverage within Publications
TXT, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2016
Signage Design, Braun Publishing, Berlin, Germany, 2012
Symbol, Laurence King Publishing, London, UK, 2011
Graphis Logo Design, New York, NY 2008
Graphis Design Annual, New York, NY 2008
Exhibitor, Rochester, MN, 2008
I.D. New York, NY, 2007
Logo, Laurence King Publishing, London, UK, 2007
How, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2007
Exhibitor, Rochester, MN, 2007
Step, New York, NY 2007
Exhibitor, Rochester, MN, 2005
AIGA 365 Year in Design 22, New York, NY, 2002
Media coverage
Rayitas Azules Blog de Diseño Editorial y Tipografía
Design Reviewed American Bauhaus – Enriching the legacy of Black Mountain College, 2022
abduzeedo American Bauhaus, 2022
Typeroom A book, a day: American Bauhaus by Erik Schmitt. Athens, Greece, 2022
AisleOne American Bauhaus, 2022
The San Francisco Chronicle Gold leaf art project calls out Bay Area income inequality, gentrification. San Francisco, California, 2018
The CBS National News Tech boom pricing out many longtime San Francisco residents. New York, New York, 2018
7X7 Magazine Guerrilla artist gilds street objects in comment on the high cost of Bay Area life. San Francisco, California, 2018
Curbed Artists turn everyday objects gold to protest gentrification. San Francisco, California, 2018
Berkeleyside By gilding the ordinary, artist suggests Bay Area is enclave for the rich. Berkeley, California, 2018
San Francisco Public Press, Guerrilla Art Project Uses News for ‘Housing Displacement Facts.’ San Francisco, California, 2018
SFGATE, The Bay Area housing crisis depicted as nutrition labels. San Francisco, California, 2018
Curbed San Francisco, SF artist slaps notices on vacant SROs to spotlight homeless. San Francisco, California, 2017
Mental Floss Digitizing the Unique Marginalia of Old Books. New York, NY 2015
El Pais, El inventor de Kindle lee en papel, Las experiencias interactivas se presentan como alternativa a los ebooks. Madrid, Spain, 2014
The New Yorker, Lauren Collins has some fascinating things to say about marginalia. New York, NY, 2014
Fast Company, A Kindle designer's touching online memorial to the marginalia scribbled in books. San Francisco, California, 2014
Mashable, 'The Pages Project' brings the beauty of physical books online. Aberdeen, Scotland, 2014
HOW, Top ten web sites for designers. Cincinnati, Ohio. 2014
Yahoo Tech, Here’s a Site for You, Paperback Reader. San Francisco, California, 2014
Adobe Inspire Magazine. San Francisco, California, 2014
The Global Digital Citizen Foundation ‘The Pages Project’ Brings the Beauty of Physical Books Online. Berlin, Germany, 2014
Explore A magnificent celebration of marginalia. 2014
O Magazine The Messages Hidden in Classic Literature. New York, NY, 2014
The Huffington Post The Pages Project Preserves Precious Marginalia From Old Books Online. New York, NY, 2014
Adobe Inspire Magazine Images of California's urban decay by Terri Stone. San Francisco, California, 2014
Artweek Magazine, article, ‘Notations’ at Cecile Moochnek Gallery. Palo Alto, CA, 2006