Tyrie Smith is a bit of a prat, who is currently making his girlfriend write his biography blurb. He is a father of a son who may or may not be an angel from heaven. On another note, Tyrie once imagined that he traveled to Greece. He has a post hole-digger degree in Folklore from the University of Louisiana. More importantly, he earned a degree in Creative Writing (magna cum laude, ahem) from Georgia State University – that’s where all that creativity comes into play. He currently teaches English at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta and dabbles in guitar, the culinary arts, badmitten and being a futbol hooligan. Along with his son, Eli, Tyrie raises a lazy 70-pound dog, a lazy 20-pound ginger cat and shares an adventurous life with his cheeky girlfriend. He is the copy-god of Luxecetera and occasionally has a good idea about branding.

Katie is a fiery redhead from Atlanta. No, that’s not quite right … hmm. Katie is an Atlanta native, mother of two wonderful children, a former financing officer and a rabid UGA football fan … no, that doesn’t really quite capture her either. Okay, okay … ummm. Oh! Got it! Katie Troxel is, like, the coolest woman ever. No, really. She has this really incredible personality that just puts you at ease. She’s very controlled and calm, which has a lot to do with why we hired her (she’s a dedicated practitioner of Bikram Yoga – yes, that’s the one where people meditate inside an oven). The organizational skills she acquired during her tenure in the banking industry, coupled with her feats as a wonderful mother of two great kids, makes her the ideal person to keep the LUXC ship sailing smoothly (or, at the interest of maintaining the metaphor, the LUXC Bullet Train running tip-top). And, like all of the LUXC team, Katie is a creative thinker, which makes us just that much stronger.

Julia Ruzich is an intern at Luxecetera and is the reigning Font Queen of the firm (check out her series on fonts at our blog). Originally from Atlanta, Julia was raised in Bradenton, FL, where her parents encouraged our young apprentice’s creative instincts and fostered in her an appreciation for international travel-an appreciation that has led to true wanderlust and a real love for diverse cultural experiences. Julia graduated cum laude with a BS in studio art from Florida State University and is currently working towards her MFA in Graphic Design at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta. She serves as president of SCAD’s student AIGA chapter, is a member-at-large on Atlanta’s Professional AIGA Education Board and is a member of the Society of Typographic Aficionados. Translation: Julia is a design nerd just like the rest of us, which is why we hired her. Julia loves video games and design books and has recently gotten into foreign film (see what we mean-nerd). When she’s not picking up the pieces at LUXC, Julia wends away the days with her boyfriend, Lars, and her chinchilla, Lucy-no doubt, dreaming of serifs.

Walter Cochran is the illustrating genius behind many of LUXC’s most creative designs. His well of imagination is infinite. How does he do it? Simple. Walter Cochran is an alien. He arrived on our planet some 10 years ago behind a team of 16 space goats. Yes, space goats … Okay, so he’s not from space (and no, there weren’t any goats), but he is a tree scientist, which is pretty much the furthest thing you can get from an illustrator (but not nearly as cool as a space-goat-driving alien). Walter earned his BS degree in environmental science (his focus being dendrology – which is tree science for those you having trouble keeping up) from the University of Georgia. Walter has a twin brother, Frank (who looks nothing like Walt), who earned a degree in soil science (which makes him an edaphologist) also from UGA. Yet, in spite of all the science in his genetic makeup, Walt has always been artistically creative – drawing, painting and even building stained glass pieces. This year he begins work on a degree in civil engineering. Yes, he’s our Renaissance man. Be sure to check out Walt’s work on the LUXC site.