COLLINS’ Post

THURSDAY The Moore College of Art has invited COLLINS to their campus as the 2025 Graphic Design Department’s visiting artists. Everyone here is insanely honored. Design Director Morgan Light will be joined by Senior Designer Lorena G. Ortiz for a lecture hosted in partnership with the good people at AIGA Philadelphia. It couldn't be better timed. Here's why. First, Morgan doesn’t design. She builds. At our office in New York, she works to turn brands into forces. Most recently, working with our friends at Target she helped lead the transformation of their $3 billion value brand, up&up. 3 years of work. She also (somehow) found time to work with us on Guild. For her, it’s only about making things real. Because real designers ship. Morgan’s journey started with a one-way ticket to New York after high school. She studied at the School of Visual Arts, treating her education like an Olympic sport, stacking 14 internships and freelance gigs before she even graduated. From Apple to COLLINS, she has worked with some of the world’s most influential brands, honing a commitment to craft, strategy and clarity. Her time in California widened her perspective, but I suspect her return to the city plugged her back into the energy she was destined for. It can be relentless here. New York refuses to let you settle. Which, conveniently, is exactly how she works. Her inspiration? Anywhere but the interwebs. Her exploding collection of vintage art and design books, helps. Her advice for aspiring designers? "Be a self-starter. Don’t wait for the future to come to you. Seek it out. Don’t hesitate." Morgan ain’t waiting for anyone. Lorena? Lorena just wants more. Different. So we invited her from spectacular, sunny Barcelona, Spain to freezing, rainy NYC. And we’re lucky she did. She arrived like a meteor—dazzling and impossible to ignore. A classically trained designer and art director, she turns philosophy into strategy and strategy into something you can actually see and feel. Lorena’s interests? Food and music and judging people who don’t care about food and music. Her restaurant map is so rigorous, it might qualify as urban infrastructure. She can jump from avant-garde Japanese composers to 1970s reggae, in seconds. Hobbies? She can weaponize a to-do list. Seriously. Meticulously. She puts TO-DO lists on TO-DO lists for the sake of crossing them off TO-DO lists. The best part for Lorena? Seeing her ideas come to life. Because she doesn’t just want to post to Instagram—she wants to create new worlds. She quoted my COLLINS partner Nick Ace to me: “If our idea gets approved too fast, we played it too safe. Take risks. Do the unexpected. Make it matter.” Morgan and Lorena do just that. Every. Single. Day. And now, on Thursday night. February 6 6:00 Reception 7:00 Lecture Moore College of Art & Design Graham Auditorium This event is free and open to everyone. Register here: https://shorturl.at/lQkuC Put it on your TO-DO list. Lorena did.