About

A Creative Talent Agency.

Cultivated, curated, hard-to-find talent and resources.

We’re a consultancy evolving brands and agencies where creativity and design thinking matters. We specialize in packaging, print, interactive, multimedia, experiential, and advertising.

From senior-level through emerging professionals in all disciplines — we offer full-time opportunities, off-site projects, and on-site freelance engagements.

With 35 years of deep industry involvement — we’ve developed a highly effective evaluation method — ensuring perfect matches for our talent and clients. We’ve helped build some best-of-breed brands, agencies, and corporate creative teams throughout the greater Metro New York area.

We invite new or returning talent to Register at this link, with a PDF resume and a link to your portfolio or reel. Add a short blurb about how we can be of service — you are welcome to call us anytime at 646-580-7758 or 203-838-7772.
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Solutionist

Karl Heine

A lifetime of experience

Dedicated to design

Talent agent, coach, design educator, speaker, and practioner

Karl Heine has over 35 years of experience in marketing communications and creative professional recruitment and development. He specializes in all levels of talent acquisition for major brands, agencies, design firms, startups, small and medium-sized businesses, non-profits and corporations.

Heine has remained hands-on as a creative professional throughout his career and has been the recipient of numerous design awards. He continues to receive accolades for his craft.

Karl lectures frequently at design institutions and industry associations. An engaged educator, he has been an adjunct and visiting professor at top design schools and is particularly known for preparing students for the working world with business practice skills and strengthening the resumes and portfolios of established professionals at all ages and stages.

As a natural extension of his work in talent recruitment and design education, Heine has formally paired these offerings with a successful career coaching practice.

Connect with Karl on LinkedIn

TEACHING

Faculty
Professional Practices
BFA/Illustration BFA/Comics, 2023–present
School of Visual Arts, NY

Visiting Professor
Illustration and Visual Storytelling: Art/Industry
Summer Residency Program, 2014–present
School of Visual Arts, NY

Adjunct Professor
Starting a Small Business for Packaging Designers
Fashion Institute of Technology
New York, NY

Adjunct Professor
Business Practices and Ethics for Designers, Graphic Design Studio
Shintaro Akatsu School of Design
University of Bridgeport
Bridgeport, CT

Visiting Professor
Graphic Design
Aurora College, Shanghai, China

Visiting Professor
Design Thinking, Typography, Graphic Design Studio
Anhui Polytechnic University, China
2+2 Cultural Exchange Program
via Shintaro Akatsu School of Design

Adjunct Professor
Design Application, Business Practices, Entrepreneurial Portfolio
SUNY New Paltz
New Paltz, NY

Teaching Resident
Industry Hero Program
Graduate Advertising Workshop
M.AD School of Ideas
Miami Ad School, Miami

Adjunct Instructor
Product Creation and Innovation
M.AD School of Ideas
Miami Ad School, NY

INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT

Juror 2022—present
Le Book Connections New York

Director-at-Large, 2014–2018
Membership Chair and Marketing Promotion Lead, 2016
Co-Chair, TDC/62 Annual/Competition
Type Directors Club (TDC)
New York, NY

Founding Board Member
Recruitment and Events Chair, 2009–2010
AIGA Brand Central

Lifetime Service Award, 2019
Board Member, 1995–2000 and 2005–2008
Connecticut Art Directors Club (CADC)

Judge
51st Annual Awards
New Jersey Ad Club

Judge
Design Awards
Design Arts Museum
School of Arts, Anhui Polytechnic University
Wuhu, China

Judge & Award Designer
Project Upcycle Sustainable Design Awards
Hasbro
Pawtucket, RI

Guest Critic
Graphic Design Program
College of Visual and Performing Arts
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY

Material Juror
Material ConneXion
New York, NY

Media Partner
Better World by Design
International Design Conference
RISD / Brown University
Providence, RI

Juror
IDSA Student Merit Awards
Shintaro Akatsu School of Design
University of Bridgeport
Bridgeport, CT

Industrial Design Critic
Shintaro Akatsu School of Design
University of Bridgeport
Bridgeport, CT

Judge
Portfolio Awards
Shintaro Akatsu School of Design
University of Bridgeport
Bridgeport, CT

Judge
Big W Awards
Westchester Ad Club
Westchester, NY

WORKSHOPS

Cofounder and producer
Ready, Set, Go!
This one-day workshop for emerging students was originally created for the Connecticut Art Directors Club to offer real-world advice and experiential learning about embarking on professional creative careers in design. Now available at scale directly through kHyal and Karl.

Producer and Instructor
DesignerJournals™ custom notebook workshop
Teen Advisory Group, The Amistad Center for Art and Culture
The Wadsworth Atheneum

Coproducer and Instructor
Digital Publishing and Branding, 6-Month Workshop Series
Teen Advisory Group, The Amistad Center for Art and Culture
The Wadsworth Atheneum

Cofounder, Producer and Instructor
PUSH Design Camp for Creative Professionals
Block Island, Rhode Island

Cofounder, Producer and Instructor
PUSH Workshops
A hybrid design education model created to inspire, educate and inform creative professionals at all levels, through workshops, salons and events
South Norwalk, CT

Workshop Instructor
Social Media Bootcamp
AWNY Annual Advertising Conference
Fashion Institute of Technology, New York

Annual Advertising Conference Committee
Annual Advertising Conference Resume and Portfolio Clinic Subcommittee
Advertising Women of New York (AWNY)

SCHOOLS & INDUSTRY ORGS KARL HAS WORKED WITH:

  • Advertising Women of New York (AWNY)
  • American Marketing Association (AMA)
  • Art Directors Club (ADC)
  • AIGA Connecticut
  • AIGA Philadelphia
  • AIGA New York
  • AIGA Rhode Island
  • AIGA Upstate NY
  • Anhui Polytechnic University, China
  • American Marketing Association (AMA)
  • Art Directors Club, New York
  • Carnegie Mellon University
  • Central Connecticut State University
  • Connecticut Art Directors Club (CADC)
  • Cleveland Institute of Art
  • Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)
  • Gateway Community College
  • Graphic Artist Guild
  • Hygienic Artist Academy
  • How Design Live, Freelancers Conference, Boston
  • How Design Live, San Francisco
  • Independent Creative Club
  • ITP, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
  • Kean University
  • Kutztown University
  • Le Book Connections New York
  • M.AD School (Miami Ad School), Miami
  • M.AD School (Miami Ad School), New York
  • Marist College—Poughkeepsie
  • Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University
  • New York City College of Technology
  • Noble Desktop
  • Pratt Institute
  • Parsons The New School for Design
  • Quinnipiac University
  • Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
  • Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
  • Sacred Heart University
  • School of Visual Arts (SVA)
  • Shintaro Akatsu School of Design
  • Syracuse University
  • SUNY New Paltz
  • The Creative Circus
  • The Portfolio Center
  • The One Club for Creativity
  • Think:FWD, Behance Portfolio Reviews
  • Tyler School of Art at Temple University
  • University of Bridgeport
  • University of Connecticut
  • University of Hartford

Hello!

How can we help you?

For talent, resources, training, or coaching — reach out to:

Design by fiZz Agency