As students in Temple’s Tyler School of Art, Jason Kernevich, TYL ’01, and Dusty Summers, TYL ’01, took a design course during their second semester that changed the trajectory of their careers. Both were inspired artistically by album covers, and the class helped them make the connection between art and design. They had the realization that graphic designers were the ones to make decisions about album packaging and other design concepts for objects that were important to them. It was a transformative moment.

After graduating in 2001, they took jobs on opposite coasts, but the gravitational pull of the collaborative style they’d built at Tyler and their shared desire to express their own ideas ultimately led them back to one another. Philadelphia-based design firm The Heads of State was founded in 2002 out of that ambition.

Giving back
The influence of their Temple education and professors inspired the duo to give back to the next generation of designers. Now they’re teaching Tyler students how to think critically and craft a signature design aesthetic, while also helping them hone the strong work ethic they developed in college.

In a world without Temple, visual storytelling would be less inventive.

Learn more about the impact of Temple alumni.