Howdy, friend.
What we’re cooking up:
Graphic Design.
Writing & Editing.
Community Building.
Teaching.
Events & Emceeing.
Art & Collage.
Email
howdy@midnightumbrella.com
Instagram
@midnightumbrella
Dribbble
dribbble.com/midnightumbrella
“Fortune Favors the Kind.”
Midnight Umbrella is the perplexingly-named workshop of graphic designer Ryan Arruda,a New Englander who’s community-building, hand-shaking, art-making, merch-selling & wordsmithing in Worcester, MA.
The full story
Howdy, glad to make your acquaintance! I’ll lay it right out for you—I’ve got a love for art directing, burly typography, design communities, event emceeing, writing words, and talking shop. Feel the same way, or have a project that needs crafting? Drop me a line.
As for my story, I graduated from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts with an undergraduate degree in film studies, and in 2010 I went on to receive an MFA in graphic design from the Rhode Island School of Design, in my beloved home state. Now I stake my claim in central Massachusetts with my family, where I grill up graphic design projects large and small. I co-founded Bay State Design Shop (“BSDS”), a growing community that’s for New England-area designers, by New England-area designers, with my buddy Erik Weikert. Previously I wrangled art direction, design and content for the typography-loving folks at MyFonts and Monotype, as well as community and events with my friends over at Dribbble.
My graphic design horse hockey and/or commentary has been featured in Eye, Graphic Design: Now in Production; Communication Arts, Designworklife, Quipsologies, Green Patriot Posters: Images for a New Activism, Dribbble Replay, OMG Posters, Creative Bloq, The Drum, Branding Magazine, and on my parents’ refrigerator door.
What’s a Midnight Umbrella, you ask? I might just divulge the pseudonym’s mysterious etymology if you send me a delicious popcorn tin, or some similar sundries. ❤️
Wheelhouse Details
Graphic Design
I’m a designer by trade, friends! Letterforms to logos to layouts, and all the collateral in between—there’s something special about cooking up creative communication when you have something to say. Type’s my weapon of choice (give me a tall grotesque an artboard to steer it by), but I’ve been known to illustrate if duty calls.
Writing, Editing, Teaching
Next best thing to designing? Excitedly sharing design know-how with others. In addition to teaching design classes, I’ve authored articles on typography & creative practice. I’ve also had the chance to hone communications and provide affable, approachable, and down-to-earth public-facing voices for the brands I’ve worked alongside.
Events & Emceeing
I’ve been lucky to manage and host numerous design-related events in the last few years—from designer meetups and 300-person sold-out BSDS events in Boston, emceeing the main stage of Dribbble’s 700-attendee Hang Time conference at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, and moderating virtual workshops and livestreaming sessions.
Community Building
Oh goodness, I love rallying design-loving folks, helping creative communities come together to talk shop & support one another. I’m the co-founder of Bay State Design Shop (BSDS), and my work at both Monotype & Dribbble focused on the hand-shaking & baby-kissing necessary to build meaningful rapport with their creative communities.