Bachelor of Fine Arts Dual Degree in Graphic Design and Illustration
Art Director | Sony Music Entertainment/Arcade Creative | New York City, N.Y.
When Annie Stoll was highlighted in DaemenToday in 2014, she had just been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best CD Recording Package.
Stoll was the youngest graphic designer in more than 20 years to be nominated for a Grammy and the recognition came for work she did for the group Geneseo. Today, the recognition keeps coming.
Most recently, Stoll received a 2017 Grand Clio for packaging design for the music on vinyl released with Amazon’s fictional television series “Man in the High Castle.” The Clio is an annual national award that recognizes creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication. She was also a winner last year of a Stellar Award, which honors artists in the gospel music industry, for her design on a Gospel Package for singer Travis Greene.
Stoll was recognized during her Daemen days as well, having received the Daemen Student Leadership Award and the Daemen President’s Award. For Stoll, it is not about awards, but about doing what she loves.
“I was very involved and loved being an art student at Daemen. I was active in a Drawing Club and an Anime Club, and did graphic design as a work-study student in the Art Department,” she recalls. “It’s kind of the same thing today. I love my work and if I receive some recognition for it, that’s a bonus.”
Music fans may recognize Stoll’s design talents on a wide range of CD and music packaging she has worked on for groups and artists at SONY such as Pentatonix, David Gilmour, Superfruit, Lo Moon, Barbra Streisand, Adele, and Pearl Jam, to name just a few.
Fans of “Weird Al” Yankovic can see some more of Stoll’s creative talents on the singer-satirist’s recently released box set called “Squeeze Box.” While collaborating with Yankovic , she found he is anything but what his stage name suggests. “He is the sweetest person on the face of the planet,” says Stoll. “We worked together on a package design that looks like a giant accordion and included a 130-page book.”
While much has happened in Stoll’s life since her Daemen days, she saved the biggest news for last. She got married in 2016 to her husband, Tim, a writer and artist. They often collaborate on personal creative projects, including anthologies.
“An anthology is a creative platform to give a voice to artists who might not have had a chance to be published in their careers yet,” Stoll explains. “With my co-curator Kevin Jay Stanton, I recently completed an anthology that consists of a three-volume set of books featuring the creative work and talent of over 260 artists.”
Called “1001 Knights,” the anthology’s featured artists come from all over the world and range from professional artists to college and high school students. Stoll utilized her skills in graphic design to art direct the books, and oversaw the two-year project through publishing. n
