Mike Essl A'96 was a partner at the award-winning design firm The Chopping Block, Inc., which he cofounded in 1996 with a fellow graduate of the Cooper Union. During his six years with the firm, Essl's clients included Sony, Nickelodeon, National Geographic, MTV, Intel, Microsoft, Roadrunner Records, the band They Might Be Giants, and the rapper Warren G. After receiving his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Essl went on to work for Columbia University, Chronicle Books, and DC Comics.
Essl has taught at Parsons School of Design, School of the Visual Arts, and is now an Associate Professor at the Cooper Union. Essl's work has been recognized in numerous publications and by the AIGA and the Art Directors Club. In 2003 his work with the Chopping Block was featured in the National Design Triennial. Essl was recently a juror for PDN Pix magazine as well as ID magazine's Media Design review.
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
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The Cooper Union, est. 1859, grants degrees in art, architecture and engineering and offers courses in continuing education in New York City's East Village. Through outstanding academic programs in architecture, art and engineering, and a Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art prepares talented students to make enlightened contributions to society. From the start, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony. Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills that lead to prosperity while, at the same time, enriching their intellects and sparking their creativity. And he had a third purpose as well: To instill a sense of social justice that would translate into action. In 1859, such a broad pedagogical goal was visionary; today, it is the standard by which excellence in higher education is measured.