James Graca

Creative Director / Designer / Illustrator

Photo by by Donna Granata

Highly acclaimed graphic artist James Graca discussed his extraordinary work and career. Graca is an award-winning creative director / designer / illustrator with over 30 years of professional experience. He is a graduate of Art Center College of Design. He is an honored member in the 1996-1998 National Directory of Who’s Who of Executives & Professionals and has been listed in Who’s Who in California since 1981. His work over the years has encompassed advertising, graphic design for corporate identity, product launches, book design, album covers, package design, poster design, video, animation, audio-visual slide presentations, motion picture main title design and work on over 30 motion picture campaigns. For several years during the early 1990’s, James Graca Design Group maintained a satellite office in Paris, to better serve their international design clients in France, Italy and Great Britain.

Graca’s work was requested and displayed in the “Vision West Coast Artists Today” show in Japan, and two of his posters were requested and are on permanent display in the Fedier’s Werbeagentur Poster Collection in Zurich, Switzerland. His work has received numerous “Best of Shows”, and over two hundred local, district, national and international awards including: “Awards of Distinction” from the New York “Creativity” international competitions; “Awards of Excellence” from the New York American Corporate Identity competition’s “Zanders Award of Distinction” for Toshiba collateral; distinguished “Lulu” statuettes from the Los Angeles Advertising Women; “Awards of Merit” from the West Coast Illustrators Show; the Simpson Paper Company “Award of Excellence” for his division design for Pernod; The Hollywood Reporter “Key Art Award”; and “Award of Excellence” from Communication Arts Magazine.

James Graca Design Group, Inc. has been featured in numerous prestigious graphic design publications including issues of How Magazine, twice featured in the How Business Annual and Confetti Magazine, on the “Digital Design Studio.” Mr.Graca and his work appear in the hardcover books, Outstanding American Illustrators Today, Creativity and American Corporate Identity.

In 2003, Mr. Graca co-taught a cultural exchange Propaganda / Photography class in Havana, Cuba. He has been personally invited by the Cuban Government to create and facilitate in Havana, the first-ever Design Conference between the United States and Cuba, stressing the language of art and the human connection between two entirely difference cultures.

James was documented in 2003. The archive has extensive information about this artist.