BGSU to award honorary doctorate to decorated graphic designer and alumnus Rick Valicenti '73

Rick Valicenti ’73 became a pioneer in his field who has maintained an enduring connection with BGSU students

While enjoying some well-earned time off, Bowling Green State University alumnus Rick Valicenti ’73 couldn’t help but pause. The career he loves followed him on vacation.

Valicenti arrived in picturesque Porto, Portugal, but found himself staring at a typeface featured in the airport lobby, thousands of miles and an ocean away from his office in Chicago.

A former BGSU art student who became a graphic design pioneer during his career, Valicenti has spent a lifetime combining image-making and messaging to great effect. His meticulous art and dedication to his craft came full circle when he spotted the font in Porto that caught his eye, and for good reason: he created it.

“My wife asked what I was doing, and I said, ‘I designed that typeface!” he said. “Here we are, all the way in Porto, and it’s right here.”

Since graduating from BGSU, much of Valicenti’s graphic design work has traveled the world. He has consistently been honored for excellence in his field, founded industry-changing practices, including Thirst Studio, Moving Design and Thirstype, published books, been invited to the White House twice and regularly championed higher education, particularly at his alma mater.

On May 1, the BGSU Board of Trustees formally selected Valicenti to receive an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts for his contributions to both the University and the field of graphic design.

Valicenti’s creative excellence has led to numerous honors, including the prestigious gold medal from AIGA, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, its highest honor, and a National Design Award for Communication Design from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, for which he was honored at the White House.

To this day, Valicenti regularly contributes to BGSU students' learning and development. In addition to his studio having been an internship destination for students, Valicenti collaborated with Bowling Green students on solo shows in the late 90s, helped launch a collaborative teaching initiative that reached across multiple colleges, served as a Creative Minds speaker, been a regular portfolio reviewer for the graphic design program’s annual showcase and helped fundraise for a scholarship in the name of one of his favorite BGSU professors, the late Ron Jacomini.

“His work has advanced graphic design and positively influenced countless individuals in the field and communities,” BGSU graphic design professor Jenn Stucker said. “Beyond his professional accomplishments, Mr. Valicenti is committed to future designers’ education. He has dedicated significant time and resources to educational institutions, making a meaningful difference and inspiring others to get involved.”

When he heard that he had been nominated to receive an honorary degree, Valicenti joked that he felt like the subject of an HGTV show, unable to fully articulate how they feel at the sight of their newly renovated home.

Though 56 years have passed, Valicenti said he still fondly remembers when a BGSU course changed the course of his career. In the spring of 1970, during his freshman year, Valicenti took an art course for non-majors.

For most students, it was a well-rounded introductory experience. For Valicenti, it was life-changing. A native of Upper St. Clair, near Pittsburgh, Valicenti recalled that he found himself so excited to attend his art class that it spurred him to change his major, and, eventually, his career.

“I went home just thrilled with how I felt in that class,” Valicenti said. “I called my parents and told them I wanted to be an art major, and they reluctantly blessed it. From there, I decided to pursue it aggressively.”

After college, Valicenti found himself at the forefront of a field that was still defining itself. Valicenti said he clicked with graphic design because he could easily sink into the details: to conceptualize, envision and deliver dynamic images and messaging that connect with audiences in fresh ways.

As industries began seeking visual content that went beyond standard-fare advertising, Valicenti was among a new class of creatives that met the moment.

“As the profession started evolving in the late 70s, designers were discovering that their place wasn’t in the back of a print shop, it was at the conference table,” he said. “Corporations started to realize graphic designers needed to be there because they were instrumental in shaping the impressions necessary in projecting the objectives of corporate leadership.

“To communicate and connect quickly, I knew business would need those who could design the messaging.”

Valicenti called his time at BGSU “a gift” for how influential it proved to be during his career.

As he prepares to be honored at BGSU Commencement, Valicenti implored graduates to lean on the critical thinking skills they acquired at the University, which he said “will serve them well on their lifelong learning curve.”

“That Bowling Green foundation I received was so solid that I don’t have enough good words for it,” he said. “That’s why I keep going back, and I keep meeting new generations of students and professors. It’s a fantastic place.”