Richard achieved a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University leaving campus in May 2011. However his artistic expression has been ever present in his life. From the young age of 6 he rejected expectations, going about his own path with his pencil. After much frustration caused to his teachers by his unorthodox pencil grip, he formed a bond working on illustration. The designing of cars, replicating of cartoon characters to television realism, and use of this favorite athletes in Kids Sports Illustrated as figure drawing models drove his need for perfection. His early design concepts and attention to detail were formed with help from thousands of white paper bound booklets at the print store. As years passed, the early general artistic concepts that were instilled in Richard as a boy found surface again, after a brief teenage hiatus, in the form of photography. As an image began to form in a high school darkroom in Hong Kong so did his future career.
His environment and the hardships of life shaped his mind and refined his artistic concepts. During this period he was allowed the opportunity to work through new ideas and self motivated projects through course work centered on The Arts. In his spare time he was enthralled in computer manipulation, working countless hours learning Adobe Creative Suite at 16. This led to a hobby of graphic design in the form of t-shirt designs for a fictional brand, creating mock advertisements for real brands and manipulation of typography. This hobby led Richard to the doors of the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC for courses involving fashion and then on to Syracuse University to pursue a Bachelor of Design degree with a Major in photography. His skills in the craft were finely tuned with several new techniques, instruments and mentors.
Richard started his career living in New York city but working at Imtech Graphics in Carlstadt, NJ. Venturing through the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal to work the graveyard shift to serve global brands on their editorial and advertising needs.
After a few months he moved into the Public Speaking Agency sector as their in house do-it-all creative at Royce Carlton, Inc, now ICM Speakers. As their Creative Marketing Lead, he was charged with elevating the RCI brand so that the company’s digital presence in all mediums would match the gravitas of the speakers they represent. All facets of the visual communication for Royce Carlton fell under the responsibility of his position. While there he went through iterations of web design working directly with CEO, Carlton Sedgeley. This lead to the honor of being nomination for a Webby Award while partnering with Reitdesign on a full product overhaul.
In 2016, Richard joined start-up PINCHme.com, Inc where he works today. There he collaborates with his Creative Director, marketers and influencers to develop high end video and photo social media content, web and email advertisements, and sales pitch decks for the fast paced product discovery start-up. Over this period he contributed toward the company’s IPO on the Australian Stock Exchange.
In 2020 Richard joined Gympass, a B2B wellbeing platform. Working with Community Managers across Europe and the Americas, Richard helped iterate the company’s brand into an engaging and relatable social visual identity. Against the backdrop of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic and calls for social justice, the team operated as a visual PR department communicating important information and pivoting our brand into our followers homes in an accessible ethical way. 2020 also gave Rich the opportunity to join a political campaign in his own neighborhood. As Creative Director for the winning Shekar Krishnan for NYC City Council Team, he was able to use his skillset cultivated over the last decade toward supporting a candidate invested in a fairer and more equitable city.
Rich currently resides in New York City. He enjoys his spare time by relaxing at home, going on trips with his wife and friends, and serving on the Board of Directors for a non-profit rugby organization.
To download my most current resume, click here.
Send me an email at richard.gallina@gmail.com