Maui native Noelle Shuck moved from Hawaii to Georgia when she was a young girl. After living in Atlanta for a few years, Shuck and her mother moved to Athens. There Shuck’s mother married the owner of the iconic novelty gift shop known as Junkman’s Daughter’s Brother.
“In a lot of ways I was raised by the employees of the shop, who were almost without exception part of the alternative/counterculture of Athens and made up a lot of the music scene of the time,” Shuck said of her first after-school job, which she started at the age of 15. “Anyone who has ever stepped foot in the shop in its Clayton Street iteration will know what I mean. I think that upbringing, and the fact that my parents were some of the most laid back and trusting [parents] a kid could ask for, really set me up to be open-minded and view the world with a sense of wonder.” She also believes singing in chorus and theater productions provided her with outlets for creative expression as she was growing up.
Shuck earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design at the University of Georgia. She also had a summer internship with the prominent local design firm, The Adsmith. Upon fulfilling the requirements of her internship, she was offered a part-time position at The Adsmith during her senior year at UGA. Following graduation, she accepted a promotion to full-time art director.
“To say The Adsmith is where I cut my teeth would be an understatement,” said Shuck. “All of my practical knowledge of design, talking to clients, inner workings of logo development, working with a design team, the list goes on and on, came from the eight years I spent there before making my recent move to the museum. In fact, it was while working at The Adsmith that I started doing design work for the [Georgia Museum of Art].”
In January, Shuck officially joined the museum staff as graphic designer. “So far, my favorite part is all of the different people I get to interact with on projects, and just the fact that [while] I am working [I’m] surrounded by thousands of works of art every day. It’s hard not to be inspired here,” said Shuck.
To date, she has designed catalogues for the museum, issues of Facet and print materials in the galleries. She aims to bring consistency and quality to each project by focusing on details. She firmly subscribes to the mantra, “Good design is invisible, bad design is everywhere.”
“I believe that good graphic design will help the [museum] continue to be held in high esteem among its national contemporaries, increase awareness of its existence . . . and bolster the already incredibly rich programming we have to offer. I’m very excited to be here,” said Shuck.
When she’s not designing materials for the museum, she’s “cross stitching profanities, bowling avidly” and playing guitar and adding vocals in the local punk trio Shehehe.
Authored by:
Candice Lawrence
