As the only child of two artists, Tad Carpenter grew up surrounded by art. Accordingly, it’s not much of a surprise that he’s created a profession out of his talent. Carpenter’s work is heavily influenced by mid-century design and inspired by toys. As you can imagine, this whimsical pairing has lead to numerous collaborations with everyone from Hallmark Cards and Chronicle Books to Kidrobot, Ray-Ban and The Corcoran Museum of Art. Carpenter collaborates with Dan Padavic and spends half of his time at Valhalla Studios creating new work and the other half teaching graphic designers and illustrators at the University of Kansas. His twitter feed relays his passion for sharing in a friendly and conversational manner, reminding us that a profession in design is filled with curiosity, color and corporate know-how.