Tor de Vries

Biography

Tor is an award-winning designer with significant, decades-long experience in print and digital design, as well as in communications, marketing, nonprofits, international health, higher education, and religious organizations. He has substantial programming and IT experience, including experience with a dozen computer languages and management of web hosting and email service companies. He currently teaches online courses in WSU’s Digital Technology and Culture department through Global Campus, and also is the Communications Manager of WSU’s Office of Research (through a Faculty Fellowship). Selections from his years of work are in his online portfolio.

Before joining WSU in 2018, Tor worked professionally for decades as a designer in New York City. He was the Web Producer & Art Director for almost 13 years at EngenderHealth, an international women’s health nonprofit that had offices in 18 countries. There, he directed the multinational team that designed, developed, and supported numerous websites; produced online marketing, fundraising, and advocacy campaigns, including the award-winning WTFP?! video and social media campaign; designed UI for data analysis software; created interactive media and videos; designed, produced, and disseminated print materials such as annual reports, infographics, medical training materials, etc.; managed branding and intellectual property issues globally; and more. Prior to EngenderHealth, Tor spent many years as an art director, communications director, and designer for various technology startups and a strategic marketing agency that served Fortune 500 companies. Tor earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Design & Technology from Parsons School of Design, where he studied data visualization, game design, and UI/UX.

He has two open-source projects on GitHub: Debuggr and CodeTyped, developed to help students and coursework in his DTC classes. In his free time, he explores color and geometry through Quantrian, his algorithmic art project.