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 elcome to Gary Olsen's Digital Media Design website. This website is a virtual studio of work in process... especially graphic design work. But there are also movies! There is a growing number of videos representing a wide variety of projects that Gary is working on at any time. We work with a variety of clients, but we maintain a small and exclusive list because Gary does not want to provide anything short of wonderful, thoughtful and especially personal service. Besides being a designer, painter, photographer, and a documentary film maker, Gary is the Web master and public affairs director for the Dubuque Community School District. In addition, Gary teaches a photography class at Clarke College in Dubuque. Below are some highlights of projects that Gary is working on... WIPS... Works In Process. Our design clients use this site to check on their projects. The web is ideal for this close client collaboration.
First of all, Gary's creative expression extends to the following areas: Graphic Design, Illustration, Movie Making and Photography. Graphic Design encompasses all forms of design for advertising and communication. It includes print, publications, and signage.
Then there's Illustration. Gary does everything form pictorials to fine-art for galleries. His specialty is portrait painting, an enterprise that has established him in his home town of Dubuque, Iowa. Gary studied under the late, great Frank Licciardi, and produces approximately a dozen portraits a year for various clients.
Movies is a creative enterprise Gary has embraced seriously in the last few years, and he's produced over 200 short films for the Dubuque Community School District, the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce, and various other clients. Gary shoots and produces event videos and that includes weddings. "I enjoy the festivities and almost tribal nature of the traditions we maintain," explains Gary. "I just love the entire process, and I approach every one with the eye of a journalist."
Gary teaches photography as well as offers professional photographic services. His background is largely photojournalism, and he's taken this experience and applied it to event and commercial photography. Gary also teaches photography workshops at Clarke College.
We're on DCS-TV Channel 19 on Mediacom Cable Television!

Gary Olsen is an award winning media developer for the Dubuque Community Schools. Gary joined the district after a long career in communications and graphic design for such firms as John Deere, NCS Pearson, and Frank Hardie Advertising. He has worked with federal and state government agencies designing and building websites. For the past eight years, among his projects with the Dubuque Community Schools, he's built and programs a Cable Television Channel, Mediacom 19, that is available to subscribers in the greater Dubuque Tri-State market. Gary has won numerous awards for filmmaking, documentary work, and graphic arts.
Channel 19 is the exclusive domain of the Dubuque Community School District and was launched as a cooperative venture between Dubuque Schools and Mediacom Cable. Programs originate in Dubuque schools, and play state-wide. Among the series television shows that Gary produces are of course the national award winning Kids in the Kitchen, Crazy Cam!, Designer's Club, Mudd Puppies, Musical Moments, Doctor! Doctor!, and several others.
One of Gary's favorite shows is The Garden Organic, a gardening series for kids that films over the summer months and is produced by long-time collaborator, Megan Dalsing. It is for this show Gary won the Cable Leader in Learning Award. Gary was named by Cable Leaders in Learning along with nine other award winners from across the nation in 2009 for innovation in applying technology to learning. The award was presented at ceremonies in Washington, DC. Gary and Mediacom Cable won the highest honor in cable broadcasting in 2007, The Beacon Award, for Kids in the Kitchen. Competition for the award included National Geographic Channel, Time Warner and Cox Cable. There were more than a hundred entries in the Series Television category. Also, Gary won the distinction of being among the top 40 best cable in education content providers in America.
This January, Gary and his cast for Kids in the Kitchen are producing their fifth season of the show.
Below is some of the cast of The Garden Organic. 

This is really cool. Gary has been cartooning for major publications nationwide including USAToday, and now he has a catalog of his most recent cartoons he has drawn for the Dubuque Community Schools on parent/teacher/child relationships. Click here. Gary has been cartooning for a long time, but now since he has an outlet for his creative output on the Web, he draws one to three a week. Gary has a growing fan base. In addition, he teaches cartooning workshops and his speciality is teaching cartoon basics to kids. "Hey, I'll teach adults, too," adds Gary. "Everyone loves to learn how to draw caricatures and cartoons." Gary's work has also been featured in text books published by McGraw Hill.
The Stained Glass Print Project 
An extremely popular print that is sold in Dubuque area art galleries and frame shops is Dubuque Stained Glass. This art print was created by Gary Olsen in collaboration with Bryce Parks. Many people who purchase the print (proceeds benefit Maria House for women and children in need of emergency transitional housing), wonder where all of the stained glass windows in the print belong? Now you can download a key to the windows in the print, plus a production diary and more photos!. Click here. The Main Street Print Project
If you're a Dubuque native, then you'll simply love this. It's one of Gary's trademark "Memories of Lifetime" photographic assemblages commemorating the history of Dubuque's Main Street and Downtown District Businesses. The objects that comprise the collage are all part of a vast collection of collectibles and business memorabilia belonging to friend and collaborator, Bob Redding. Bob's collection forms the basis for an exciting new project that Gary is involved in called, "The Main Street Print Project." The print project celebrates the rich history of Dubuque's downtown area, undergoing a cultural and business renaissance of sorts these last few years. Gary was commissioned by Dubuque Main Street Ltd., the business advocacy group that is celebrating a 20 year anniversary. Click here to learn more about this exciting community project, a portion of proceeds from which benefit the print's sponsor, Dubuque's Main Street LTD. |