The American University in Dubai hosted a lecture and an exhibition by Jerry Kuyper. The lecture and exhibition opening were attended by around 200 people including students, faculty and professionals from the advertising and communication fields. The lecture, entitled ‘Comic, Cosmic and Cosmetic Branding', addressed the role of design in bringing business and brand strategies to life and the criteria in creating and evaluating visual identities and design systems for corporations and organizations.

Jerry Kuyper has more than twenty-five years of experience directing corporate and brand identity programs. His passion is bringing business and brand strategy to life through creativity and design. In 2006 Jerry collaborated with Joe Finocchiaro to develop a new corporate identity program for Cisco. This work was recently acknowledged as "the best rebranding event in 2006" in a Conference Board review of new visual identities by independent identity consultant, Tony Spaeth.

Prior to establishing Jerry Kuyper Partners in 2004, he was a Senior Partner at Lippincott Mercer. During his eight years with the firm he was responsible for directing the creative development of visual identities, brand architectures, signature systems, design systems, information design, identity standards, launch materials and training sessions. Previously he held senior creative positions with leading design and identity consultants including Siegel & Gale, frogdesign, Landor, Saul Bass and Richard Wurman.

His clients have included AT&T, Banco Santander, ChevronTexaco, Cunard, Disney, DuPont, ExxonMobil, Fuji Bank, General Electric, Hawaiian Airlines, MetLife, Neuberger Berman, 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta , Rizzoli, Stanford University , Telmex, WGBH Boston and the World Wildlife Fund. He has designed visual identities for companies including Aqua America, AT&T, Bates Worldwide, Cisco, Cushman & Wakefield, Genesis Eldercare, 360° Communications, Singapore Technologies, Times Mirror and Touchstone Films.

He has presented to numerous universities and conferences including the AIGA National Conference, Design Management Institute, The Conference Board and Walker Art Center.

Jerry has a B.S. in Graphic Design from the University of Cincinnati . He completed four years of graduate work at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland . He taught design at the University of Hawaii , Otis Parsons and UCLA Extension. In 1980 he was awarded a Fulbright-Hays grant to teach at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad , India.

In 1998 he was selected the Outstanding Alumnus by the College of Design , Architecture, Art and Planning at the University of Cincinnati.

The exhibition showcases a selection of Jerry Kuyper's best know work in logo and brand development work. The exhibition is open to the public and will run until November 4, 2007 in Building A Ground Floor, 9am to 7pm.