Alan Caballero LaZare is a Colombian American graphic designer, artist, educator, and writer.

Alan began his career as a graphic designer at the renowned architecture and design firm Michael Graves where he played an important role in designing packaging for the revolutionary Michael Graves / Drive Medical partnership of assisted living products as well as for the Target / Michael Graves partnership. He also was part of the team that redesigned the Wyndham Hotel and Resorts brand.

After leaving Michael Graves, Alan attended the Rutgers University MFA program. In response to his research on the rise in the number of international border walls being built, his performance Tow at White Box in New York City illustrated our propensity as human beings to create division amongst ourselves by weaponizing religion, sexual preference, skin color, nationalism, and country of origin instead of finding ways to coexist with one another.

In 2019, a family friend, Ines, was tasked with improving a children's school in Flores, a small pueblo about an hour away from where Alan’s family lives in the northern part of Colombia.

Ines has been a school teacher for 20 years in Colombia. Flores is similar to other small pueblos scattered across the northern part of the country which are below the poverty line with no funding for basic services. Alan, along with Ines’ daughter Mary, started to help Ines by purchasing school supplies, toys, and clothes for the school children. Alan designed a new logo for the school that was placed on T-shirts and sold to help purchase more items for the children.

Before joining Mason, Alan was an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, TN where he instituted an anti-racist, inclusive Graphic Design curriculumn as well as restructured and updated the curriculum so it aligned with contemporary graphic design discourse, practice, and education.

Alan received his BFA from Pratt Institute and his MFA from Rutgers University.



2010
Rutgers University
MFA

2004
Pratt Institute
BFA

2001 
Brookdale Community College
AA


2021 - Current
George Mason University
Assistant Professor of Graphic Design

2020 - 2021
Christian Brothers University
Assistant Professor of Graphic Design

2019 - 2020
Bergen Community College
Adjunct Professor of Graphic Design
Graphic Design 1, Letterform & Type 1

2019 - 2020
Brookdale Community College
Adjunct Professor of Art
Drawing 1, Digital Imaging

2015 - 2018
Foundation
Organized a monthly house music event in NYC with Vivacious from Ru Paul’s Drag Race

2011 - 2013
Bergen Community College
Adjunct Professor of Graphic Design
Graphic Design 1, Layout 1, Layout 2, Digital Imaging

2010 - 2011
Zimmerli Art Museum
Summer art camp instructor
Drawing instructor for afterschool drawing club

2008 - 2010
Rutgers University
Drawing Instructor for Drawing 1
Teaching fellowship + full scholarship as grad student

2005 - 2007
Michael Graves Architecture + Design
Graphic Designer

2004
Michael Graves Architecture + Design
Graphic Designer Intern

2003
Michael Graves Architecture + Design
Graphic Designer Intern



Mark