McCarter Design

Amy McCarter

Principal & Creative Director   |   

It was never anything but a love affair with color, image, paper and type from the beginning. Amy enjoyed that rare gift of knowing what she wanted to do with her life from early on. A fondness for people, innate optimism and passion for the work sealed the deal for a satisfying career in design communications and branding. She has worked in Chicago the last several decades, gaining deep experience and invaluable intuition working with global Fortune 500 companies and startups alike. Her forté is brand development. Career clients have included Egon Zehnder, Heidrick & Struggles, Semler Brossy Consulting Group, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Kemper Funds, Scudder Investments, Whitman Corporation, SC Johnson Wax, RHR International, BAI, Advocate Health Care and Leadership Greater Chicago.

Before coming to Chicago, Amy worked in San Francisco for a variety of boutique design firms. She holds a BFA in design/magna cum laude from The University of Michigan and has participated in postgraduate studies at California College of Arts and Crafts. Her education has been enhanced with travels to Europe, China, Japan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Alaska. A passion for collecting unusual antique objects, oil painting and belting out musical numbers (alone in the car) keep life amusing and unpredictable. Her three children have also been known to teach her a thing or two. 

At the age of six, Amy received the coveted “Best Artist of the Sherwood Forest Playground” award. Oddly, it remains the honor of which she is most proud. Since then, her work has also been recognized by national and international communication publications, including Graphis, Type Director’s Club, Black Book’s AR100, Society of Typographic Arts 100, Donside International Design Competition, ACD 100, and The New York Art Director’s Club. Her work and commentary have been published in several design books and she has juried competitions. She is a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and Society of Typographic Arts (STA). 

Lukasz Milos

Senior Designer   |   

Lukasz worked with Amy from 2003 to 2009, then joined her again in 2014 at McCarter Design. In addition to being a gifted design talent, he brings a voracious love for research to all client projects, enhancing the insightfulness of the concepts developed. Lukasz has experience with a number of industries including entertainment, publishing, consulting and communications, working for national as well as international clients including Playboy Enterprises, CBS, Showtime, British Telecom, Abbott Laboratories and CDW— from Chicago to London.

A University of Chicago graduate, with a BS in Biological Chemistry and a command of the violin, Lukasz brings a cerebral emphasis to his design solutions. He excels in both print and interactive media and has a knack for developing beautiful info graphics that represent often complex information or data. His personal interests include great literature, philosophy, yoga, good food, typography, a sponge-like passion for learning— and feeding a portion of his lunch to the studio dog, Cooper. A native of Poland, he is a BBC junky. Ask him for the quote of the day— he always has one to share.

The Extended Team

Because we are a smaller firm, you will benefit by always working directly with the Creative Director. However, we would never be able to do what we do without the talents of a number of extended team players we tap everyday. We enjoy solid relationships with some of the most respected writers, photographers, programmers, illustrators, video teams, retouchers, prepress, printers and production people in the business. Two decades of past work with these individuals and companies has imbued our relationships with respect and dedication. We could not do what we do without the efforts of the people and organizations we rely on. We respectfully tip our hat to our top gun partners.

Cooper, working onsite, announces all deliveries to the studio and provides daily doses of comic relief. You may have seen him on Zoom.