melissa@meldel.com / 928.486.7357
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Meldel is the studio of Art Director Melissa Delzio
Since 2004, Melissa (she/her) has been creating print and interactive work for international brands, local businesses, nonprofits and educational institutions. Her work reflects her passion for social and environmental issues, sports, community, travel and history. From designing and art directing a print magazine that highlights interior design in the Pacific Northwest, to art directing a statewide COVID safety campaign, Melissa is as comfortable making digital prototypes as she is billboards. She has led many community projects including publishing two volumes of books about Portland by Portlanders (Our Portland Story) and producing a 50 page creative activity deck for kids with a local nonprofit (Brain Food). A leader in the Portland design community, Melissa served on the board of directors for AIGA and on the Advisory Council. Currently, she is working on the long and arduous process of curating and writing about Portland Design History through research and interviews. She has taught at Portland State University, Pacific Northwest College of Art and has been a regular international design volunteer with USAID.
Type of Work
Advertising
Book/Publication Design
Branding
Exhibit Design
Illustration
Information Graphics
Logo/Identity Design
Package Design
Social Campaign Graphics
UX/UI Design
Web Design
Clients
ACLU Oregon
Arciform
Brink Communications
Bula Kava House
City of Portland
Columbia Land Trust
Columbia Riverkeeper
Cycle Oregon
Ecotrust
Everytown for Gun Safety
Mercy Corps
Mt. Hood Territory
Nemo
OMSI
Outside In
p:ear
Portland Mercado
Portland Trailblazers
SMART
Tillamook
Travel Portland
University of Washington
Willamette Week
Additional Professional Roles
2021-present
Senior Adjunct Instructor, PNCA
Teaching History of Design Arts
2014-present
Writer, Researcher, Portland Design History Project
Starting with the 2014 Design Week event, Portland Designers of the Mad Men Era, Melissa has been collecting, archiving, interviewing and writing about the history of design in Portland with a focus on the 1960s and 1970s.
2017-2023
Senior Adjunct Instructor, Portland State University
Teaching Page Design Layout, The History of Modern Design, and Portland Design History.
2021-present
Member, AIGA Portland
Advisory Board
2016-2023
International Design Volunteer, Partners of the Americas
As a design volunteer with USAID/ Partners of the Americas, Melissa traveled to countries in South America, Central America and the Caribbean to complete two-week volunteer design projects. Clients are typically small agriculturally-based start-up companies. Read about trips to Haiti,
Colombia and Guatemala.
2008-2014
Founder & Executive Director, Our Portland Story
Our Portland Story was a community story project Melissa founded in 2008. She collected stories about Portland by Portlanders from all walks of life, and paired those stories with local designers to create artful snapshots of the city through our published books, events and online content.
2009-2014
AIGA Portland Design for Good Chair
Melissa led a collaborative Design for Good project with The Right Brain Initiative, a non-profit working to weave the arts back into public schools. The result of their three year partnership is Brain Food, an exploratory activity deck for kids. Brain Food is a tool to help teachers and parents ignite creative thinking.
With support from the community through a successful Kickstarter campaign, they were honored to donate over a thousand of these decks to teachers in Portland metro area public schools in January 2014.
2007
Team Lead, Cut & Paste Digital Design Tournament
Melissa initiated and led the Cut & Paste inaugural event in Portland, bringing a live global design competition to our city.
Speaking
Podcast guest on “Did I Do That?” a podcast about graphic design mistakes
Underground Press: A talk and Publication Fair with PNCA and AIGA Portland Design Month
AIGA Portland/Femme Council
Design Week Portland “Graphic Designers of the Mad Men Era” event
Adobe Creative Jam participant
Southern Utah University
Mathys + Potestio’s RUNT
Northern Arizona University
Pecha Kucha Portland
TEDx Mt Hood
The Future of Publishing, IPRC Self-Publishing Workshop
Honors
2019 Partners of the Americas, Volunteer of the year award for packaging design in Guatemala
2019 p:ear Volunteer Award
2017 Trailblazer Gameday Poster Artist, work published in the New York Times
2014 Multnomah County Volunteer Award
Voted “Most Talented” of High School Senior Class (beating out the guy with the magic bunny)