About Sheryl Checkman

Sheryl Checkman is an award-winning designer with more than 25 years' experience in applying innovative yet pragmatic solutions to the full range of communications and design challenges. Before opening Checkman Design, Sheryl was Vice President & Manager, Design Services, for the public relations agency Burson-Marsteller from 1981-1992. Prior to that she was an Art Director at the The Barton Gillet Company, a marketing communications firm. Sheryl graduated from Cornell University and attended a Masters program in Communications Design at Pratt Institute as well as a three-month design program at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. She graduated from the High School of Music & Art in New York City. Sheryl is an avid skier and scuba diver. She swims, plays tennis, practices yoga and enjoys taking pictures, both above and below the water. She adds her creative signature to her photographs by creating Digital Fine Art which she currently exhibits in her online gallery. She recently launched a line of inspirational sports-themed T-shirts under the name Life is Balance®. In addition to her design work, Sheryl also creates custom photomontages for a variety of corporate and consumer clients.

Design for Obama

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Sheryl Checkman

"Design For Obama Posters for Change. A Grassroots Anthology.

My "Vote for the Polar Bears" Poster design shown on the left page of the Design for Obama book.

Vote For The Polar Bears Poster design featured in Design for Obama book.

I am honored to have one of my designs selected by Spike Lee and Aaron Perry-Zucker for their new book, “Design for Obama,” published by the design and architectural book publisher, Taschen. This book is a compilation of some of the best designs submitted to designforobama.org during the campaign and is being released this week to commemorate the one year anniversary of the presidency.

Contextual essays written by Spike Lee, Aaron Perry-Zucker and Steven Heller create a compelling documentation of this historic campaign. They will be signing copies of their book on Wednesday, November 4 at Taschen’s New York store, at 107 Greene Street in New York City.

This design is available on t-shirts and other gift items at WearMyArtTees.com

Autumn Palette

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Sheryl Checkman

Curves of Garlic

Every season has it’s share of natural beauty. The fall, known for its vibrant colors shows off the brilliant beauty of the trees before losing their glorious coats as well as the wonderful earthy hues of autumn’s harvest.

During my visit upstate last weekend I found some really beautiful colors and shapes at a farm stand that I visited. The green curves made by the stems of garlic that lay displayed in a basket caught my attention, as did a display of multi-colored squash in all different shapes and sizes. Deep purple peppers with their green stems resting in a basket along side the better know red and yellow ones, made a still life worthy of an artist.

Squash of Different Colors

Purple Pepper

Peace, Love & Fall Weekends

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Sheryl Checkman

Last weekend I was invited upstate to a friend’s country house for a birthday celebration. Fall was definitely in the air, the weather was crisp… maybe a bit too crisp for early October but the leaves were turning all the beautiful shades of red and orange that they do every year at this time. My friend’s house is in Narrowsburg, NY, a town in the Catskills, not too far from the Bethel Woods Arts Center, the site of Woodstock.

One of the neighboring towns, Callicoon, resides along the Delaware River. It’s a quaint town with some interesting antique and thrift shops. We walked in and out of the shops on Saturday and I found a great 100% wool beret in one of them for $3.00! What a find. But, my favorite find was the sign over the local bar/restaurant, Mathews on Main. Who could ask for anything more?

Food • Bar • Happiness: What else could you ask for?

A visit to a crafts festival at the Bethel Woods Arts Center was on our itinerary for Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful day for an outing. I might not have gotten to Woodstock in 1969 but I finally made it in 2009. We walked to where they have a plaque commemorating the 1969 concert and had a great view of where the original stage was as well as the hill above it where all the thousands of people listened and partied for three amazing days.