Born: 1934

Education: UCLA

Currently resides: St. Helena, California

Selected honors: Lifetime Achievement Award, Art Directors Club of Los Angeles; Member, Alliance Graphique Internationale

Teaching: Arizona State University; Art Center College of Design, Pasadena; Portland School of Art, Maine

James Cross shaped the visual communications of businesses and institutions for almost forty years, earning a distinguished place in the pantheon of West Coast designers and gaining international recognition.

Mr. Cross began his career at rand and Northrop corporations; in 1963, he established his own design firm in Los Angeles. The award-winning work of Cross Associates, which eventually expanded to three offices, earned the firm a stellar client list and worldwide publication in design journals. James Cross headed the company until 1994. Since that time, he has consulted on design and has also opened a new creative chapter in his life by becoming a printmaker and photographer.

Mr. Cross has been very active on the international design lecture circuit. He has been international president of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and served on the boards of the Aspen Design Conference, AIGA, Napa Valley Museum, Napa Valley Wine Library, and Napa Valley Heritage Fund, as well as on the Design Advisory Council of Art Center College of Design, Pasadena.