About the artist
Steven R. Jerman holds a degree in Advertising Design from Utah State University where he minored in communications and business. Since graduating he has used art and copy skills to produce solutions for a wide variety of clients including advertising agencies, design studios, publishing houses and manufacturers. Since 1985 he has worked with some of Utah’s most notable creative directors, art directors, artists, illustrators, writers, photographers and graphic designers.
He is a versatile commercial artist who was produced works in the areas of logo and trademark design, branding, trade book design, magazine and apparel design. He has received dozens of design awards (local and national) and his work has been published in national and international reference books including Print, Graphis, Communication Arts(CA) and the Society of Publication Designers Annual.
Jerman designed the graphic for the Downtown Farmers Market, Utah’s largest such market and helped launch a yearly poster for the event. His T-shirt “The Lion of Zion” which was done while he was still in college was in print for 30 years and was perhaps the longest running premium in public radio. It became a local icon and produced six figures of income for community station KRCL 91 FM.
In addition to graphic design, Jerman is also an entrepreneur and business person. He began to produce and market T-shirts in college. His first shirt was worn onstage by a member of the Grateful Dead. In the early 1990s Steve created a line of imprinted sportswear that was distributed by the largest trading company in Japan, which claimed his designs were “two or three steps ahead of the others”.
For over 20 years he has designed, produced and sold reproductions of the lost artist Everett Ruess. He has appeared in several documentaries of about the young Californian and consulted on the start-up of an annual arts festival in Escalante, the town where he was last seen. He continues to operate the website EverettRuess.net for the benefit of the Ruess family.
In 2016, Steve conceived, directed, shot and produced a documentary film “The Cost of Being Different” about a two-year relocation to Cache Valley, Utah. It was an official selection in the Block Film Festival (formerly the Logan Film Festival which was the inspiration for the effort) and has been shown in other film festivals around the world.
In 2017 after completing an internship at a Northern Utah cheese farmstead the previous year, he founded the Utah Cheese Awards to recognize Utah-made cheese and related cheese plate foods. The inaugural year saw the majority of Utah-based cheesemakers becoming involved in what is planned to be a yearly contest with an associated public exhibition and market.
A father of one, Steve’s hobbies include photography, cooking, food and beverage appreciation, conversation, communication, culture, design and various forms of fine art (which has been recognized by the State of Utah.) His definition of success has always been to do interesting work for good people, while maintaining personal integrity above all else.
