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Meet Team KDD
Katy Dwyer
Founder & Creative Director
Katy knew in high school that she wanted to be a graphic designer. An editor on the school paper just as computers started to be used in publishing, she was creating paste-ups for the printer, and loving it. Lucky enough to be in a public high school with a strong art program, Katy opted to take a class called “Commercial Art.” There she began to learn the true art of graphic design: from techniques like airbrushing billboards to strategies such as what makes a strong and instantly impactful message, and the rest is history, as they say. She went on to Moravian College—a small liberal arts school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, that happened to offer graphic design as a major (very rare at the time)—and earned her bachelor’s degree with honors.
Katy Dwyer began working professionally as a graphic designer in 1999, when she began her career as the assistant art director of Photo Insider Magazine. She then moved on to a New Jersey-based creative firm whose client roster included companies such as BMW, ADP, and Deloitte. After moving to the Hudson Valley, Katy worked as creative director at Clarke/Thompson Advertising & Design, a real estate marketing firm, helping to bring luxury NYC condos to market.
In 2009, she started Katy Dwyer Design to bring her design talents and marketing experience to local businesses. The business has taken multiple shapes over the years, and is now known as KDD Marketing, employing a boutique team of talented, local designers and marketers.
Katy currently serves as the chairperson of The Arc of Mid-Hudson Humanitarian Awards Brunch and is the Vice president of The Arc of Mid-Hudson’s Foundation Board. She is a member of the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce, the former president of the Board of Trustees at the Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum, and a past co-chair of the Business Education Committee of the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, Katy spends many hours volunteering for her local high school’s marching band booster organization.
Katy also stepped into the role of teacher, leading classes for seven years on marketing at the Women’s Enterprise Development Center’s 60-hour Entrepreneurial Training Program in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Her expertise has been recognized through multiple features in Forbes, Inc., and Sanctuary Magazine, and she continues to present seminars and workshops locally on branding and marketing. If you’re interested in having Katy as a speaker at your event, please contact her here.
When not busy crocheting or enjoying a good book, along with a glass of wine, Katy enjoys watching her two daughters perform in concerts, musicals, color guard, marching band, and any other event where they can get in front of an audience. Katy lives with her family and their miniature poodle (our office dog, Charlie!) in Kingston, New York.
