Mark Bender Wants to Tell You a Story
Mark Bender, associate professor of graphic design, sits in his office in Chatham’s Art and Design Center. (Mick Stinelli)
Mark Bender started with a passion for drawing. That led him to painting, then graphic design. But now, as a professional illustrator with over 30 years of experience under his belt, he’s developed a passion for storytelling through images.
“It’s the stories that start to get you going,” said Bender, an associate professor of graphic design at Chatham University. “If you love art, once you get in there, you will want to tell stories. It’s just part of it.”
One of those stories hangs on the wall in his office in Chatham’s Art and Design Center. In Bender’s art deco style, the image shows a baseball just as it hits the surface of a body of water, creating a splash. Towering over the ball is one of Pittsburgh’s Sister Bridges—let’s assume it’s the Roberto Clemente bridge on Sixth Street. In the background is the Steel City skyline.
That’s the image. But anyone who’s ever watched a game at PNC Park knows the story: Pirates home run!
Teaching at Chatham
Bender gained lots of experience working with Pittsburgh’s professional sports organizations, including the Steelers and the Penguins, during the several years he spent working at design agencies in the city. Then, when the industry began to shift to digital tools in the late ’90s, he went freelance and started teaching at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He came to Chatham in 2016.
He fell in love with teaching. “It was terrific,” he said. “I found I could still work in the field and teach. That energy you get in the classroom from all those young people, you can bring it back into the studio practice. And when school is chaos and craziness, it made those times in the studio work. It was a nice mix, so I thought, ‘That’s what I’m going to do.’”
When he started at Chatham, Bender said, he was inspired by the energy and work ethic of the students here. “They understand not just how to get an A, but they were sponges,” he said. “They wanted to learn all of it. I appreciate that, and if they want it, I’ll keep telling them stuff.”
Bender tries to emulate the teachers he had who could do the work and teach it well. He doesn’t hide any tricks of the trade or try to steer students in a particular direction if they’re not interested. “Everyone is a different learner,” he said. “So many of us, especially in this field, are visual learners. When you’re one-on-one with them, and you’re showing them how to do it, I think that connection is wonderful and irreplaceable.”
A poster Bender designed for La Prima Espresso Co., a local roaster and coffee shop. (Courtesy of Mark Bender)
In some ways, teaching even made him a better artist, he said. As he taught students the fundamentals of the process, he reinforced in himself the importance of going through every step in design: research, concept, drawing, topography, layout. “Take those steps, and do each one the best you possibly can, and at the end you’re going to have something really professional,” he said.
The Programs
In his courses, Bender likes to take students step-by-step through the process of creating an image. To him, that creates little successes to build students’ confidence. It’s part of the nurturing atmosphere that’s part of Chatham’s School of Arts and Sciences.
“We’re not just going to throw them in the deep end right off,” he said, “we’re going to give them the steps to build a beautiful piece of communication, a piece of design, a piece of art. But it comes in small, bite-sized bits, so they can have successes and keep building.
“In my classes, it’s not a crunch at the end. It shouldn’t be. You’re going to be doing each step from the beginning.”
And at Chatham’s School of Arts and Sciences, he said, the curriculum is strong and gets students to where they need to go. “The majors cover the material you need, but there’s enough that [students] can get a double major,” he said. “They can get minors. Graphic design has become a really big minor, not just in studio arts … but I’ve had a number of interior design students come into my graphic design program.”
Bender’s award-winning design for the Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 home opener game poster. (Courtesy of Mark Bender)
Then there’s the faculty, which includes accomplished artists like Bender, who earlier this year had an illustration featured in Communication Arts magazine as part of the professional journal’s 65th annual illustration competition. It was a poster he designed along with Commonwealth Press for the Pittsburgh Steelers home opener in 2023. His winning image was among 148 accepted illustrations taken from a pool of 3,639 entries.
Bender calls the illustration “The Standard is the Standard.” That namesake quote from Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is written in bold letters over an image of a steelworker, who holds a sledgehammer in one hand and a football in the other. He stands in the middle of Acrisure Stadium, buttressed on either side by molten steel and the Pittsburgh skyline.
Many of its elements are iconic and immediately recognizable, from the steelworker in the foreground to the Steel Building in the background. But it’s also fantastical and evocative. The molten steel seems to shoot fireworks as it pours, and the steelworker looks big enough to put Paul Bunyan in his place. Recognizable, but not realistic.
“I think sometimes students, they want to be accurate,” he said. “I get that. Don’t get to the point where you lose the emotion.”
Learn more about Chatham’s Bachelor of Visual Arts and Studio Arts program at chatham.edu.