When Cooper Smith went undrafted in the 2003 NBA Draft, he began searching for alternate career paths. After dabbling in a wide variety of majors at the University of Colorado, he eventually landed on creative advertising and was hooked. Even while he was finishing his degree, Cooper was logging serious hours in the interactive production department at Crispin Porter + Bogusky Miami and Boulder offices. Since graduating, he has spent the last few years at Wieden + Kennedy in Portland and Factory Design Labs in Denver. Now Cooper has elected to return to school to pursue his passion in interaction design and creative technology.

Cooper’s biggest passion in life is discovery. From music and movies to neighborhoods and cities, he relishes his initial interaction with something new. His favorite experience is stepping foot into a new Major League Baseball stadium and exploring what makes it unique from its companions, an act he’s completed 25 times (and counting). Cooper loves to document his discoveries and experiences through his photography and writing. Cooper is thrilled to make Brooklyn his new home base for his next big adventure.

Past Life

BA, Journalism (creative advertising), University of Colorado - Boulder

Selected Projects

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  Fish Slaps A Baby

  Students designed a custom website for Fish Slaps A Baby and 15 unique blog templates inspired by the stories of 826NYC students.

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  Fundamentals Studios Final

  Students began their process by exploring project ideas within the themes of memory, behavior, politeness and sharing.

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  Physical Computing Final

  Students were asked to devise a project that would allow them to use a semester’s knowledge about physical computing.

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  NYC BigApps

  Students were asked to concept a mobile application using at least one source of data from the NYC.gov Data Mine.

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  MoMA Smartphone App

  Students developed a set of prototype smartphone apps for the Museum of Modern Art.

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  Nike+ Visualizations

  Using data from Nike+ users in New York City who tracked their runs, students were asked to visualize a portrait of runners and bicyclists on the move in NYC.