A Canadian-born designer and creative director, Rhonda Rubinstein combines her passions for nature, photography, storytelling and design to produce compelling experiences in all media.
As the Creative Director of the California Academy of Sciences— a museum and research center renown for its aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and architecture— she orchestrates how design, photography, typography and information converge in the public experience as exhibitions, environmental graphics, and print, digital and interactive communications. Resonant with the Academy’s mission, Rhonda co-founded BigPicture Natural World Photography, an acclaimed annual international photography competition focused on wildlife and conservation, currently in its 9th year. She curated the book WONDERS: Spectacular Moments in Nature Photography, showcasing the immense diversity and beauty of our world and is at work on another, due to be published in 2023.
Rhonda grew up in Montreal where expo67 and its legacy influenced her worldview on humanity, media, and the potential of cultural aspirations. In Halifax, she earned a Bachelor of Design in Communication Design from NSCAD University, then moved to New York City to work as a publication designer for numerous magazines. Rhonda taught at New York University School of Journalism and Parsons School of Design, and distinguished herself as the award-winning art director for Esquire at a time when magazines were significant social documents of the era. Recruited to San Francisco, she became art director of Mother Jones magazine, and a founding partner of Exbrook, a consultancy focused on helping progressive social impact organizations to use design thoughtfully and with purpose.
