Kevin Michael Davis
February 16, 1982 — July 23, 2010
Our good friend and colleague, Kevin Davis, who was here at Vassar with us for four years, passed away on July 23, 2010. Only four years, and yet so full of achievement, it seems at least twice as long. His web design, as you can see in the examples below, was superb, but he also excelled in many other areas like photography and poetry. He was really something of a Renaissance man. You could talk to him about anything and he would be able to contribute some new fact or viewpoint to the conversation. Some of his favorite topics, besides web design, included politics, social ecology, sustainability, urban planning, green spaces, architecture, activism, and human rights. We benefitted from his constant watch on all new turns in our chosen field. He always shared what he knew and brought tremendous range to our group. We miss him terribly.
Below are some of the websites Kevin created for Vassar, as well as some samples of his photography and illustration. More of his work is available at his website: alazanto.org.
9 Comments
Posted by
Tim McGraw
6 August 2010 @ 4pm
Here’s to you, Kevin. It’s been a privilege.
Posted by
Baynard Bailey
6 August 2010 @ 4pm
Kevin was a true Renaissance digital designer, capable of creating visual imagery with code, pictures and text. There was so much I could have learned from him. I am very proud of the work we did together. Vassar will be all the poorer for his absence and I will miss him.
Posted by
Erin Lohne
6 August 2010 @ 4pm
You were an amazing person with so much talent. Kevin you will be greatly missed by many. You will live on through in each of our hearts and through your art.
Posted by
pat lichtenberg
7 August 2010 @ 8am
I remember meeting Kevin in a sesquicentennial planning meeting. He was so witty and engaging. He talked about his college experience.
And now I see his art and poetry. Such a loss for us all.
Tamar, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Posted by
Carolyn Guyer
9 August 2010 @ 4pm
Promised to post the remarks I made at the memorial, so here they are:
6 August 2010
I would like to say a little about Kevin’s butterfly. If you’ve had a chance to look at any of his work sitting around on these tables, you may have noticed it. The first time I saw it was on his website when we interviewed him for web designer. I thought, nicely executed but it’s still a butterfly. He’s either very courageous, or he doesn’t understand how overused butterflies are. Since then, after knowing and working with Kevin over these years, I’ve come to believe that he was indeed courageous in this design, and especially that he understood how to choose his icon.
Kevin was a deeply modest and gentle person. We don’t often think of those characteristics as powerful, yet Kevin’s kind and considerate behavior changed others’ behavior. Without naming names, I can tell you that I witnessed this in more than one instance. People with reputations for being difficult responded to his gentleness by gentling their own behavior. Less anger, less frustration, more respect, more trust. Even if that effect didn’t last a really long time in any one individual, it did continue out into the Vassar community. That’s how such things work. Even one afternoon of niceness has its effect on others, on the whole fabric of our community. It’s a kind of butterfly effect. The subtlest movement in South America changes the weather in Central Park.
Taking this further, because I’ve been thinking about it a lot over this summer, one of the most common meanings we want to assign to the butterfly is change and transformation. And indeed, this is something Kevin achieved in high measure when he came to live and work in New York. He found here professional and personal fulfillment of a sort that many people seek their entire lives and never find. He brought to fruition a powerful expertise in his field, gaining respect from all his colleagues and whoever worked with him, and at the same time, he found the love and joy of his life in Tamar. In such a short time, he realized these most primary things. He was transformed here.
It’s as if the famous Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore, was thinking of Kevin’s life when he said
“The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.”
Posted by
Donny
4 September 2010 @ 9pm
Thanks for sharing Kevin’s memory and thanks Carolyn for the touching remarks.
I had a pleasure of getting to know and working with Kevin at Vassar. The first time I met him, which was his first interview at Vassar, he took my breath away with his deep thinking on design. I am sure my colleagues felt the same as well.
Kevin’s work continued to inspired me even after I left Vassar. I still love the way Kevin used background images. They were subtle but added a nice touch to the design. Here are a few examples:
http://admissions.vassar.edu/hudsonvalley/
http://library.vassar.edu/
http://internationalprograms.vassar.edu/
RIP Kevin.
Posted by
Holly Cox
27 January 2011 @ 8pm
I had the privilege of working with Kevin in Minneapolis when he was first out of school. I was so sad today to read in my step-son’s Northland College newsletter that Kevin passed away last summer. My heart goes out to his family & friends for their loss.
Posted by
Indian Culture
16 December 2011 @ 2pm
Liked your designs and photographs, more than illustraions
Posted by
kristinakathy
26 March 2013 @ 8am
An amazing web designs and photography. Illustrations are also nice. Thanks a lot for the share. Have a nice day!!