Valle named Printastic! Educator of the Year

Philippe Valle, a 20-year employee of North Idaho College and associate professor of graphic design, was recently honored.

The Pacific Printing Industries Association named him the PPI Printastic! Educator of the Year during the annual PPI Print Rocks! Awards presentation. PPI, a trade association that promotes individuals and businesses in the print and trade industry, has members in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Utah and Washington.

Tammy Weatherly, PPI director of northwest member services, said Valle was chosen for his outstanding support of ExploreVizComm, an initiative of the PPI Educational Trust that provides career education to promote a strong, future workforce in the print and graphics industry, and for his work in the education of graphic design and printing.

“He is driven to instill a passion for creativity and design in his students,” Weatherly said. “His students have competed in several national design competitions, including ExploreVizComm, and several students have come away with considerable prize winnings.”

Born and raised in the French Alps, Valle lived in both Nice and Marseille in the south of France before moving to Paris, where he worked on multimedia design projects ranging from art exhibits to entertainment promotions to music magazines and publishing. He performed trainings wherever he was employed and developed a knack for teaching the art of visual language.

“Valle’s focus is on providing his students with real-world, practical and relevant experience by constantly adapting the curriculum in order to maximize his students’ full potential in the ever-changing, technical world of graphic and web design,” Weatherly said.

Valle maintains it is his students who deserve the credit for their accomplishments, Weatherly said. She noted a slogan that has taken root at NIC’s graphic and web design department:

“Different years, different students, same results.”

Valle said he considers it an honor to be recognized in this way by his industry peers.

“Design is universal language and has no borders,” he said.