Esen Karol is a graphic designer, publisher, and editor based in New York, originally from Istanbul. She has collaborated with clients such as Rethinking Residencies in New York, as well as leading arts and culture institutions including Arter, Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, Pera Museum, and Salt. From 2003 to 2012, she taught typography and publication design at Istanbul Bilgi University. Karol earned her master’s degree in Communications Design from Pratt Institute in New York, where she was a Fulbright Fellow. She currently serves as a Visiting Associate Professor in the Undergraduate Communications Design Department at Pratt Institute. Additionally, she continues working on the online cultural criticism journal Manifold, which she co-founded in 2016.
Her work is included in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, and Arter. Two of her book designs were recognized among the 50 Best-Designed Books of the Year by the 50 Books | 50 Covers competition, organized by Design Observer and AIGA.