Meet Ben Rivers ’96: SIGD Advisory Council Member

A 1996 graduate of Auburn’s School of Industrial and Graphic Design, he currently leads an Atlanta-based team of design and video production professionals who tell the UPS story through design, video production, social media, advertising, live and virtual events and more. He has worked in various creative roles at UPS for more than 20 years, after getting his start with the company as a visual effects designer in the Global Communications Department.

Now, as leader of the creative services team, Rivers drives the creative vision of UPS forward through new technology, strategic planning and a focus on storytelling.

“At the end of the day, UPS’s purpose is to move our world forward by delivering what matters,” Rivers said. “For us, telling those stories of how we’re doing that is really what we’re here to do.”

Prior to joining UPS, Rivers started his career with CNN-Sports Illustrated—a brand-new television network at that time. There, Rivers learned how to translate designs from print magazines to television formats and honed new skills in broadcast graphics and camera work, rapidly climbing the ranks from graphic artist to assistant network art director.

According to Rivers, the best way to communicate an effective message is with well-executed, dynamic storytelling. He believes his strength throughout his career has been his ability to assemble talented creative teams to tell such stories, utilizing solid design and conceptual skills as well as an intimate knowledge of the latest tools and techniques.

He also is thankful for many of the lessons he learned at Auburn.

“The peer and professor reviews and critiques I got as a student stay with me to this day,” he said. “There was a real focus on helping everyone get better, and the level of transparency I learned through all those critiques is something I use almost daily.”

Now, as a new member of the SIGD Advisory Council, Rivers hopes to pass on some of the keys to his own success to current Auburn students.

“I want to use my years of experience to help create a design program that continues developing designers at the industry forefront,” he noted. “I believe that a mix of people, thoughts and experiences leads to great things.”