Amy Swan graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1994 with concentrations in both illustration and design. She began her career in publishing at Freetime Graphix as a designer, and later assistant art director, creating arts and entertainment publications. After two years in Rochester, she relocated for a one-year creative artist position at Nutmeg Mills in Tampa, where she designed and illustrated graphics for apparel. In 1997, she moved to Boston and settled into an art director role at the Atlantic, where she stayed for eight years commissioning art and designing advertising, marketing, and circulation materials for print and online. Currently she is a freelance designer and art director for various clients, including the Washington Monthly, where she has served as art director since 2009. She lives just outside of Boston with her husband, two children, and three cats.