# Brendan Ciecko > Personal site of Brendan Ciecko — entrepreneur, designer, and typographer based in Boston. Founder & CEO of Cuseum. UNESCO Expert Advisor on AI in the Cultural & Creative Industries. Special Advisor to Smithsonian Open Access. Brendan Ciecko is an American entrepreneur, designer, and typographer. He is the founder and CEO of Cuseum, a Boston-based technology company that builds digital tools for museums, cultural institutions, and public attractions. Earlier in his career he ran Ten Minute Media, a design and web agency whose clients included major recording artists and record labels. His work spans mobile apps, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, museum technology, and typography — with a particular focus on Polish Art Deco and Art Nouveau (Secesja) type recovery. He has been named to Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30, Forbes' Next 1000, EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Finalist), Blooloop 50, and Artnet's New Innovators. He holds U.S. patents in mobile ticketing and location-aware museum technology, and has spoken at more than 80 events across five continents, including UNESCO MONDIACULT, Ars Electronica, Christie's Art + Tech Summit, the Smithsonian, Harvard Business School, and MIT. ## Pages - [/](https://brendanciecko.com/): Home — overview, hero portrait, press highlights, speaking snapshot, and awards. - [/about](https://brendanciecko.com/about): Biography, awards, board and advisory roles, and professional involvements. - [/press](https://brendanciecko.com/press): Complete archive of press coverage — Cuseum, Fontly, spotlight profiles, guest columns, book mentions, album credits, and TV appearances. - [/writing](https://brendanciecko.com/writing): Selected essays and guest columns on design, entrepreneurship, museums, and place. - [/speaking](https://brendanciecko.com/speaking): Keynotes, panels, university lectures, and conference appearances (2007–2026). - [/projects](https://brendanciecko.com/projects): Selected projects — Fontly, Deposit, Idea Mill, Tech for Obama, and the Arthur Hellmer Initiative. - [/research](https://brendanciecko.com/research): U.S. patents, academic citations, and research on emerging technology in culture. - [/typography](https://brendanciecko.com/typography): Typography work and revival typefaces based on Polish Art Deco and Art Nouveau sources. - [/history-of-polish-art-deco-typography](https://brendanciecko.com/history-of-polish-art-deco-typography): Long-form essay on the history of Polish Art Deco typography. ## Writing (essays and guest columns) - [Seeking Grit and Ghost Signs](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/seeking-grit-and-ghost-signs) — August Table, 2016. Hand-painted signs and fading typography in Holyoke, Massachusetts. - [High Tech for a Historic City](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/high-tech-for-a-historic-city) — Xconomy, 2009. The MIT / UMass / BU / Cisco / EMC high-performance computing collaboration coming to Holyoke. - [Mentors Matter](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/mentors-matter) — Student Entrepreneurs, 2007. Contributed chapter on mentorship and building Ten Minute Media. - [The Future Is Here: AI Will Define the Next 100 Years](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/future-is-here-ai) — American Alliance of Museums, 2025. - [Generative AI: Imagining a Future of AI-Dominated Creativity](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/generative-ai-imagining-future) — VentureBeat, 2023. - [How Bold Moves By Museums Could Shape the Future of Culture and Digital Art](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/bold-moves-museums) — Rolling Stone, 2022. - [The Surging Demand for Digital Collectibles Could Offer a Lifeline for Cash-Strapped Museums](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/digital-collectibles-museums) — Artnet News, 2021. - [Cultural Entrepreneurship in a Post-COVID World](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/cultural-entrepreneurship-post-covid) — Rolling Stone, 2021. - [The Rise and Fall of Flash — and What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From It](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/rise-fall-flash) — Rolling Stone, 2021. - [Museopreneur: How Museums are Leaping into New Business Models](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/museopreneur) — American Alliance of Museums, 2019. - [AR is Going to Kill the Map's Blue Dot](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/ar-blue-dot) — VentureBeat, 2019. - [Museums are the Best Place to Find Innovation in AR](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/museums-ar-innovation) — VentureBeat, 2018. - [Attack of the 100-Year-Old Startup](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/attack-of-100-year-old-startup) — American Alliance of Museums, 2018. - [Museums, Startups and Accelerators… Oh, My!](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/museums-startups-accelerators) — TechCrunch, 2017. - [Skin In The Game In the Fight for Arts Funding](https://brendanciecko.com/writing/skin-in-the-game-arts-funding) — Americans for the Arts, 2017. ## Selected press - [Could for-profit museums be coming to Boston?](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/28/arts/for-profit-museums-boston/) — Boston Globe, 2025. - [Augmented Reality is Transforming Museums](https://www.wired.com/story/augmented-reality-art-museums/) — WIRED, 2018. - [Is Instagram Ruining Art?](http://time.com/5204051/smartphones-instagram-museum-art-de-young/) — TIME, 2018. - [Museums Turn to Technology to Boost Attendance by Millennials](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/arts/artsspecial/museums-turn-to-technology-to-boost-attendance-by-millennials.html) — New York Times, 2015. - [Tech talk: Brendan Ciecko, founder and CEO, Cuseum](http://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/2015/apr/03/tech-talk-brendan-ciecko-cuseum-museums) — The Guardian, 2015. - [The New Innovators: Cuseum Founder Brendan Ciecko](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/brendan-ciecko-new-innovators-expanded-1909978) — Artnet News, 2020. - [Making It Big](http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2007/july/180508.html) — Entrepreneur Magazine cover, 2007. ## Optional - [/sitemap.xml](https://brendanciecko.com/sitemap.xml): Full machine-readable list of indexable URLs. - [/llms-full.txt](https://brendanciecko.com/llms-full.txt): Long-form biography and consolidated facts in a single file. - [Cuseum](https://cuseum.com): Company founded and led by Brendan Ciecko. - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanciecko) - [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zqy1iMUAAAAJ) - [Crunchbase](https://www.crunchbase.com/person/brendan-ciecko)