Zider was born in Amityville, raised in Massapequa, NY. In 1956. He attended Roger Williams College, Bristol RI and received BA in 1978. He then attended The School of Visual Arts, NYC, NY, studying realism painting. Zider began work at The National Broadcasting Company, 30 Rock in 1979 as a designer where he still works today. He started in the Scenic and Graphic Design department, working in a staff of 10 with many freelance artists, pros from the theater to Ad
agencies each with their own technical skills, styles, and tools, an all arts feeding ground. As a six-time Emmy Award Winner at NBC, Doug has participated in a wide range of creative teams in entertainment and sports. As a graphic designer for Saturday Night Live from the early 80's to today, to many sporting events and venues, MLB, NFL, AFL, NBA, NHL, tennis, Nascar and The Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

Doug's father John "Jack" was very much the professional in his field as lead designer for Grumman Aircraft's Art Dept in Bethpage, NY in the 50's and 60's. As a commercial designer and illustrator in his early years, he followed the wave of abstract painting to Long Island, giving his family the opportunity to grow at the waters edge. Never the lack of drafting supplies and oil paints of his father's, Doug's interests took an early hold. He worked as a teenager on the Great South Bay as a dock master with early morning rises to lay the traps in the marshes, still as he claims "the best job I ever had". The love of the Arts and the sea have always faired well together. Always having the bay at hands reach on Long Island as well as the barrier islands to the Atlantic, and those summer days that just never ended. Doug resumed painting again in the later parts of his career, using traditional methods in preparation and application in the process. "Understanding the medium and its characteristics is a never ending learning process, technically and artistically. How the color, value and light represents the image is essential with composition, drama, and most importantly, the desire and discipline to convey that view."