Interview by Isabel Bo-Linn

Design Educator Profiles
We are excited to share profile interviews highlighting members of the DEC Community, focusing on featuring the many roles we hold as educators in various institutional settings and job titles. In this edition, we share a profile of design educator Shannon Doronio Chavez.

How/why do you see graphic design as a relational act?

I think about the word relational very literally first, by its definition, something connecting or happening between at least two people. Graphic Design is relational, because it concerns a message sender and receiver. I also think about it as relative, design doesn’t come from nowhere. It comes from a position, whether it’s content generated by a person or collaborative work between a designer and a message sender. It’s a response to a human experience in a very specific time and a very specific place with very specific perspectives. And so in that way, design is relational relative to the time and place that it comes from and the people that are creating it. I also think about the design practice as a relational act, because none of us are doing this by ourselves, right? Every single opportunity I have gotten to practice design, talk about design, or teach design was a gift or an opportunity extended to me by another person who was willing to not just share an opportunity, but also collaborate, share resources, guidance, and mentorship—in that way it’s also a relational act, a communal act. When thinking of Design as a relational act I consider how we got here, the topics that we’re engaging with, and then where the work goes afterward, it becomes a part of a larger context.

You posted a diagram to Instagram about “the art of culture making”. What is culture making and how does it play a role in your pedagogy?

The diagram is about how we make artifacts of culture, and the cultural conditions we perpetuate. I think the cultural behavior, has a tremendous effect on what gets made (and what doesn’t). Sometimes there’s a toxic recipe that happens in the classroom, where the educator believes their job is to prepare the student for professional practice, but it is often a mindset rooted in scarcity and competition that ends up fostering a toxic classroom environment—which then becomes the toxic workplace as that we are preparing students for. I often find myself asking, why are you doing it this way? The response is always, “I’m getting them ready for the real world.” To which I respond—”How do you think the “real world” is created?? 

It starts here, in the classroom. Graphic Design culture is seeded in our students, and we are germinating them, we’re tending them in a specific  way. When we get into the workplace, we’re confronted with people who are competitive to a point of willing to harm other people, harm projects, we meet people who suffer from so much imposter syndrome that they’re willing to let projects be less of what they could be in order to protect themselves—all of it  starts in a classroom—it’s an ecosystem. 

A person that enters the ecosystem, when they have a professor that teaches them to behave in a certain way that is toxic, they then take that toxic behavior into the workplace—where it’s normalized. Later, when that person returns to the classroom as an educator, they believe they need to teach students the same toxic lessons. We have an opportunity to break that cycle in the classroom.

I’ve been thinking about culture making very intentionally, because we are living in this AI landscape where the companies selling this tech claim that it is creative, generative. I’m very explicit when  describing culture making as a human act, and how the act of culture making is uniquely human. Sometimes I think students mistake AI for a creative tool, I see it more as a regurgitative tool. Humans make the culture, it gets fed into the AI products, and then the AI system reorganizes and regurgitates based on aggregated logic. It’s a reorganization of things that humans have already made. I want my students to really understand—what culture-making is—it is an act that is exclusive to humans.

How does your personal history and identity sit at the core of your practice and pedagogy? 

I was a little spoiled as a kid, lots of aunts and uncles, first grand kid. I had a giant box of blonde-haired, blue-eyed Barbie dolls in my closet, but I remember my Nana buying me a Barbie doll with brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin…and it was a revelation. This doll looked like me, like us! This doll went everywhere with me, and I was just really connected to it. Later, as an adult, I learned that when children are given a toy that looks like them, it gives them a sense of agency and cultural belonging. I also learned that when a student has a teacher they can culturally connect with, especially early in their educational journey, it can have a tremendous positive impact. Whether it’s something like a shared interest or a similar cultural background, when there is some version of that child’s future self that they can see in their teacher —their likelihood of graduating from high school, and going to college skyrockets. I started to understand from my own experience, how important this exposure is. In addition to coming up against various systematic barriers, I was also noticing that so much of my own culture was missing or misrepresented in visual culture. All of these experiences combine informed what I chose to do as a designer, things like working with nonprofits predominantly serving Latinx people along with serving various other under-resourced communities. I worked with 826 National and had the privilege of  designing publications written by young authors, I was using my skillset to platform these under-celebrated voices and felt like everybody should get access to this, because there’s just so much brilliance out there. In the classroom I foreground my my identities. On the first day of class, I share my positionality statement, I want them to know the places I come from,  and how my cultural experiences have shaped me: I’m of mixed-race, a 90s kid who grew up on feminist punk rock and hip hop.

How do you encourage your students to maintain a strong sense of their own identity in their work and practice?

When I moved into design education, I wanted to teach students how to get clients and to get a job, but I also wanted to teach students to identify their own communities sand consider how they can tell their community stories in the ways that only they can. I want students to think—wow, I can even write my own stories! I want them to know they can author their own projects, perform autoethnographic research and make things around that they feel  connected to. 

When you’re doing this work, I am really careful, and mindful. You have to  check in with yourself about who  you are as their professor, and acknowledge the pressure they may feel to overshare things they aren’t ready to get into yet. This work has to be presented as an invitation to students, and from there they get to respond to that invite with their level of comfort, interest, and excitement.

As an advocate for equitable pathways, what are the biggest ‘invisible barriers’ you see preventing talented students from entering the design profession, and how are you working to dismantle them?

Wow, there’s so many. In my specific case, one hurdle was  this huge generational and cultural gap between me and my immigrant parent. There was a lot of fear that choosing the arts was a terrible financial decision and I would be “poor.” Sometimes the biggest invisible barrier is a narrative specifically coming from a parent that just stops the student from even looking at design as a major. This narrative is complicated by the pressure to be the  model minority, to choose medicine, business, or sciences over the arts, it’s typically summed up in the statement “We didn’t come here and do all of this just so that you could choose to be an artist and end up starving.” 

I also think certain application processes are an unnecessary barrier—especially the programs that require a portfolio. So many students have limited access to computers on their high school campus or live in areas where even the community college doesn’t give them access to the tools that they would need to build a portfolio. Another is the exorbitant cost of going to a school, sometimes it’s so high that students don’t even apply because  they don’t know how to work the financial aid system to reduce the cost. Personally I try to remove or lower these barriers for my students,  I use my funds of knowledge to mentor them through that process as a fellow first-generation student. I’ve also participated in a series of  workshops reimagining pedagogy like those hosted by Yasmin Khan and Jessica Wexler. They’ve created a space for educators to engage with the speculative future of design pedagogy specifically ones that are liberatory. 

What is one skill you are teaching your students today that wasn’t on your radar five years ago?

OMG. How to be a human. Many of them are so terrified of being a real human in real time, they’re so afraid of making a mistake. Tyler the Creator’s last record, Don’t Tap the Glass, was a response to the same thing that I’m seeing in the classroom. He noticed how nobody’s dancing at shows anymore and after interviewing people, he realized it’s because people were afraid of going viral. In the classroom, I’ve discovered students are more willing to be beautiful weirdos when they’re not on Zoom, in front of a camera, when they know that nobody’s recording them everybody’s phones are in their bags. They’re free. I’ve been trying to get them comfortable with the thought of, ”so what if I dance weird and somebody puts it on the internet?” Own it!

In what ways does design education need to change or shift focus in order to prepare practitioners for the future?

I love futuring practices and I love sci-fi. One of my favorite books as a teen was Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End—when I think about the future, I can get very, very dystopic. I think what we are most at risk for right now is being so scared of being human that we lose our humanity—the one thing that makes us a real competitor against AI and big tech. I fear we’re going to become so dependent on AI as the source of everything—of knowledge, the keeping of history, of knowledge gathering, of research—that we’re just going to get caught in an endless loop of really bad iterations, like a xerox of a xerox of a xerox of a xerox of humanity. I push my students to back away from the internet of things when we are in research mode. Everything they’re referring to is something they found on the internet with little context,or critique. Whatever Google says is enough. 

Design education should emphasize archiving, visiting physical archives, and getting off the internet. A few years ago, I diverted some of our supply funding to build a physical library of design books. I wanted to put analog media in front of the students, give them unprecedented access to these materials. That’s been a game changer for enhancing their  work. 

Shannon Doronio Chavez is a graphic designer, educator, artist, and storyteller based in the San Fernando Valley, California. She holds a BFA from Otis College of Art & Design and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is a tenured Professor and Co-Chair of the Graphic & Multimedia Design program at College of the Canyons in Valencia, CA.

In her teaching, she develops curriculum grounded in access, equity, and culturally responsive design pedagogy. A mixed-race Chicana feminist and first-generation college graduate, she is driven by a commitment to diversify the canon of visual communication and to create equitable pathways into the field for historically underrepresented students. Her classroom centers storytelling, lived experience, and collective imagination as essential tools for learning, authorship, and cultural participation. Her creative practice explores storytelling and sites of culture and positionality as places of research, working across writing, collage, typography, publication, cultural ritual, and visual narrative. Guided by the belief that graphic design can affirm life—not just sell things—she seeks to disentangle the discipline from purely capitalist definitions and reconnect it to its role as a relational act: a gesture of connection, memory-keeping, and truth-telling.

This interview was led by AIGA DEC Steering Committee member Isabel Bo-Linn, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Portland State University.

In Conversation with Isabel Bo-Linn

Design Educator Profiles
We are excited to share profile conversations highlighting members of the DEC Community, focusing on featuring the many roles we hold as educators in various institutional settings and job titles. In this month’s edition, we spotlight design educator Omar Sosa-Tzec.

What is your favorite course to teach and why?

That is a tough choice. At the moment, I would say that I have two favorite courses to teach: DES 200 Visual Design Literacy and DES 677 Delightful Design. Both courses serve the two majors in our school—Visual Communication Design and Industrial Design. What I enjoy most about DES 200 is discussing the principles of visual design with my students. I am always excited by the process of analyzing and articulating what makes a design effective. DES 677, on the other hand, connects directly to my scholarship and research. This course allows me to create a space to analyze, discuss, and reflect on the relationship between delightful design and living a good life. It is especially rewarding to see students create designs that aim to captivate and surprise users while also supporting their happiness and well-being.

What have you read recently that really resonated with you?

Although I have not read it recently, an idea that often comes back to me is Pretense Design, from the book of the same title by Per Mollerup. My perspective on delightful design is shaped in part by scholarship on visual rhetoric, argumentation, and multimodality. I often reflect on the connection between designs that one might regard as delightful and Mollerup’s argument that certain designs “bend” or “conceal” the truth by communicating qualities that are, in fact, pretense—for example, making a plastic table appear as if it were made of marble. By examining this connection, we can begin to see how, in many designs, unexpectedness—an essential ingredient of delight—emerges from pretense.

What is something you teach now that you weren’t taught yourself? How does this add value to your teaching or practice?

Learning about semiotics and rhetoric has greatly impacted my thinking and practice. With multimodality also added to my theoretical framework and analytical lens, the concepts from these disciplines help me better understand the value of design and how it operates in particular contexts of use. This is an idea I try to convey to my students when I teach concepts from these fields or discuss the significance of humanistic training as part of a design education.

How do you find balance in your research, practice, and non-academic life?

I do not have the answer, and I do not think I ever will. However, as I get older, it becomes clearer to me how important it is to prioritize and protect time and energy for what truly matters in one’s life, whether work-related or not. Someone told me last year, “Do things that fill you with energy”—a very eudaimonic thought, quite different from “do things that make you happy.” Putting this idea into practice, however, is not as simple as it sounds. There is a great deal of noise: the fear of not being or doing enough, and of not living life to the fullest. Saying no helps, but it is difficult—both practically and emotionally—to let go of some things in order to prioritize and protect others. Routine and old habits can easily pull one back, making it hard to see through the noise. Yet, when I manage to see clearly, even for a moment, I realize that despite not having an answer, the only thing I can do is try—to seek out and commit to what truly matters in the end.

If money, time, and resources were a non-issue, what is your dream course (or workshop) to teach and why?

It would be a year-long version of my Delightful Design course—on steroids. Having access to the necessary facilities, equipment, materials, teaching assistants, and technical support would allow my students to go wild and develop whimsical, surprising, and sensorially rich designs. I am always energized by seeing and experiencing art and commercial work whose qualities demand sensory engagement and embrace novelty, and I want my students to have the conditions and opportunity to create such work. It would be exciting to see them move beyond what they typically encounter on their screens or can produce with the equipment currently available in our school. I deeply recognize the hard work of my students; however, I believe that knowing the sky is the limit would further promote their curiosity and imagination. Thinking big would no longer be an issue!

What is something you’ve recently learned? This can be a skill or knowledge, academic or non-academic.

Sharing a good meal with your partner, friends, or family is one of those actions that can give you energy. One never knows how many more times this will be possible.

Where can we usually find you in your off-time?

Home

Do you have any advice for other educators?

Be a good colleague and help develop a supportive work environment.

Omar Sosa-Tzec is an Associate Professor of Visual Communication Design in San Francisco State University’s School of Design. As a design scholar, Prof. Sosa-Tzec studies the qualities of delightful design and user experiences, drawing on humanities-based theories including semiotics, rhetoric, and aesthetics. His design practice focuses on visual identity, type design, interface design, and graphic communication. He holds a PhD in Human–Computer Interaction, as well as graduate degrees in Information Design and Computer Science.

This conversation was led by AIGA DEC Steering Committee member Isabel Bo-Linn, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Portland State University.

In Conversation with Isabel Bo-Linn

Design Educator Profiles
We are excited to share profile conversations highlighting members of the DEC Community, focusing on featuring the many roles we hold as educators in various institutional settings and job titles. In this month’s edition, we spotlight design educator Ashley L. Anderson.

Can you describe your current practice and/or scholarly research?

I’m interested in how designers can shape the theories and processes behind intervention-based experiences and how emerging tools like AI influence sensemaking. My current research focuses on a picture-based stereotype threat intervention for Black STEM students and examines how design methods can strengthen its impact. I’ve also worked on projects exploring how AI-enabled interfaces might support intelligence analysts as they interpret complex information.

What is your favorite course to teach (or have taught) and why?

I taught a course called Designing Memory during the Spring 2025 semester. We talked about ephemera and designing to preserve memory. It was a fun opportunity to think about archives and social media in a different way, specifically how we might imagine them differently.

What have you read recently that really resonated with you?

I recently read a technology article in The Atlantic, The People Outsourcing Their Thinking to AI: Rise of the LLeMmings by Lila Shroff.

Do you have any advice for other educators?

Don’t be afraid to let your own curiosities influence what and how you teach. Keep learning!

Ashley Anderson is an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Virginia Tech whose work sits at the intersection of human-centered design, visual communication, and intervention. Originally from North Carolina, Ashley earned her MGD from NC State University and a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication (Editing & Graphic Design) from UNC-Chapel Hill. She is currently completing her Doctorate in Design at NC State.

This conversation was led by AIGA DEC Steering Committee member Isabel Bo-Linn, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Portland State University.

AIGA DEC Throughlines 2026
Sinclair Community College, Dayton, OH | July 27-28, 2026

A throughline refers to the connections through and between segments of a design learning journey from early exposure to design, becoming a design student, working with and supporting students, transitioning to professional practice, mentoring designers, opportunities in leadership and creating intentional throughlines for others coming into the field. Across the lifespan of a designer, there are many aspects of influence through culture, beliefs and values that are integral in one’s development as a designer and lifelong learner.

Hosted for the first time at a community college, the 2026 AIGA Design Educators Conference, Throughlines, invites proposals that recognize the educators, staff, students, schools and organizations supporting early childhood to high school to college to adult learning who impact design learning journeys. We are pleased to announce that this gathering will be hosted in partnership with Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.

Acceptances announced: Beginning April 7, 2026

Location & Travel Info

Our Host Site: Sinclair Community College

Selected as the host site for AIGA DEC Throughlines 2026, Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio reflects a student-centered approach to design education grounded in access, care, and continuity. Founded in 1887, Sinclair is one of the nation’s oldest and largest community colleges and is widely recognized for innovation in teaching and community partnership. Guided by the college’s mission to find the need and endeavor to meet it, the NASAD-accredited Design Department supports learners across their design learning journey, from early exposure through professional practice. Hosting Throughlines marks the first time a community college has served as a conference site for AIGA DEC, underscoring Sinclair’s role in advancing accessible, practice-centered design education.

Your Trip to Dayton, Ohio

For attendees traveling from across the United States, Dayton is easy to reach, with direct flights into Dayton International Airport and simple highway access via I-75 and I-70. The city’s manageable scale, walkable downtown, and affordable cost make it an accessible and welcoming place to gather, reflect, and connect as a national community of design educators.

Conference Hotel Options

Dayton Vitality Hotel

A primary conference hotel option with the largest room block available. Located near the Levitt Pavilion and downtown green space.

Offers the widest range of room types, providing flexibility for shared rooms, accessibility needs, and different travel preferences.

→ View availability & rates

Book before: June 26, 2026

Hilton Garden Inn

Located within the historic Dayton Arcade, with cafés, local food vendors, and public gathering spaces on site.

→ View availability & rates

Book before: June 29, 2026

Hotel Ardent

A restored historic hotel offering a more intimate, boutique stay in downtown Dayton.

→ View availability & rates

Book before: June 30, 2026

Planning Team

Dr. Kristina Lamour Sansone, Conference Co-Chair
Lisa Maione, Conference Co-Chair
Zack Tucker, DEC Co-Chair, Conference Site coordinator
Katie Krcmarik, DEC Co-Chair, Peer-review coordinator
Questions and inquiries, please contact: info@designeducators.aiga.org 

AIGA DEC Weave 2025

Illinois State University, Normal, IL | June 12–13, 2025

We’re looking forward to welcoming you to AIGA DEC Weave 2025!

Venues & Parking

Main Venues:

• Kemp Recital Hall – 401 S. School Street, Normal, IL 61761
• Center for the Visual Arts (CVA) – 468 W. Beaufort Street, Normal, IL 61761
• Turner Hall – 700 W. College Avenue, Normal, IL 61761

Recommended Parking:

• South University Street Garage – 450 S. University Street

View the map::
ISU Campus Parking Map (PDF)

Schedule At A Glance

Click Here to View the Full Schedule

Wednesday, June 11

• 4:00–6:00pm – Registration CVA 138 – Digital Commons)

Thursday, June 12

• 8:00–10:00am – Breakfast & Registration (Kemp Recital Hall Lobby)
• 8:30–9:00am – Opening Remarks (Kemp Recital Hall Auditorium)
• 9:00–10:00am – Keynote Presentation: From Participatory Design to Collective Dreaming (Kemp Recital Hall Auditorium)
• 12:00–1:00pm – Lunch Provided (CVA 138 – Digital Commons)

Friday, June 13

• 8:00–10:00am – Breakfast (CVA 138 – Digital Commons)
• 12:00–1:30pm – Lunch on Your Own (Explore local options)

Printed schedules will be available at check-in, and we recommend using the digital schedule for the most up-to-date information.

Meals

• Breakfast will be provided both days
• Lunch will be provided on Thursday, June 12
• Lunch is on your own on Friday, June 13

We’ll have a variety of options available, but if you have specific dietary needs, please don’t hesitate to speak with a volunteer at the meal station or reach out to the team in advance at info@designeducators.aiga.org

What to Bring

• Tote bag
• Reusable water bottle (refill stations available)
• Notebook or sketchbook
• Chargers or backup battery
• Layers for indoor temperature variation
• Any workshop-specific materials noted in your registration confirmation

Wi-Fi Access

To connect to Wi-Fi at Illinois State University:

1. Select “isunet-StartHere” from your available networks
2. Go to https://wireless.ilstu.edu
3. Click “Request a guest wireless account”
4. Enter your full name and U.S. cell phone number
5. Use the credentials sent via text to connect

Guest access expires daily at 11:59 p.m. You may repeat this process each day if needed.
Detailed Instructions

Stay Connected

• Instagram: @aiga_educators
• Hashtag: #AIGADECWeave
• Slack Channel: An invite to the #AIGADECWeave2025 slack channel will go out after this email.
• Questions? Contact us at info@designeducators.aiga.org
  

The 2025 AIGA Design Educators Conference, Weave, invites design educators, students, practitioners, and researchers to submit proposals that explore the threads that connect us and the collective impact of design education. This year’s theme encourages us to interlace diverse perspectives, foster collaboration, and co-create inclusive and transformative futures for design education.

• Date: June 12-13, 2025
• Location: Illinois State University, Normal, IL

We invite submissions for panels, papers, workshops, posters, and student work that explore the conference theme, Weave. Proposals should present original, thought-provoking work and engage with at least one of the following focus areas:

• How can design education interweave diverse voices to create a more equitable future?
• Case studies or frameworks that demonstrate the power of co-design, interdisciplinary partnerships, or community engagement.
• Examples of transformative teaching practices, curricula, or projects that have reshaped perspectives and outcomes in design education.
• Strategies for amplifying underrepresented voices and empowering students or educators in challenging contexts.
• Insights into how design education can prepare students to navigate and address societal challenges.

Important Dates:

Abstract Submission Opens: February 17, 2025
Proposal Submission Deadline: March 17, 2025
Submit Your Proposal Here
Acceptance Notifications: May 5, 2025

Conference Schedule

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) B.-N. Sanders is a pioneering force in co-design and participatory design research, widely recognized as one of the most influential figures in shaping the human-centered design landscape. As the founder of MakeTools, LLC, she has introduced many of the generative methods now foundational to how designers collaborate with communities to create meaningful products, services, and systems.

Over her four-decade career, Dr. Sanders has partnered with leading global organizations, including Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, 3M, and many healthcare institutions, to integrate participatory design into real-world innovation. Her visionary work bridges design and the social sciences, championing the democratization of design and empowering people from all backgrounds to shape their futures. Co-author of the seminal Convivial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of Design, Dr. Sanders continues to lead global conversations on creativity, collective imagination, and transformative design practice. As a faculty member in the Department of Design at The Ohio State University, she brings deep academic insight and decades of hands-on experience in co-design to her teaching and research. We are privileged to welcome Dr. Sanders as the keynote speaker for the 2025 AIGA Design Educators Conference, where she will present “From Participatory Design to Collective Dreaming”.

Location & Travel Info

About Illinois State University

Founded in 1857, Illinois State University (ISU) is the oldest public university in Illinois and a leading institution dedicated to excellence in education, research, and community engagement. Located in Normal, Illinois, ISU is known for its strong academic programs, vibrant campus life, and commitment to fostering an inclusive and innovative learning environment. The university’s picturesque campus blends historic charm with modern facilities, providing an inspiring setting for learning, collaboration, and creativity.

As the host of the Weave: 2025 AIGA Design Educators Conference, Illinois State University’s Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts offer a dynamic space to explore design education’s evolving role in shaping equitable and transformative futures. With a commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration, ISU provides an ideal backdrop for meaningful conversations on design, pedagogy, and community impact.

Your Trip to Normal, Illinois

Nestled in the heart of Central Illinois, Normal is a welcoming town known for its blend of small-town charm and vibrant cultural scene. Alongside its twin city, Bloomington, the area offers a mix of local art, unique dining experiences, and green spaces perfect for exploring between conference sessions.

Getting to Normal is convenient, whether traveling by car, plane, or train. Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA) in Bloomington provides direct flights from major U.S. hubs, and Amtrak connects Normal to Chicago and St. Louis via the Uptown Station, just minutes from campus. If driving, Normal is easily accessible via Interstate 55, 39, and 74. Once here, visitors can enjoy walkable downtown areas, bike-friendly streets, and a variety of local coffee shops, restaurants, and parks that add to the city’s creative energy.

Discounted Hotel Rate (book before May 21st)

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Bloomington-Normal Marriott Hotel & Conference Center

Reserve a Room at the Discounted Rate

Reserve your stay nearby:

• Hyatt Place Normal
• Bloomington-Normal Marriott Hotel & Conference Center
• Other nearby lodging options: https://www.visitbn.org/visit/listings/hotels/

Conference Proceedings

The Fall 2025 issue of AIGA Dialogue will serve as the official proceedings for the Weave conference. It will feature revised abstracts from accepted presentations. Presenters are invited to update their abstracts based on feedback received during the conference. We will collect these revisions after the event. Those interested in publishing a full paper are also encouraged to submit to AIGA Dialectic, the scholarly journal of the AIGA Design Educators Community.

Planning Team

Zack Tucker, Weave Conference Co-Chair
Yvette Shen, Weave Conference Co-Chair
Katie Krcmarik, DEC Co-Chair, Peer-review coordinator
Natalie Tyree, DEC Co-Chair
DEC Communications: Vinicius Lima, Lisa Elzey Mercer, Yvette Shen, Patricia Childers
Design Streak of Illinois State University, Weave Branding Design
Questions and inquiries, please contact: info@designeducators.aiga.org 

This past year was an exciting and productive one for the AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC).

2024 was another successful year for the Design Educators Community. From programming, events, and initiatives, to formal and informal conversations, we all gathered together (online and in person) with the goal of improving our space and community. As we begin our journey into 2025, we’d like to reflect on the DEC’s highlights of 2024. 

The DEC reached a big milestone, celebrating 20 years since its inception. Our steering committee continued to serve a wide-range of interest areas with members spread throughout the U.S. In May, Katie Krcmarik (Illinois State University) was promoted to Co-Chair and we welcomed two new members: Shannon Zenner, PhD (Elon University) and Devon Nassif (Dallas Independent School District). Shannon and Devon will support our mission of expanding our K-12 reach and efforts. With every iteration of the DEC, this group continues to extend its reach with the aim of diversifying areas of focus through the pursuit of new initiatives, while continuing to strengthen ongoing programming and efforts.

In 2024 we hosted six Virtual Events ranging from casual conversations and mixers to deep-diving topics of interest. Conversations around A.I. continued to be popular, with one of our highest attended virtual events, “Practical Uses of A.I. in the Classroom”. Heather Snyder Quinn (Depaul University) and Jimmy Henderson (Susquehanna University) lead a conversation on applying for academic jobs entitled “So You Want to be a Professor?”. In October, the DEC hosted an educator track during the 2024 AIGA “Margins” Conference. This 3-Day programming embraced the theme, “Margins,” and explored the uncharted
territories of design. Margins DEC track featured sessions packed with conversations about AI in
the classroom, assessment design practices, design’s ability to bring people together, interaction and experiences, and design education and mental health. A special hats off to Lisa Mercer and Tasheka Arceneaux Sutton for co-charing the Educator Track.

The year also saw the publications of “Collective Inquiry into the Visual Essay”, a special issue of Dialogue featuring works from the 2022 Design + Writing Fellowship and Dialogue’s “2021 ShiftED Virtual Summit Proceedings”. A special thanks to past and present members of the steering committee who were instrumental in bringing those to completion.

We wrapped up 2024 with our 3rd annual “10 Days of DECember”, a fun social media event. Members contributed fun “gifts” to our community including festive recipes, design resources, and activities. If you didn’t catch it in December, you should take a look now! 

This year, our wish is that design educators continue to collaborate and join with the wider design education community, both in the U.S. and around the world, to continue the work of examining what design is and ought to be, how we might continue to inspire young people to use design thoughtfully and ethically, and ways we can continue to work together to keep our community a vibrant and supportive place.

Natalie Tyree and Katie Krcmarik, DEC Steering Committee Co-Chairs, 2024-2025

Thank you for visiting the digital exhibition for the AIGA DEC Track at the Margins AIGA National Conference in October 2024!

Ten posters were accepted and went through a double-blind peer review process. Overall, nearly 140 submissions were received for the Design Educators Community Track, with 28% of participants accepted.

The digital exhibit is listed below alphabetically, and the title links to each piece:

• Gota as Mode of Understanding By Nida Abdullah
• Queer Diagramming By Mills Dray
• Embracing Immersive Tech from the Margins By Alexandria Fogarty
• Physical Pixels: Using Cross Stitch to Explore More a Mindful Design Process By Jennifer Kowalski
• Reimagining Tenure: Bringing Clinical Professors in from the Margins By Jena Marble
• United States for Abortion: Generating a New Visual Rhetoric for Reproductive Justice By Kathy Mueller and Alison Place
• Concept Map: Moving Beyond Human-Centered in Postsecondary Design Education By Cindy Raspiller
• Meaningful Connections: Awareness, Belonging and Community in Latinas with ADHD By Flory Sanabria
• Learning Kaithi: Design’s Role in Cultural Preservation By Anmol Shrivastava
• Social Printmaking in Chinatown as Equitable Design Research and Education By Emily B. Yang

Download the Abstract Book Here

Nida Abdullah

She/Her

Associate Professor, Pratt Institute
Nida Abdullah is an interdisciplinary maker, researcher and educator whose approach is rooted in softness and slowness as practice of refusal. Her research centers gota adornment in textile design. Through gota, she explores embodied making as forms of witnessing. She engages with inherited lineages of materials, presences, memories, bodies, temporals.

Gota as Mode of Understanding

This visual essay presents an ongoing creative and critical inquiry. This is a research inquiry that explores making practices surrounding a textile adornment material “gota”, which traces its roots to the pre-colonial Indian sub-continent. This essay consists of compositions investigating the gota material. The compositions in this series explore the practice of embodied making as a form of witnessing. The series engages with an inherited lineage of practices, materials, presences, histories, bodies, temporals, and imposed borders. In this way, the research examines gota’s (also known as gota patti, gota kinara, zari work, or Lappe ka kaam) socio-cultural significance as a visual communication object. This inquiry highlights marginalized ways of knowledge production and transfer in mainstream design education, which is often overlooked in favor of more dominant narratives and practices. While this exploration explores marginalized ways of knowing and making, it also advocates for the right to opacity, the right to remain unknowable (Édouard Glissant).

View Nida Abdullah’s Poster PDF

Gota is an ornamental embroidery technique which originates in pre-colonial India. It traces its lineage through a cross-cultural fascination between the Mughals and the Persians. This shared interest in embellishment created a fertile ground for the development of gota in pre-colonial India, where materials and labor were easily exploitable. Gota developed into an appliqué and embroidery technique using gold and silver tinsel thread (known aszari) onto fabrics such as cotton, chiffon and silk. It has distinct pleating, twisting or folding style markers which make up its visual language. Gota adorned objects are forms of knowledge transfer across many generations, typically handed down from mother to daughter. The use of precious metal and intricate hand work made it accessible historically only to the royalty, wealthy class, where the technique was used on elaborate dresses for occasions, especially weddings. For those of less wealth, these dresses would cost a lifetime’s savings and possibly even debt to its owners. In this way, gota becomes an object that transfers with it a kind of soft power as it is typically handed from woman to woman. This inquiry explores materials and embodied making as ways of knowing and understanding. These textile compositions in this series include multilingual typography, exploring a shared cultural meaning and memory across subcontinental diasporic adornment practice.

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Mills Dray

They/Them
Educator and Design Strategist
HDK- Valand, Gothenburg University

Mills Dray is a designer and educator working with systems change and co-production. They have designed and facilitated programs of change in collaboration with organizations, school networks, charities, and local + central governments. Mills’ material practice works with themes of play, grief, and queerness to explore spaces of change and emergence.

Queer Diagramming

Diagrams, both conceptually and as artifacts, are used as a language in the context of transformation and change (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987), serving as artifacts that conceptualize new futures and as a process for ideation. This visual essay shares diagramming as a pedagogical approach that aims to queer strategic and systemic design practices. The essay introduces the approach as a conceptual framework and outlines four qualities of the approach with supporting imagery and diagrams. As a designer who identifies as genderqueer, I explore the potential of this approach as an embodied and relational practice within design pedagogy and reflect on how bodies in transition can support processes of transition in organizations. In their dual function of process and outcome, diagrams offer a middle space for articulating complexity whilst holding onto the embodied mess of practice. Drawing, as a process, offers an alternative to reductive sense-making and instead embraces complexity, ambiguity, and non-linearity, rejecting the finality of fixed strategic or design methods. Queer diagramming creates the space for embodying transition and deepening capacity for “a continuous state of becoming, where reality remains fluid and open to further ways of relating” (Pollock, 2017). Through raising questions aimed as design practitioners in a teaching space, I explore the entangled relationship between bodies in transition and transformative change in strategic and systemic design using the context of drawing and diagramming as an exploratory approach. Therefore, through the poster format, I will communicate the possibility of a queer diagrammatic practice. One that aims to create a collective experimental space where students and teachers can move towards collaborative and transformational practices of design, and hope to open ourselves up to new ways of relating and becoming.

View Mills Dray’s Poster PDF

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Alexandria Fogarty

She/Her
Graphic & Interactive Design Professor
Minnesota State University Moorhead

Alex Fogarty has over 20 years’ experience in web & print design and children’s television. She designed for Nick Jr. programming throughout the 1990’s and 00’s and has been an associate professor of Graphic & Interactive Design at Minnesota State University Moorhead since 2013.

Embracing Immersive Tech from the Margins

Immersive media has been on the margins of mass adoption for nearly a decade.  Just as graphic design educators have incorporated user experience and interaction design considerations since the dawn of the web and the “handheld” revolution, knowledge of designing for immersive experiences may fall into our purview.  Yet immersive media can be a big challenge for traditional 2D designers – it often involves 3D software and computer programming.  As design educators, how can we prepare for this potential adoption when opting in can feel daunting with its steep learning curve in some areas, and may require a whole new skill set in others? A potential avenue of study and practice can start with understanding immersive concepts and exploring their intersection with traditional UI/UX principles. Knowledge of terms such as agency, presence, and immersion can complement and extend traditional graphic design and interactive media practice and project-based learning. Too often we define or imagine immersive technology as only virtual reality (VR), where a head-mounted device (HMD) is worn – however augmented reality (AR), extended reality (XR), and mixed reality (MR) can all be explored by leveraging web-based technologies. To explore immersive tech in web-based applications can help put it within reach of many and can challenge students to develop projects that engage with immersive concepts, but also gives them practice in user experience principles. 

Includes:

• Augmented Reality
• 2D Games
• 360° Tours
• Recommended Software
• Factors that influence user experience
• UX Best practices and opportunities

View Alexandria Fogarty’s Poster PDF

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Jennifer Kowalski

She/Her
Assistant Professor
Lehigh University

Jenny Kowalski is an Assistant Professor at Lehigh University teaching courses on graphic design and user experience design. Her work explores interactions between text and image, between designer and audience, and between physical and digital space. Her research interests include design for accessibility, creative coding, and tactile craft.

Physical Pixels: Using Cross Stitch to Explore More a Mindful Design Process

It has never been faster to make images. Anyone with an internet connection can now conjure visuals with a few quick clicks on a keyboard. Life in our digital world can feel like a never-ending barrage of images. This constant stream may or may not have a basis in reality, but it overwhelms the visual senses. No one can keep up with the speed of today’s visual culture. Any attempt to do so ends in doomscrolling. 

What then, might it mean to slow things down on purpose? Cross stitch—embroidery made from small “x” shapes—is a slow craft that forces you to examine each individual pixel in a design, one by one. It builds a process of deep looking. The physical repetition of stitching acts as a form of meditation. The resulting work is small, personal, and off-screen. 

This visual essay examines how cross stitch as a form of intentionally slow design can interact with and comment on technology; how it emphasizes detail in typography, color, and form; and how it allows for a practice of mindfulness.

View Jennifer Kowalski’s Poster PDF

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Jena Marble

She/Her
Clinical Assistant Professor of Graphic Design
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Jena Marble is a graphic designer, art director, and educator with extensive experience in both private and public sectors. In the classroom, she blends hands-on instruction with real-world expertise to create practical learning environments. Her research focuses on artificial intelligence and graphic design, exploring how AI can reshape creative processes.

Reimagining Tenure: Bringing Clinical Professors in from the Margins

You shouldn’t need an MFA to receive tenure in design education. This visual essay explores a seemingly simple yet profound issue. As a professor of practice — a university instructor without a graduate degree but with extensive industry experience — I argue that requiring a terminal degree for tenure perpetuates elitism, marginalizing individuals with valuable professional insights.

While the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is widely regarded as the terminal degree in design education, it has become a gatekeeper in academia, often seen as a prerequisite for tenure-track positions. This is happening in fields where practical industry experience is crucial. Standards from organizations like AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) and CAA (College Art Association) advocate for flexibility in promotion and tenure policies, recognizing the contributions of design educators with significant professional practice. 

Yet, most tenure-track faculty positions still mandate an MFA.

This degree requirement raises important questions: Are accomplished professionals dissuaded from entering academia because they might lack the perceived “necessary” credentials? In fields where practical application complements theoretical knowledge, shouldn’t diversity of experience be equally valued?

Recent trends in higher education underscore the importance of this issue. With declining undergraduate enrollment and growing concerns about career prospects in creative industries — particularly given the rise of AI and automation — hiring educators with broad industry experience becomes increasingly important. These professionals can offer insights into current trends and future directions, helping students navigate the evolving landscape.

We should treat extensive professional experience as a credential in lieu of a terminal degree. Recognizing professors of practice would bring valuable — and necessary — changes to hiring and tenure processes. By expanding the definition of expertise, institutions can remain competitive and support well-rounded student development. This, in turn, strengthens faculty, ultimately contributing to a more engaging and effective educational environment.

This visual essay explores these ideas through a mix of visual and textual narratives, highlighting the context of current tenure standards and the potential benefits of more inclusive policies. By sparking dialogue about academic and professional pathways in design education, we can address complex challenges faced by design programs and contribute to a larger conversation about adapting to changing professional landscapes.

View Jena Marble’s Poster PDF

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Kathy Mueller

She/Her
Associate Professor
Temple University

Kathy Mueller is a co-founder of the United States for Abortion. Mueller is an associate professor and department chair at Temple University’s Klein College of Media & Communication in Philadelphia. Her design work has been recognized by the Art Directors Club, Type Directors Club, HOW International, PRINT, and others.

Ali Place

She/They
Associate Professor of Graphic Design
University of Arkansas

Alison Place is a designer, educator and writer whose work explores the intersection of design and feminist theory. She is the author of Feminist Designer: On the Personal and the Political in Design (MIT Press 2023). She is an associate professor of graphic design at the University of Arkansas School of Art.

United States for Abortion: Generating a New Visual Rhetoric for Reproductive Justice

For decades, the majority of Americans have supported the right to safe and legal abortion, yet it has been continually under attack in the United States. The Dobbs decision ended constitutional protection in June 2022, leaving abortion access to be determined by the states. Public support for legal abortion remains largely unchanged, with 63% saying it should be legal in all or most cases, yet more than half the states in the country now partially or completely ban access to abortion. This research poster addresses the ways in which design plays a role in the stigmatization, disinformation and visual rhetoric of the current abortion discourse, and proposes a new visual rhetoric through a community-centered project called United States for Abortion.

Abortion continues to be stigmatized despite being a common experience, with nearly one in four women in the U.S. having an abortion by age 45. People who receive abortions often hide their experiences, which obscures the frequency and perpetuates the stigma. A major contributing factor to this stigma is the visual rhetoric of anti-abortion factions, which have dominated public discourse for decades. Disinformation about the science of human life, coupled with graphic images of developing fetuses, are intended to incite shame and fear, and to obscure people’s lived experiences.

The visual rhetoric of the pro-choice movement has also been reductive. This research poster calls out the exclusionary, insufficient, and counterproductive rhetoric in the pro-choice movement that has hindered the public’s understanding of abortion. For example, outdated images of hangers spread the misconception that illegal abortions are unsafe, creating fear among those who may want to manage their own abortion. The visual rhetoric of the abortion rights movement must shift and expand to acknowledge the contemporary mechanisms of abortion, address the wide range of reasons people get abortions, and speak inclusively about who gets abortions.

The United States for Abortion project was created in 2022 to generate a community-sourced visual rhetoric for abortion rights that features diverse and nuanced perspectives. Through a call for submissions that is currently open, designers in all 50 states, Washington D.C., Indigenous tribal nations, and the territory of Puerto Rico are invited to create artwork in support of access to legal abortion. This poster showcases current artwork and also invites new contributors—design practitioners, educators, and students. We are building a pluralistic collective of voices that speak to the nuance and complexity of abortion today, addressing critical issues situated at the margins of the broader debate—such as trans rights, abortion as healthcare, and reproductive justice as social, racial, and environmental justice. By enlisting contributors based on state, we respond to abortion as a state issue and emphasize regional political contexts. Through this project, we hope to build solidarity across identities and borders in the collective fight for abortion justice.

View Kathy Mueller’s and Alison Place’s Poster PDF

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Cindy Raspiller

She/Her
Graduate Student
San José State University

Cindy Raspiller has been designing in the Bay Area for over a decade, and is currently pursuing an MDes in Experience Design. She is passionate about empowering visual communications students with tools and methods to design responsibly, so they can meaningfully contribute towards a more sustainable and equitable future.

Concept Map: Moving Beyond Human-Centered in Postsecondary Design Education

Human-centered design is an approach to problem solving that starts with building a deep empathy for the people you’re designing for; this method focuses on delivering solutions that make people’s lives better. But what if a human- centered mindset doesn’t make our lives better? What if, by placing human needs at the center of everything we design, we’re reinforcing the idea of humanity as beneficiaries of Earth’s ecology, rather than a part of an interrelated ecosystem? To de-center the human in the design process is to acknowledge that the welfare of humanity depends on the welfare of all life on Earth. Students of visual communications design feel this disconnect between the methods they are taught and the complexity of problems facing the planet. Traditional design practices exacerbate global issues like climate change. Introducing undergraduate design students to projects and methods beyond human-centered allows them to explore ecologically sustainable practices and encourages change and action in the industry from the point of entry.

My graduate thesis research explores what designing sustainably and responsibly can mean for design educators, students, and professionals. This will inform the development of projects and activities that empower educators to help students be responsible participants in a better future. This poster is a concept map that gives visual structure to the ideas and research behind my thesis proposal. An analysis of modern design priorities and trends, a critical analysis of current Visual Communications BA/BFA Learning Outcomes in the United States, and the synthesis of data from interviews with students, professors, and professional designers has led me to develop The Principles of Sustainable Design, an homage to Dieter Rams’ 10 Principles of Good Design, which attempts to define what it means to design sustainably right now. In addition, I’ve studied the different ways professors currently address sustainability in their classrooms and organized the approaches into 5 Levels of Sustainability Pedagogy in Postsecondary Design Education. The entirety of this research will be displayed in a way that acts as a guide to both the current state and the future of sustainability in postsecondary design education.

In addition to displaying my research, the concept map will disclose my reflections on

this work so far, and explore the next steps as I continue into my final year of study. I hope to make new connections and start conversations around this topic with other students and design educators. In immersing ourselves in more than human-centered design perspectives, our work can encourage action toward a thriving world beyond the human experience.

View Cindy Raspiller’s Poster PDF

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Flory Sanabria

She/Her
Graduate Student
University of Florida

She holds an MFA in Design and Visual Communications from the University of Florida. Passionate about design education, design for belonging, community engagement, and fostering inclusive design practices, . Experienced instructor, teaching courses like Typography, Visual Methods, and Design & Identity. She is committed to empowering students and creating meaningful community-focused projects.

Meaningful Connections: Awareness, Belonging and Community in Latinas with ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has historically been understood through research focused predominantly on male symptoms, often overlooking how the condition manifests in women (Shaw et al., 2012). This gap in knowledge is especially pronounced for Latinas, who face additional cultural barriers such as stigma around mental health and a lack of culturally-informed diagnostic tools (Mojtabai et al., 2010). This case study, drawn from my MFA thesis, addresses the intersection of ADHD and Latinx women’s identity, with a particular focus on Spanish-speaking Latinas, either born and raised in Latin America or residing in the U.S. Spanish-speaking Latinas, unlike their English-speaking counterparts, typically have fewer resources and opportunities to manage ADHD due to ongoing cultural taboos surrounding mental health, especially in Latin America.

This project centers on the creation of “sharing and making” spaces designed to foster belonging and reduce the sense of othering among Latinas diagnosed with ADHD. Through participatory art and design exercises, such as zine-making and body-mapping, participants engaged in culturally relevant interactions that revolved around shared elements of identity, including food, language, and experiences of social marginalization. By crafting artifacts that engaged with ADHD in ways that resonated with Latinx identity, the project provided an opportunity for participants to navigate their condition and connect organically through shared lived experiences.

The research draws heavily on my own lived experiences and adopts a methodology grounded in Indigenous Research (Smith), Horizontalidad (Corona Berkin), and Testimonios (Perez Hubert). These frameworks guided the structure of the workshops, fostering meaningful conversations and offering participants a platform to share and document their experiences of neurodiversity through culturally informed methods.

Importantly, this research highlights the necessity of incorporating neurodiversity into design education. As educators, we are responsible for equipping the next generation of designers with the skills and perspectives needed to create inclusive and accessible designs for all users. The growing number of individuals identified as neurodivergent underscores the importance of this shift. By embedding neurodiversity into design thinking methodologies, we can address the needs of historically marginalized populations, such as Latinas with ADHD, and foster a more equitable design process.

Moreover, the stigma surrounding neurodivergent conditions, particularly in academic environments, has hindered greater understanding and acceptance. By integrating neurodiversity into design curricula, we not only challenge these stigmas but also ensure that future designers are equipped to create products and services that accommodate diverse cognitive styles and abilities. The aim of this project is to demonstrate how culturally relevant, experience-based design interactions can empower marginalized communities while simultaneously enriching the broader field of design education.

In conclusion, design is inherently about improving lives and solving problems. This project demonstrates how design can be used to cater to underrepresented communities, such as Latinas with ADHD, creating a sense of belonging and preventing the harm caused by social exclusion. By bringing neurodiversity into the forefront of design education, we can cultivate a more inclusive, accessible future for all.

View Flory Sanabria’s Poster PDF

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Anmol Shrivastava

She/They
Assistant Professor
Illinois State University

Anmol Shrivastava (she/they) is a non-binary designer and educator from India. Her focus is on cultural and social awareness, with the aim of broadening the scope of design beyond traditional Western norms. Collaboration, particularly within her own cultural community, along with research and inclusion, are at the heart of her plural design practice.

Learning Kaithi: Design’s Role in Cultural Preservation

Kaithi (KAE-THEE), also known as Kayathi or Kayasthi, was once a widely used script in northern India, now classified as “major extinct.” It flourished alongside prominent scripts like Devanagari but has since faded from common use. Derived from ‘Kayastha’, a cultural group traditionally known as scribes, Kaithi holds deep personal significance for members of this community.

With limited formal resources available, self-teaching became a vital method for reclaiming ancestral knowledge and resisting colonial erasure of indigenous scripts. Geographical distance from northern India necessitated creative problem-solving, relying on archival research, design projects, and global collaboration. This snippet of my process serves as a case study on taking small, yet significant steps toward decolonizing and decentralizing traditional education systems.

This visual essay documents the self-guided process of reviving an extinct script, piecing together long-lost archives, creating educational resources, and reestablishing cultural connections. It highlights the challenges and rewards of navigating the messy, yet meaningful journey of unearthing and rebuilding from fragmented histories, leading toward the revival of Kaithi.

View Anmol Shrivastava’s Poster PDF

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Emily B. Yang

She/Her
Part-Time Faculty
Parsons School of Design

Emily B. Yang is a Brooklyn-based artist, designer, and educator. Her work focuses on the intersection of craft, design research, and speculative design. She teaches at Parsons School of Design and holds a Master in Design Engineering from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

Social Printmaking in Chinatown as Equitable Design Research and Education

This visual essay advocates for integrating craft practices into design research and education as a method to expand qualitative research methodologies. The central research questions are: How might community block printing workshops, as a form of design education and qualitative research, decolonize traditional design research methods? Can craft-based design education foster more equitable, participatory, and collaborative approaches; moving away from extractive practices where knowledge is gathered without considering the needs or active involvement of the community?

Methodology

In July 2024, I facilitated a community block printing workshop at the New York Public Library in Chinatown, with tailored sessions for adults and youth. Participants were taught block printing techniques and invited to create prints reflecting their interpretation of “what the library means to them,” a prompt developed in response to the library’s budget cuts and reduced hours. Participants produced multiple copies of their designs, exchanging prints and sharing the stories behind their work. One print from each participant was donated to the library to create a collective artwork, capturing the community’s shared memory and vision of the library space.

Block printing—a traditional craft—was intentionally chosen as the primary method for this qualitative design research. By leveraging block printing, a craft rooted in East and South Asian traditions, the workshop challenged the dominance of Western art forms in design research. It encouraged dialogue around diverse artistic expressions, providing participants with a culturally familiar craft skill to share their stories. Hosting the workshop in a public library—a vital community space—and displaying the outcomes in the same space further emphasized placemaking, strengthening the sense of belonging and ownership within the neighborhood.

This approach also contributes to decolonizing design practices by positioning community members as co-leaders in the design process. Local artists and educators were engaged as facilitators, ensuring the workshop was driven by community knowledge and perspectives. To resist extractive research practices, the workshop focused on skill-building, empowering participants with techniques that enabled them to express and share their personal narratives. This methodology not only amplified the voices of the Chinatown community but also fostered self-determination through the medium of craft.

Conclusion
This proposal contributes to the broader movement toward inclusivity and diversity in design education and research by integrating traditional craft practices like block printing. Acknowledging the cultural significance of these crafts fosters a more inclusive design pedagogy that centers diverse voices and perspectives. Craft practices can play a pivotal role in decolonizing design spaces, promoting new systems of shared knowledge, and leading to richer, more community-oriented research outcomes.

View Emily B. Yang’s Poster PDF

The AIGA DEC Track at the Margins AIGA National Conference was held from October 10 to 12, 2024. Thank you to the DEC community for your support and involvement in this track!

Logistics:
Natalie Tyree, DEC Co-Chair
Katie Krcmarik, DEC Co-Chair
Tasheka Arceneaux Sutton, Conference Co-Chair
Lisa Elzey Mercer, Conference Co-Chair
Giulia Donatello, AIGA National, Design Competitions and Events Manager
Lee-Sean Huang, AIGA National, Director of Design Content & Learning

Peer Review Process Lead/Coordinator:
Katie Krcmarik

DEC Steering Committee Communications:
Tasheka Arceneaux Sutton
Patricia Childers
Lisa Elzey Mercer
Vinicius Lima
Yvette Shen

Download the Abstract Book Here

Thursday, October 11th, 2024

• 1 PM EST: Design Educators Community Session 1
  
  Panel:
  Sticky Icky AI: Preserving Creativity in the AI Tar Pits
  With Jena Marble and Isabel Bo-Linn
  
  
• 2 PM EST: Design Educators Community Session 2
  
  Paper Presentations:
  Empowering Design Students: Engaging, Creating, and Evaluating with Generative AI
  By Leah Spalding
  
  From Homeland to New Land: Animation and VR Storytelling
  By Zahra Zare Reimagining Design
  
  Assessment: AI-Powered Labor-Based Rubrics
  By Shannon Zenner
  
  
• 3 PM EST: Design Educators Community Session 3
  
  Panel:
  Incorporating Accessible Design Practices for Seen and Unseen Disabilities into Design Pedagogy
  With Jenny Kowalski, Ana Farnham, and Julie Sayo
  
  
• 4 PM EST: Design Educators Community Session 4
  
  Paper Presentations:
  Enhancing Civic Engagement: Community-led Game Design in Marginalized Sectors
  By Magdalena Manríquez and Christian Sebastián
  
  Supergraphic Landscapes: Spatializing Justice through Design Education
  By Nekita Thomas
  
  Designing Wakanda & Black Liberatory Futures
  By Terresa Moses PhD

Friday, October 11th, 2024

• 12 PM EST: Design Educators Community Session 5
  
  Paper Presentations:
  Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) Orientation Stages and Inequities in Design Education
  By Danilo Bojic
  
  If You Want To Decolonize, First Appreciate the Colonized
  By David Stairs
  
  Meaningful Connections: Awareness, Belonging and Community in Latinas with ADHD
  By Flory Sanabria
  
  
• 1 PM EST: Design Educators Community Session 6
  
  Panel:
  Navigating Emerging Practices in Interaction and Experience Design Education
  With MiHyun Kim, David Oh, Nishra Ranpura, Cathryn Ploehn
  
  

• 2 PM EST: Design Educators Community Session 7
  
  Paper Presentations:
  Science Fiction, Utopia, and Speculative Designa
  By Emily B. Yang
  
  F(r)ictions: Uchronia as Design Teaching Method
  By Adán Farías Forero
  
  Import / Export: American Design History in Guangzhou
  By Brockett Horne and Hailin Zhang
  
  
• 3 PM EST: Design Educators Community Session 8
  
  Panel:
  Racism Untaught in Practice
  With Terresa Moses PhD, Andrew Shea, Angelica Sibrian, and Lisa Elzey Mercer
  
  
• 4 PM EST: Design Educators Community Session 9
  
  Paper Presentations:
  Typography in the Public Sphere: Design as Public Address
  By Christopher Cote
  
  Tasmim Index: Publishing as Resistance
  By Nida Abdullah and Dina Benbrahim
  
  Shifting Graphic Design from the Margins of Industry to Deepen Learning Across the Lifespan
  By Kristina Lamour Sansone

Saturday, October 12th, 2024

• 11 AM EST: Design Educators Community Session 10
  
  Paper Presentations:
  Mental Health Matters: Supporting Student Mental Health by Co-designing mHealth Applications
  By Ting Zhou
  
  Need, Want, Love: Humans + Climate Change A Climate Change Communications Publication Case Study
  By Courtney Mayer
  
  Design Directions: Uniting Women in Design
  By Andrea Hempstead
  
  
• 12 PM EST: Design Educators Community Session 11
  
  Graduate Student Paper Presentations:
  Moving Beyond Human-Centered in Postsecondary Design Education: Towards a New Sustainability Pedagogy
  By Cindy Raspiller
  
  Conversation, Recognition, Reclamation, Care: An Autoethnographic Study of Recovery Through Making
  By Jessica Gobble
  
  Beyond Borders
  By Payoshni Immadi
  
  Black Brilliance, Beyond the Margins
  By Marlin McKnight
  
  Embodied Design Pedagogy: Learning Spaces as Worldbuilding
  By Cherilyn Tan
  
  Living at the Marginal Positions: Autoethnography of Global South Designers in the U.S. Design Education
  By Hien Phan

Posters and Visual Essays Digital Exhibition

View the work selected for the AIGA DEC Track Digital Exhibition!

• Gota as Mode of Understanding By Nida Abdullah
• Queer Diagramming By Mills Dray
• Embracing Immersive Tech from the Margins By Alexandria Fogarty
• Physical Pixels: Using Cross Stitch to Explore More a Mindful Design Process By Jennifer Kowalski
• Reimagining Tenure: Bringing Clinical Professors in from the Margins By Jena Marble
• United States for Abortion: Generating a New Visual Rhetoric for Reproductive Justice By Kathy Mueller and Alison Place
• Concept Map: Moving Beyond Human-Centered in Postsecondary Design Education By Cindy Raspiller
• Meaningful Connections: Awareness, Belonging and Community in Latinas with ADHD By Flory Sanabria
• Learning Kaithi: Design’s Role in Cultural Preservation By Anmol Shrivastava
• Social Printmaking in Chinatown as Equitable Design Research and Education By Emily B. Yang

This past year was an exciting and productive one for the AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC).

2023 was another banner year for the Design Educators Community. From programming, events, and initiatives, to formal and informal conversations, we all gathered together (online and in person) with the goal of improving our space and community. As we begin our journey into 2024, we’d like to reflect on the DEC’s highlights of 2023. 

Our steering committee continued to serve a wide-range of interest areas with members spread throughout the U.S. In May, Natalie Tyree (Western Kentucky University) was promoted to Co-Chair and we welcomed three new members: Zack Tucker (Miami University), Lisa Maione (Kansas City Art Institute), and Tasheka Arceneaux-Sutton (The University of Texas-Austin). WIth every iteration of the DEC, this group continues to extend its reach with the aim of diversifying areas of focus through the pursuit of new initiatives, while continuing to strengthen ongoing programming and efforts.

In 2023 we hosted six Virtual Events ranging from listening sessions about AI, and conversations about sustainable design, diversifying design, using social media as an educational tool, as well as non-traditional grading practices. In October, the DEC hosted Lens, a 1-day symposium at Parsons School for Design alongside the AIGA National Conference in New York City. Lens invited contributors to analyze and understand how we see, interpret, and create visual communication from interdisciplinary viewpoints. This event boasted 100+ attendees and was jam-packed with programming from paper presentations to panels and workshops. Conversations on design education were also infused into the national conference programming during topical break-out sessions.

Yvette Shen continued the work began by Kyuha Shim on the Design Educators Survey. This culminated in the curating and synthesizing of some of the data into an informative resource for our community. Yvette and her team plan to continue to analyze the results and we hope to publish a report for the wider community soon. To gain better insight on program offerings and to connect fellow design educators, Lisa Mercer developed our Design Program Survey, a living database of design education programs that continues to populate.

The year also saw the publication of Volume 5, Issue 1 (Fall 2023) of the design education academic journal Dialectic, showcasing work from thirteen authors on topics as varied at Cyberfeminism, a call for designers to refrain from “Recolonizing Artisan Communities in Emerging Economies”, a discussion of values and equity in design education, a look at Ivan Illich’s “Definition of Conviviality”, and a history of “Activist-Designers in the Chicano Movement” in the United States. This issue, and past issues, can be found at the Dialectic website. Editorial work supporting two more issues of Dialogue, the proceedings and other publications of the AIGA Design Educators Community, also took place in 2023, and we will be announcing the publication of these issues early this year. One issue will present work submitted about and from the 2021 SHIFT{ed} Summer Summit, and features short papers, long papers, and a slate of visual essays from eighteen authors. The other issue highlights the work culminating from the 2022 Design + Writing Fellowship which focused on interrogating the visual essay as a form for communication and research; this publication features exciting visual essays from sixteen authors. All the work published by Dialectic and Dialogue has been rigorously peer-reviewed and edited, and showcases the breadth and depth of the important work being done by the design education community. 

We wrapped up 2023 with our 2nd annual “10 Days of DECember”, a fun social media event. Members contributed fun “gifts” to our community including festive recipes, design resources, and activities. If you didn’t catch it in December, you should take a look now! 

This year, our wish is that design educators continue to collaborate and join with the wider design education community, both in the U.S. and around the world, to continue the work of examining what design is and ought to be, how we might continue to inspire young people to use design thoughtfully and ethically, and ways we can continue to work together to keep our community a vibrant and supportive place.

Liese Zahabi and Natalie Tyree, DEC Steering Committee Co-Chairs, 2023-2024

Interview by Jason Alejandro

Design Educator Profiles
We are excited to share profile interviews highlighting members of the DEC Community, focusing on featuring the many roles we hold as educators in various institutional settings and job titles. In this month’s edition, we share a profile of design educator Mary Yang.

What led you to teaching? How has your own education played a role in your becoming a design educator?

Beyond being a designer, I’ve always known that I valued building community and fostering relationships. I knew early on during my undergraduate studies that I was interested in design education, but it wasn’t until later on when I found a clearer purpose. I’ve been fortunate to work with some amazing design educators who’ve generously guided me in finding my own voice. I try to provide that same mentorship to my students to help them to find their own voice and path in design.

How would you describe your practice?

I started my design practice, Open Rehearsal, in 2017 right after I graduated from graduate school. An open rehearsal space is where a musician or performer practices a piece of music or work. I view my design practice as a space for continuous learning and practicing of ideas. My studio primarily works with academic and cultural institutions on exhibition design, identity design, editorial, and book design. It just so happened that the types of clients who commissioned me earlier on when I started my studio were primarily academic and cultural clients. Coincidentally, I have found that my personal interests in contemporary art, exhibitions, education, history, and identity design, have aligned well with these types of clients and collaborators. While working on the design, I get the chance to equally learn from the content. One of my favorite projects that my studio was recently commissioned to work on was for a graphic identity for an exhibition at Harvard University’s Houghton Library about Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American movie star in Hollywood.

Another aspect of my practice involves curatorial work, research, writing, organizing, and community building. I am the co-founder of Radical Characters, a study group and curatorial project that explores graphic design and typography through 汉字 Hanzi (Chinese characters). Our projects take on various forms from exhibitions to publications and lectures to workshops. My work through Radical Characters provides a space for me to explore my cultural identity through design alongside others alike.

Your design experience has included a variety of roles from designing books and curating exhibitions to working with well known consumer brands. How has this impacted the way you engage students in the classroom/studio?

While in school, I had always thought a designer had to choose between cultural or commercial work. What I’ve grown to understand through my own experience is the importance of developing a methodology. A methodology can be a lens for seeing, an approach to making or even an attitude for making. I encourage my students to develop a methodology and a way of making that allows them to translate that into whatever type of work they decide to pursue. This essentially empowers them to have a strong point of view and clear design voice for exploring various types of work regardless of the medium or field.

What are your goals as a design educator?

One of my main goals as a design educator is to help students to find their own voice as a graphic designer. That can come in many forms such as through making with a particular visual style, finding an approach or pursuing a topic or field that’s of particular interest. Although it would be amazing if my students all became designers, I also acknowledge that not every one of my students graduates and becomes a graphic designer. And that’s okay. What’s more important to me is that they find their own use for a graphic design education whether that’s taking away a particular skill set or using design to work in a specific field. Graphic design can offer a lens for seeing and being in the world.

What topic(s) do you think educators should be addressing that are not currently being discussed in our field?

One topic that is not necessarily being discussed, but more so somewhat new and current in our field is generative Artificial Intelligence. I recently started experimenting with AI with my graphic design students at Boston University and since then have been developing an approach to AI and design pedagogy. Not all design educators are experts in AI or use AI in their own research or practice. I’m curious about how as design educators we can introduce AI into design curriculum and what critical issues students should be aware of in order to thrive in an increasingly AI-driven world as they transition into the workplace. How do we give students the necessary tools that they need to engage with AI? What critical thinking skills should students develop? How do we empower our students to use AI to their advantage and not let technology take over?

How do you continue to grow as a design educator?

Like many design educators, professional development such as attending conferences, lectures, workshops, and in general learning from others helps me to grow. I also value and enjoy growing alongside my students through testing out new projects and experimenting with new ideas and tools. My students equally challenge me to get out of my comfort zone and to see new possibilities in graphic design. 

Attending and participating in art book fairs is a particularly important source of inspiration for me. The art book fair community opens up a space for artists, designers, educators, students, and other diverse participants to come into conversation and share new ideas with one another.

What are you working on at the moment, and why is it important?

I’m currently working with my colleague and co-founder of Radical Characters, Zhongkai Li, on our next project which will bring together practitioners and educators to study a Chinese type archive. The archive contains typography designed by Xu Xuecheng, one of the first type designers in China. Similarly to Radical Character’s first exhibition, Radical Return, we plan to launch an exhibition and publication for this new work by this group of designers. The work I do with Radical Characters is important because it connects contemporary designers who approach graphic design from plural perspectives to build collective knowledge within and beyond the Chinese and Chinese American community.

Mary Y. Yang is a designer and educator based in Boston, MA. She is the founder of Open Rehearsal, a design practice that works with clients and collaborators in the arts, music, and academia. She is the co-founder of Radical Characters, a study group and curatorial project that explores graphic design and typography through Hanzi (Chinese characters). Projects include exhibitions, publications, lectures, and workshops that research and build upon cultural histories, design pedagogy, and collective knowledge. Yang is an Assistant Professor at Boston University where she teaches in the Graphic Design undergraduate and graduate programs. Previously, she has taught and lectured at the Rhode Island School of Design and University of Washington and has worked on the graphic and brand design team at Victoria’s Secret PINK in NYC, the University of Washington Press in Seattle, WA, and Studio Blue in Chicago, IL. Yang holds an MFA in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA in Communication Design from Washington University in St. Louis, Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.

This interview was led by AIGA DEC Steering Committee member Jason Alejandro, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at The College of New Jersey.