Call for Entries: 2019 Communication Design Educators Awards

An international juried competition of communication design research, practice, teaching, and service.

We are excited to announce the beginning of the 2019 Communication Design Educators Awards season.

The aim of the awards program is to discover and draw attention to new creative work, published research, teaching, and service in our broad and varied discipline. We hope to expand the design record, promote excellence and share knowledge within the field.

Promoting Excellence

Help us support fellow design educators and advance the discipline by sharing this announcement. Encourage your colleagues to help us find the most talented faculty in our field and to recognize their efforts through a peer-review process.

New this year—Nomination

This year we are launching a new initiative—a nomination process. We ask mentors and colleagues to identify outstanding creative work, published research, teaching, and service being done by educators in our field and to nominate these individuals for an award.

How the nomination process work

Beginning from April 15 through July 31, 2019, you are invited to nominate a colleague’s creative work, published research, teaching, and service. Our short online nomination form will automatically notify your colleague that their project has been recommended for an award.

We will also contact the nominee to ensure they have received your recommendation and encourage them to submit their materials. All nominees are offered early submission to the awards allowing them to begin their entries immediately.

Self-nomination

We will continue to accept self-nominated entries to the awards. These applicants should submit their materials between June 1 and August 31, 2019. (No form completion needed for self-nomination. Simply enter.)

Important dates

  • April 15–July 31: Nomination Process Opens
  • April 15–August 31: Nominated educators may submit application materials
  • June 1–August 31: Self-nominated educators may submit application materials
  • September 2–30: Jury reviews applications
  • October 10: Award recipients notified
  • October 15: Award recipients announced

The Design Incubation Residency at Haddon Avenue Writing Institute 2019

Rolling acceptances until Sept 30, 2019. Only 14 seats are available for this event.

October 25-27, 2019

Design Incubation is proud to be able to partner with the Haddon Avenue Writing Institute to offer a design-writing residency. This 3-day residency allows researchers and scholars time to work on existing writing projects or to start a new writing project. The residency is open to design faculty and to those working in related fields. It offers participants concentrated time to work on writing projects and the opportunity to take advantage of one-on-one consultations with event facilitator Maggie Taft. Using the online registration system (see below), applicants should submit a CV and a 200-500-word synopsis of the project they intend to work on. The cost is $180 for 3 days. A total of 14 seats are available for this event.

Applications will be considered immediately upon submission and they can be submitted through September 30th, 2019. Official letters of acceptance will be provided to allow attendees to request funding from their institutions.

October 25-27, 2019
Haddon Avenue Writing Institute
2009 W. Haddon Ave, Chicago Illinois

Please note: Housing is not included as part of this residency. Participants are encouraged to stay in Ukrainian Village or a nearby neighborhood though if you choose to stay at a hotel you may have to stay in downtown Chicago as options in the immediate area are limited to Airbnb’s.

The Haddon Avenue Design Writing Residency Schedule:

Friday, October 25th: 10-5

10-11:00: Individual Writing Session

11:00-12:00: Welcome; Goal setting

12:00-1:00: Individual writing session

1:00-2:00: Lunch (bring your own or in the neighborhood)

2:00-5:00: Individual writing session

Saturday, October 26th: 9-5

9-9:30: Goal setting

9:30-12:30: Individual writing session and optional one-on-one strategy sessions by appointment

12:30-1:30: Lunch (bring your own or in the neighborhood)

1:30-2:00: Techniques for overcoming writer’s block, the blinking cursor, and other writing obstacles

2:00-5:00: Individual writing session and optional one-on-one strategy sessions by appointment

Sunday, October 27th: 9-1pm

9-12:00: Individual writing session and optional one-on-one strategy sessions by appointment

12:00-12:30: Group wrap up

12:30-4:00: Open writing (Optional)

Colloquium 6.2: CAA Conference 2020 Call for Submissions

Deadline for abstract submissions: July 23, 2019.

SESSION CHAIR:

Heather Quinn
Assistant Professor
DePaul University

Hosted by CAA Affiliated Society, Design Incubation.

We invite designers—practitioners and educators—to submit abstracts of design research. Presentations are limited to 6 minutes, preferably Pecha Kucha style. A moderated discussion of the research will follow.

Chicago, February 12–15, 2020
Hilton Chicago
Michigan Avenue

Date, time, and location to be determined.

We are accepting abstracts for presentations now until July 23, 2019.

For details visit the Colloquium Overview description, and online Colloquium Abstract Submission form.

Questions can be directed to info@designincubation.com.

Design Incubation Colloquium 6.1: Quinnipiac University

Design Incubation Colloquium 6.1 (#DI2019oct) will be held at the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University on Saturday, October 5, 2019.

Design Incubation Colloquium 6.1 (#DI2019oct) will be held at the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University on Saturday, October 5, 2019.

Hosted by Courtney Marchese and the School of Communications. This event is open to all interested in Communication Design research.

Sat, October 5, 2019
10:00 AM – 5:30 PM

Quinnipiac University
School of Communications
Room CCE207
275 Mount Carmel Avenue

Hamden, CT 06518

Featured Presentation

The Hamden Hunger Project
Courtney Marchese
Associate Professor of Interactive Media + Design
School of Communications
Quinnipiac University

Amy Walker
Assistant Professor
Journalism
Quinnipiac University

Michaela Mendygral
Design, Journalism Student
Quinnipiac University

presentations

Guns ARE Alive: How Design/Technology Literacy is Missing From the Gun Debate in America
Glenn LaVertu
Professor
Parsons, The New School

Teaching Procedural Rhetoric: Some Lessons
Ian Bellomy
Interaction Designer

Place Matters: Design for Regenerating Under-Utilized Spaces
Yi-Fan Chen
Assistant Professor of Interaction Design
Farmingdale State College

Jerald Belich
Assistant Professor
Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies
Miami University

Yashodhan Mandke
User Experience Consultant
Fusion Alliance

In Restless Aesthetic Pursuit: Recontextualizing Typography
Maria Smith Bohannon
Assistant Professor
Oakland University

Developing Design Curriculum Assessment Goals and Student Learning Outcomes; A Case Study: Typography
Andrea Hempstead
Assistant Professor
Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi

Using Things to Scaffold Difficult Conversations for Collegiate Residence Life Orientation Participants
Michael Arnold Mages
Assistant Professor
Northeastern University

Reading Color: Type in and on Color
Jeanne Criscola
Assistant Professor
Central Connecticut State University

Obstruction by Graphical Construction: How Graphical Sculptures Can Counteract Symbols of Hate
Brian McSherry
Adjunct Professor
Borough of Manhattan Community College

Explorations of Data Lists: How Type, Hierarchy, and Color Reveal the Stories About the Titanic
Peggy Bloomer
Adjunct Professor
Quinnipiac University
Southern Connecticut State University

Understanding Potential Benefits and Consequences of Art Therapy in Arts Education
David Graves
Adjunct Professor
Bristol Community College

American Woman: Societal Perceptions of Femininity as Impacted by Gendered Branding, and the Social Responsibility of Designers
Mikaela Buck
Graduate Student
Texas State University

Parking

Parking is available in either the Admissions Visitor Lot or the School of Communications lot. Security will be notified and can help to direct attendees. Both of these lots are on Mount Carmel Ave. across from Sleeping Giant State Park.

Lodging

Courtyard Marriott in Shelton: https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bdrcy-courtyard-shelton/

Hilton Garden Inn in Shelton: https://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/connecticut/hilton-garden-inn-shelton-HVNSHGI/index.html?SEO_id=GMB-HI-HVNSHGI

Local Services

A Starbucks and Au Bon Pain is on campus, and there are several additional options within a mile or so of campus on Whitney Ave.

Abstract submission of presentations deadline: Saturday, July 6, 2019.  For details visit the Colloquia Overview and  Online Submission Form. 

The Design Incubation Communication Design Awards 2019

2019 Design Incubation Educators Awards competition in 4 categories: Creative Work, Published Research, Teaching, Service

Congratulations to the 2019 awardees: 

SCHOLARSHIP—CREATIVE WORK AWARD

WINNER: Chicago Design Milestones

Sharon Oiga, Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago;
Guy Villa Jr, Assistant Professor, Columbia College Chicago and
Daria Tsoupikova, Associate Professor University of Illinois at Chicago (with Jack Weiss, Chicago Design Archive;
Cheri Gearhart, Chicago Design Archive;
Wayne Stuetzer, Chicago Design Archive;
Krystofer Kim, Lead Animator, NASA; and
Ali Khan, Animator, University of Illinois at Chicago)

WINNER: Five Oceans in a Teaspoon

Warren Lehrer, Professor, SUNY, Purchase (with Dennis J Bernstein—poems)

RUNNER UP: Age of Humility

Rebekah Modrak, Professor, University of Michigan;
Jamie Lausch Vander Broek, Librarian, University of Michigan; and
Sam Oliver, Designer, Shaper Realities

SCHOLARSHIP—PUBLISHED RESEARCH AWARD

WINNER: Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Design

Rachel Beth Egenhoefer, Associate Professor, University of San Francisco, Editor

WINNER: Visible Language Special Issue on the History of Visual Communication Design

Dori Griffin, Assistant Professor, University of Florida, Editor

RUNNER UP: The Theory and Practice of Motion Design

R. Brian Stone, Associate Professor, The Ohio State University  and
Leah Wahlin, Senior Lecturer, The Ohio State University, Editors

TEACHING AWARD

WINNER: Perspectives Vancouver

Jonathan Hannan, Assistant Professor, Emily Carr University of Art + Design

Winner: Fusing Old and New: Visual Communication for the Liberal Arts

Evelyn Davis-Walker, Assistant Professor, Valdosta State University


RUNNER UP: Woodhill Homes―Design for Experience

Omari Souza, Assistant Professor, Texas State University

SERVICE AWARD

WINNER: Cocktails Against Cancer

Katherine Mueller, Assistant Professor, Temple University

RUNNER UP: Decipher 2018

Kelly Murdoch-Kitt, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan and
Omar Sosa-Tzec, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan

JURY COMMENDATION for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Puerto Rico 2054: Design Pedagogy in a Time of Crisis

Maria Mater O’Neil, Adjunct Professor, Interamerican University, Fajardo Campus & University of Puerto Rico (Rio Piedras and Carolina Campus) and Lesley Anne Noel, Professor of Practice in Design Thinking, Tulane University

As the awards program enters its fourth year, we are committed to forming a jury of esteemed design educators with diverse perspectives and experiences. Design Incubation is pleased to announce the 2019 Communication Design Educators Awards jury, consisting of internationally recognized design educators: Audrey G. Bennett, Saki Mafundikwa, Steven McCarthy, Maria Rogal (chair), and Teal Triggs. 

This awards program furthers Design Incubation’s aim to discover and draw attention to new creative work, published research, teaching, and service in our broad and varied discipline. We hope our colleagues will help to identify excellent contributions within their network and encourge faculty to submit their applications. New this year is a nominations period (through July 31st) and a timeline aimed that we hope avoids peak times in academic calendars. Information on the awards program in available on our website.

Nominations and entries can be completed online, in our awards call for entries.

About the Jury

Audrey G. Bennett is a tenured Professor of Art and Design at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She is a former Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Scholar of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and a former College Art Association Professional Development Fellow. She studies the user-centered design of multimodal and intersensory images for communication across cultures. Her research publications include: “How Design Education Can Use Generative Play to Innovate for Social Change” (International Journal of Design); Engendering Interaction with Images (Intellect/University of Chicago Press); The Rise of Research in Graphic Design (Princeton Architectural Press); “Interactive Aesthetics” (Design Issues); and “Good Design is Good Social Change” (Visible Language). She is the co-editor of the Icograda Design Education Manifesto 2011, and a member of the Editorial Boards of the journals Image and Text (South Africa), and New Design Ideas (Azerbaijan). 

Saki Mafundikwa is the founder and director of the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA) his country’s first graphic design and new media college. He has an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University. He is a design educator, designer, author, filmmaker and farmer. His book, Afrikan Alphabets: the Story of Writing in Africa was published in 2004. Besides being of historical importance, it is also the first book on Afrikan typography. His award-winning first film, Shungu: The Resilience of a People premiered at 2009’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). He has been published widely on design and cultural issues and is currently working on the first Afrikan Design Textbook

Steven McCarthy is Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He conceived of the Design Incubation Communication Design Educators Awards and chaired the jury in both 2016 and 2017. McCarthy’s teaching, scholarship, and contributions to the discipline include lectures, exhibitions, publications, and grant-funded research on a global scale. His creative work was featured in 130+ exhibitions and he is the author of The Designer As… Author, Producer, Activist, Entrepreneur, Curator and Collaborator: New Models for Communicating (BIS, Amsterdam). From 2014–2017, McCarthy served on the board of directors of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. 

Maria Rogal, Jury Chair, is Professor of Graphic Design and leads the new Design & Visual Communications MFA at the University of Florida. She is the founder of D4D Lab, an award-winning initiative to co-design with indigenous entrepreneurs and subject matter experts to generate sustainable local outcomes supporting self-determination. She has lectured and published about social and co-design, recently co-authoring “CoDesigning for Development,” which appears in The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Design. Her research has been funded by AIGA, Sappi, and Fulbright programs, among others, and her creative design work has been featured in national and international juried exhibitions. 

Teal Triggs is Professor of Graphic Design and leads on the MPhil/PhD programme in the School of Communication, Royal College of Art, London. As a graphic design historian, researcher and educator she lectures and broadcasts widely and her writings have appeared in numerous international design publications and edited books. Her recent books include: co-editor of The Graphic Design Reader (Bloomsbury), author of Fanzines (Thames & Hudson), and The School of Art (Wide Eyed) which was shortlisted for the ALCS 2016 Educational Writer’s Award. She is a Fellow of the International Society of Typographic Designers and the Royal Society of Arts.

Affiliated Society Meeting

Drop by for the Design Incubation networking event on Saturday, February 16, 2019, 12:30-1:30pm.

Saturday, February 16, 2019 
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM 
New York Hilton Midtown- 2nd Floor – Beekman

Attendance is free and open to the public.

Come and join us for a casual meet-and-greet networking event at the Design Incubation affiliated society business meeting at the Annual CAA Conference in NYC. Connect with other design educators, and ask questions, tell us your needs, and find out how to get involved.

Some topics of interest are:

  • The Research Fellowship Program at Design Incubation. What academic research are you currently pursuing? Could a series of workshops help you to design, develop, and execute research? What is research in communication design?
  • Promotion and Tenure. How do institutions assess and review your activities for tenure or promotion? What standards exist in the discipline? How might that differ at various institutions? Where can you find external reviewers? How is your research positioned?
  • Getting more involved. Design Incubation is a volunteer organization of design faculty from institutions across the U.S. and beyond. Would you like to get more involved? How can you participate or host an event or colloquium at your institution?

Please drop by if you are in the area and say hello!

Where Industry Meets Academia: Who Is Leading the Pack in Design Research and Why?

A panel discussion will look at various aspects of design research and how the commercial industry and academic research is each providing value to the advancement of design.

A panel discussion at the upcoming 107th Annual CAA Conference 2019 in New York City.

Sponsored by the CAA Committee on Design. Chaired by Dan Wong, New York City College of Technology, CUNY.

Date: Thursday, February 14, 2019
Time: 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Place: New York Hilton Midtown – 2nd Floor – Regent

Papers/Projects

An Investigative Inquiry into Graphic Design Industry Research Practices
Rebecca Tegtmeyer 
Michigan State University

Feedback Loop: From the Classroom to Industry to the Classroom
Lilian Crum
Lawrence Technological University

A Multi-Modal Approach to Design Research
Heather Snyder Quinn 
DePaul University

Cultivating Empathetic Engagement through Participatory Design
Heidi Boisvert 
New York City College of Technology, CUNY

Our “Zone of Occlusion” and the Role of Design History in Design Research: New Discoveries about Bell Telephone Laboratories
Russell A. Flinchum 
North Carolina State University

Design Activism & Impact: How Can Principles of Social Impact Assessment Improve Outcomes of Socially Conscious Design Efforts in Graphic Design Curriculum?

Cat Normoyle   
Assistant Professor   
East Carolina University

Visual communication is a powerful tool to affect change, and projects that advocate for change through activist messaging offer opportunities for designers to have impact in their communities. By building awareness around a particular issue, designers are able to engage with community, providing a voice for those that may be under-represented, and foster shifts in behaviors and attitudes. These goals are often assumed successful, but are they actually working to increase awareness and affect change in behavior and attitude?


This paper reviews the social impact assessment (SIA) guidelines within public policy and urban planning to understand social impact evaluation standards in other disciplines. After review, key factors are integrated into a graphic design model and applied in classroom teaching. The model includes creating a strong stakeholder committee for engagement, identifying and defining the goals, defining evaluation items for measurable impact, collecting data, compiling and analyzing results, and drawing conclusion with mitigation recommendations. Exemplified in case studies, projects are shared that introduce students to design and activism as a tool for social change, while also maximizing impact by incorporating assessment strategies throughout the process.

Although it is easy to advocate for social design practices in graphic design curriculum, it is much more challenging to assess these practices within the context of community impact. This paper shares and exemplifies a graphic design process that may be used by design researchers, practitioners, educators, and students to appropriately assess social impact as a major outcome of their work.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 5.2: CAA 2019 Conference New York on Thursday, February 14, 2019.

Design Incubation Colloquium 5.2: CAA 2019 Conference New York

Presentations and discussion in Research and Scholarship in Communication Design at the 107th Annual CAA Conference 2019 in NYC.

Hosted by CAA Affiliated Society, Design Incubation.

Research in Communication Design. Presentation of unique, significant creative work, design education, practice of design, case studies, contemporary practice, new technologies, methods, and design research. A moderated discussion will follow the series of presentations.

Design Incubation Colloquium 5.2: CAA 2019 New York City
Thursday, February 14, 2019

10:30am–12:00pm
New York Hilton Midtown, Second Floor Regent

Abstract submission deadline: August 6, 2018.
Submit abstracts online at Colloquium Abstract Submissions.

The colloquium session is open to all conference attendees.

Co-Moderators

Liz DeLuna
Associate Professor 
Graphic Design
St John’s University

Robin Landa
Distinguished Professor
Michael Graves College 
Kean University

Presentations

10 Case Studies in Eco-Activist Design
Kelly Salchow MacArthur
Associate Professor
Michigan State University

Art, Interaction and Narrative in Virtual Reality
Slavica Ceperkovic
Professor
Seneca College

Form, Focus and Impact: Pedagogy of a 21St-Century Design Portfolio
Peter Lusch
Professor of Practice
Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA

Pitch & Roll: Exploring Low-Risk Entrepreneurship for Student Designers
Jennifer Kowalski
Professor of Instruction
Graphic Arts & Interactive Design
Temple University Tyler School of Art

Questioning the Canon: Discussing Diversity and Inclusion in the Classroom
Sherry Freyermuth
Assistant Professor
Lamar University

Design Activism & Impact: How Can Principles of Social Impact Assessment Improve Outcomes of Socially Conscious Design Efforts in Graphic Design Curriculum?
Cat Normoyle
Assistant Professor
East Carolina University

Cultural Competence for Designers
Colette Gaiter
Professor
University of Delaware

Exploring Narrative Inquiry as a Design Research Method
Anne Berry
Assistant Professor
Cleveland State University

State of Flux
Natacha Poggio
Assistant Professor
University of Houston Downtown

Facilitating Justice through Design Research

Mariam Asad
Graduate student
Georgia Institute of Technology

Whereas much academic scholarship engages with the concepts and principles of justice; design research is a unique opportunity to challenge oppression by leveraging design-based resources and practices. This presentation will discuss some concrete and pragmatic examples of design research work that tries to materially contributes to community-based efforts around injustice. I draw from my fieldwork with advocacy and activist communities in Atlanta to explore how to better align design and anti-oppression work. The first vignette takes place during design workshops with housing justice activists: here, we facilitated prototyping exercises to prompt activists to envision technological interventions to support their political work. The second vignette is based in a project to co-develop with local communities a playbook for civic engagement. This series of design workshops marshaled existing wisdom and resources in neighborhoods to increase their capacity for agency and influencing change to address their local needs and concerns. I draw connections across our design research work through these two fieldsites to encourage design work that has higher stakes in local civic change and positions designers and researchers as facilitators to support our community collaborators doing justice and anti-oppression work on the ground.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 5.1: DePaul University on October 27, 2018.