Call for Submissions, Colloquium 12.3: Virtual Summer Graduate Panel

Call for graduate design research abstracts. Deadline: Monday, March 30, 2026.


Submission Deadline: 
Monday, March 30, 2026.

Event date: Friday, June 26, 2026
Format: Virtual/Online
Location: ZOOM

We invite current and recent communication design graduate students to submit abstracts of their design research, creative investigations, and productions. The work can cover a broad range of topics, including but not limited to graphic design, typography, branding, illustration, photography, videos, motion graphics, advertising campaigns, websites, UX/UI designs, animations, and other visually communicated design products and solutions. The work should have been completed within the past 3 years. This is a virtual online event format. Abstracts can be submitted online now for peer review.

Abstract submissions are double-blind peer-reviewed. Accepted abstracts will be published online. Please review the articles, Quick Start Guide for Writing Abstracts and Writing an Academic Research Abstract: For Communication Design Scholars before submitting.

There is a $10 conference fee required per research abstract submission for non-members. Please submit only one abstract per colloquia. The conference fee is waived for active annual members. Find out more about our annual memberships.

Researchers will videotape their 6-minute presentations which will published online in advance of the colloquium. The video recording is due by Friday, May 22, 2026. We encourage all attendees to watch the videos in advance of the moderated discussion.

Presentation format is Pecha Kucha. For more details, see the colloquia details and description.

There is a moderated panel discussion following the research presentations.

Call for Submissions, Colloquium 12.3: Virtual Summer

Call for design research abstracts. Deadline: Monday, March 30, 2026.

Submission Deadline: Monday, March 30, 2026.

Event date: Friday, June 26, 2026
Format: Virtual/Online
Location: ZOOM

We invite designers—practitioners, creators, and educators—to submit abstracts of design research, creative investigations, and productions. This is a virtual online event format. Abstracts can be submitted online now for peer review.

Abstract submissions are double-blind peer-reviewed. Accepted abstracts will be published online. Please review the articles, Quick Start Guide for Writing Abstracts and Writing an Academic Research Abstract: For Communication Design Scholars before submitting.

There is a $10 conference fee required per research abstract submission for non-members. Please submit only one abstract per colloquia. The conference fee is waived for active annual members. Find out more about our annual memberships.

Researchers will videotape their 6-minute presentations which will published online in advance of the colloquium. The video recording is due by Friday, May 22, 2026. We encourage all attendees to watch the videos in advance of the moderated discussion.

Presentation format is Pecha Kucha. For more details, see the colloquia details and description.

There is a moderated panel discussion following the research presentations.

2025 Design Incubation Communication Design Educators Award Recipients

2025 Design Incubation Educators Awards for recognition in four categories: Creative Work, Published Research, Teaching, Service.


Congratulations to the recipients of the 2025 Communication Design Educators Awards, and our sincerest thanks to the esteemed jury.

Category: Creative Work

Winner

Challenging Patterns of Supremacy: Provocations from Collective Pedagogy, Practice, and Organizing

Dave Pabellon
Assistant Professor
University of Notre Dame


Category: Published Scholarship

Winner

Thinking Through Graphic Design History: Challenging the Canon

Aggie Toppins
Associate Professor
Washington University in St. Louis


Category: Teaching 

Winner

Design In the Posthuman Age / Biomorphic Typography

Anastasiia Raina
Associate Professor
Rhode Island School of Design


Runner-up

Generative AI for Visual Communication: Designing Human-Centered, AI-First Pedagogy

Adonis Durado
Associate Professor
Ohio University


Category: Service

(no award conferred.)


2025 Jury

Leslie Atzmon 
Professor
Eastern Michigan University

Bernard Caniffe 
Associate Professor
Iowa State University

Matt Gaynor 
Chair/Professor
University of Memphis

Steven McCarthy 
Professor Emeritus
University of Minnesota

Dr. Myra Thiessen 
Senior Lecturer, Program Coordinator
Monash University

Designing Your Research Agenda (DYRA) 5.1

A panel discussion by design scholars about their research journeys.

Designing Your Research Agenda (DYRA) 5.1
Friday, April 17, 2026
1:00PM EST
Virtual Event

Designing Your Research Agenda (DYRA) is a panel discussion and open forum for design scholars and researchers to discuss aspects of their research agendas. We aim to open a dialogue regarding the challenges of discovering one’s design research inquiry. DYRA is a design research webinar series.

Researchers:

  • Lesley-Ann Noel, OCAD University, Canada
  • Robert Harland, Loughborough University, UK
  • Kelly Salchow MacArthur, Michigan State University, USA

Presentations plus an open Q+A and informal discussion.

Some of the questions we are asking our panelists include:

  • How did you determine your research agenda (high level timeline of your career/trajectory)
  • How do you define research and why do you think it matters/for society, the field, yourself?
  • How do your department and institution define and support the work you do?
  • How would you describe/categorize your department and institution?
  • If you were going to position your work within a category, would you say your research addresses: design theory, design history, design practice, design research (traditional graphic design, speculative design, UXUI, typography, AR, VR, creative computing, design solutions, etc.), design pedagogy, or something else?
  • What barriers (if any) exist at your institution or in the field for creating and disseminating your research?

This event brings together academics from various stages in their careers and from different types of institutions. We hope that by sharing experiences, we can support others on their journeys. 

Planning a Book, Reading a Field: Keywords and Topics in Communication Design Research

Design Incubation Affiliated Society Meeting at Annual CAA International Conference, Chicago 2026

No conference fee required.

Thursday, February 19, 2026
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM, Central Time
2:00PM– 3:00PM, Eastern Time

Hilton Chicago
720 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
In-person: Salon C-5

Virtual Zoom access (register on Zoom to attend virtually)

Design Incubation will host the College Art Association (CAA) conference business meeting at the Hilton Chicago and on Zoom on Thursday, February 19th from 1:00–2:00 pm CST. There is no cost to attend this meeting.

In this session, we’ll present A Decade of Keywords in Communication Design Research, a project that analyzes over ten years of Design Incubation colloquium submissions to reflect on the themes, methods, and questions shaping the field. We will share results of the keyword analysis and how it leads to topic ideas for a Design Incubation book series. We will present the book series ideas and ask participants to contribute by providing feedback, sharing research interests, and discussing the project goals. This session is open to designers, researchers, educators, and practitioners interested in contributing to this project and book publication. 

Design Incubation is a volunteer academic organization whose focus and mission is the facilitation of research and scholarship in communication design. Our aim is to foster discussion and collaboration among academics and industry professionals. We are a resource for those working and studying within the field.

New Director of Design History and Theory

Welcoming Dr. Leslie Atzmon as Director of Design History and Theory

Starting this January 2026, we welcome Dr. Leslie Atzmon as Director of Design History and Theory. Atzmon has been participating with our team for several months. She is currently on the jury of the 2025 Design Incubation Educators Awards, as well as other initiatives we have under development.

Leslie Atzmon is a designer and design historian who teaches at Eastern Michigan University. She co-edited the collections Encountering Things: Design and Theories of Things (Bloomsbury 2017) and The Graphic Design Reader (Bloomsbury 2019). Atzmon and colleague Ryan Molloy were awarded a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) ArtWorks grant from 2012-2014 to support experimental book design workshops and the creation and production of The Open Book Project book. Atzmon has a new collection, entitled Visual Ecologies of Placemaking, edited with Pamela Stewart (forthcoming Bloomsbury 2026).

Atzmon’s current work mainly investigates the intersections between design and science, with a focus on biodesign. In 2016, Atzmon was a Fulbright fellow at Central Saint Martins UAL, UK doing research on Darwin and design thinking. This led to the essay, “Intelligible Design: The Origin and Visualization of Species,” in the journal Communication Design (2016). In 2019/2020, she curated the exhibition Design and Science, which ran at Eastern Michigan’s University Gallery and The Esther Klein Gallery/Science Center in Philadelphia. She also edited a related collection entitled Design and Science (Bloomsbury 2023). Atzmon is currently working on a biodesign textbook, entitled Biodesign in Context (forthcoming Lived Spaces 2027), with Professor Diana Nicholas of Drexel University.

Welcome to the team, Leslie!

Design Incubation Colloquium 12.2: Annual CAA Conference 2026 (In-person only)

Presentations and discussion in Research and Scholarship in Communication Design at the 114th Annual CAA Conference 2026

Thursday, February 19, 2026
4:30PM – 6:00PM CST
Hilton Chicago – Lower Level
Salon C-6

Recent research in Communication Design. Presentations 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.

The colloquium session is open to all conference attendees. Be sure to watch the online video presentations before attending this event.

CHAIRS

Cat Normoyle
East Carolina University

Heather Snyder Quinn
DePaul University

Camila Afanador-Llach
Florida Atlantic University

Discussants

Anne Hostetler Berry
University of Illinois Chicago


Jessica Meharry
DePaul University

PRESENTATIONS

The Significant Others: Women’s Contributions to the Private Press Movement
Maria Smith Bohannon
Associate Professor
Oakland University

m(other)ing: Creating Design Research Space for Work on Parenting and Reproductive Journeys
Meaghan Dee
Associate Professor
Virginia Tech

Bree McMahon
Associate Professor
University of Arkansas

The Empathy Points Method: Integrating Identity and Bias Recognition Into Design Education
Andrea Hempstead
Associate Professor
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

Shearing Layers: A Framework for Reframing Contemporary Graphic Design Education
Jarrett Fuller
Assistant Professor
NC State University

Typographic Thresholds: Addressing Climate Urgency
Megan Irwin
Assistant Professor
Washington University in St. Louis

Invisible Nightlife Review: Teaching Fiction as Design Practice
Nika Simovich Fisher
Assistant Professor
Parsons / The New School for Design

Backward by Design: Reframing AI Literacy through Systems Thinking and Critique Pedagogy
Lingyi Kong
Adjunct Professor
Parsons School of Design

Giving Tuesday 2025

Since 2014, we have been serving the community to further the field of research in communication design and related disciplines. Please consider a donation.

Design Incubation Colloquium 12.1: Virtual: Online

Friday, November 14, 2025
11:00AM – 12:30PM EDT
Online (ZOOM)

Recent research in Communication Design. Presentations 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.

Friday, November 14, 2025
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EDT
Online

Moderator

Cat Normoyle
East Carolina University

PRESENTATIONS

Women Graphic Designers: Rebalancing the Canon
Elizabeth Resnick
Professor Emerita
Massachusetts College of Art and Design

The Keywork: Using AI for Insight, Not Replacement, in Creative Practice
RJ Thompson
Associate Professor

University of Pittsburg

Make, Print, Share: Fold, Print, Share: Collective Learning Through Risograph Printing
Kyla Paolucci
Assistant Professor

St. John’s University

Vic Rodriguez Tang
Assistant Professor
Texas State University

From Denim Wars to AI: Rethinking Fashion Advertising in the Classroom
Summer Doll-Myers
Associate Professor

Kutztown University

Born Digital: Fresh Attempts around Typography Courses for Students Today
Jialun Wang
Assistant Professor
Otis College of Art and Design

Eager Zhang
Assistant Professor
Otis College of Art and Design

Mis/Understanding: Reframing Language Barriers and Miscommunication Through Interactive Design
Najmeh Pirahmadian
Graduate student
Ohio University

CFP: 2025 Design Incubation Communication Design Educators Awards

ENTRY DEADLINE EXTENDED: JANUARY 15, 2026.

Call for Nominations and Entries for the 2025 Design Incubation Educators Awards Competition.

Design Incubation announces a call for nominations and entries for the 2025 awards for communication design educators in the areas of scholarship, teaching, service. The aim of the awards program is to discover and recognize new scholarship (creative work and publications), teaching, and service in our broad and varied discipline. We hope to expand the design record, promote excellence and share knowledge within the field.

Nominations and Entries

We ask colleagues and mentors to identify outstanding creative work, publications, teaching, and service being created by design educators in the field communication design and to nominate these individuals for an award. Nominations will be accepted until December 31, 2025 January 15, 2026.

Entry Guidelines

Entries will be accepted until (December 31, 2025). Nominations are not required to enter in this scholarly competition. Complete the online entry form (https://designincubation.com/design-incubation-awards-competition-entry-form/) with the following:

Title: Description of project and outcomes (not to exceed 500 words.)

Supporting Materials: (limited to 5-page medium resolution pdf of artwork; web links to websites, videos, other online resources; published documents or visual documents.)

Biography of applicant/s (150 words per applicant.)

Curriculum vitae of applicant/s.

Entry fee: $35.00 USD.

2025 JURY

Steven McCarthy (Chair) University of Minnesota

Leslie Atzmon https://www.emich.edu/art/faculty-staff/l_atzmon.php

Bernard Caniffe – http://piecestudio.org/case-studieshttps://www.design.iastate.edu/profiles/canniffe/

Matt Gaynorhttps://www.memphis.edu/artanddesign/people/matthew-gaynor.php

Myra Thiessenhttps://www.monash.edu/mada/design/people/myra-thiessen

Leslie Atzmon is a designer, design historian, and design critic. She has published in Eye, Design and Culture, Communication Design, and Design Issues. Atzmon edited Visual Rhetoric and the Eloquence of Design (Parlor Press 2011) and co-edited Encountering Things: Design and Theories of Things (Bloomsbury 2017) with industrial designer Prasad Boradkar. Most recently, she edited The Graphic Design Reader (Bloomsbury 2019) with Teal Triggs of the Royal College of Art. In 2016, she was a Fulbright Fellow at Central Saint Martins in London investigating the topic of Darwin and design thinking. Atzmon and colleague Ryan Molloy were awarded a Sappi Ideas that Matter Grant, which supports design that changes lives for the better. For the grant, students rebranded Ypsilanti’s non-profit Riverside Arts Center as a community arts hub. Atzmon recently curated the exhibition Design and Science, and is currently working on a collection also entitled Design and Science (forthcoming Bloomsbury 2020).

Bernard Canniffe is a current professor and former department chair of graphic design at Iowa State University, and has held faculty positions at MICA (Baltimore), MCAD (Minneapolis) and Ringling College of Art and Design (Sarasota), A native of Wales (UK), he has presented and exhibited on a global scale since earning an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 1999. PIECE Studio, a creative venture he founded in 2006, is an agency that “engages in and with communities, organizations, activists, governments and municipalities and has run projects and workshops that promote social justice and community empowerment internationally,” primarily through the design of identities, publications and posters. 

Matthew Gaynor received his BA and MFA in graphic design from Yale University, and is currently chair of the Department of Art and Design at the University of Memphis. He has held faculty and leadership positions at University of Kansas, California State University at San Bernardino, University of Cincinnati, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Kansas State University. He also served as creative director for F+W Publications, which published HOW magazine. Gaynor has won numerous awards for his design work, which is focused on the intersection of type and image, and continues his practice of typographic design, as well as an ongoing interest in photographic portraiture.

Myra Thiessen is a researcher and senior lecturer at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and is the program coordinator of the communication design program in the Faculty of Art, Design, and Architecture. She earned a PhD in typography and graphic communication at the University of Reading and a Bachelor of Design degree in communication design from the University of Alberta. She has published her research widely, especially about typography and cognition, in the journals Visible Language, Ergonomics, and The Design Journal among others, and co-edited the book The Routledge Companion to Criticality in Art, Architecture, and Design. 

Steven McCarthy is professor emeritus of graphic design at the University of Minnesota, where he taught for over two decades. He earned an MFA from Stanford University and a BFA from Bradley University. His book The Designer As… Author, Producer, Activist, Entrepreneur, Curator and Collaborator: New Models for Communicating was published in 2013. McCarthy’s creative work has been in over 150 juried and invitational exhibitions, and has been awarded inclusion in the AIGA annual, the STA 100 show and in Graphis Poster. He has published in the journals Design Issues, Message, Visible Language, Design and Culture, Visual Communication, and occasionally writes for Eye magazine. In 2017 he was awarded the Minnesota Book Artist Award.

http://stevenmccarthy.design