CFP: 2026 Design Incubation Communication Design Educators Awards

Call for Nominations and Entries for the 2026 Communication Design Educators Awards Competition.

Design Incubation announces a call for nominations and/or entries for the 2026 Design Incubation Communication Design Educators Awards in the areas of scholarship: creative work, scholarship: publication, teaching, or service. The goal of the awards program is to discover and recognize new scholarship executed in the past two (2) years. We hope to expand the design record, promote excellence, and share knowledge within the field.

We are excited to announce Professors Michael Gibson and Keith Owens, The University of North Texas, as the incoming Directors of the Communication Design Educators Awards. We would like to thank Steven McCarthy, Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota Twin Cities for launching and directing this initiative since its inception in 2016. We would also like to thank all the previous chairs of this competition.

Nominations are not required to enter. Researchers can enter their own work for consideration by our esteemed jury. Submission deadline: December 31, 2026.

Jury 2026

Nominations and Entries

We encourage colleagues, mentors, supervisors, clients, and editors to identify outstanding creative work, publications, teaching, or service by design educators in the field communication design. Nominate researchers for an award using the nomination form. (There is no fee to nominate.)

Researchers can enter their own work directly by completing the entry form below.

Call for Exhibition Entries

Past(e)-Up: Reassembling the Past, Imagining the Future

“Paste-up” refers to a pre-digital production method that involves cutting images and text from diverse materials, such as photostats and type galleys, and carefully pasting them into layout. Paste-ups were once the modus operandi in print media, but were eventually outmoded by the Macintosh and the ensuing digital revolution, giving rise to new, experimental approaches to collage in communication design. Yet, as historian Freya Gowrley shows in her book Fragmentary Forms (Princeton University Press, 2024), collage far predates this technological rupture as well as histories of modernist art and design. In craft traditions, domestic pastimes, and DIY cultures, people have long engaged in juxtapositional practices to creatively respond to their world. 

Taking the paste-up as one point of departure, this online exhibition explores collage as an enduring material practice and an evolving mode of inquiry. How do artists and designers draw on the extant and historical to reimagine the future? How do they transform diverse sources into compelling image-text combinations? How have new technologies added to the collagist’s repertoire? 

We invite submissions that focus on contemporary collage in communication design. Designers, artists, illustrators, and craftspeople are welcome to apply. We will accept submissions for new and existing work, including independently authored projects, projects for commercial clients (with copyright clearance), or academic research. We are particularly keen to review submissions that take advantage of the online platform, such as those that incorporate motion graphics, animation, video, or interactivity. Submissions should be primarily visual, but may also include sound. The curators will make selections based on alignment with this theme, choosing works of formal and conceptual excellence that stand out individually, while also contributing to the exhibition overall.


Exhibitions at Design Incubation is a new initiative. We aim to curate regular online art and design shows. Design Incubation welcomes designers and design researchers to propose and curate topics for upcoming shows.

This inaugural show is being co-curated by Aggie Toppins and Liz DeLuna and developed with Borami Kang and Dan Wong.

Design Research Fellows 2026-2027

We welcome the 2026-2027 Design Research Fellows, Borami Kang and Narges Sedaghat. As research fellows, they will facilitate the programming of Design Incubation’s activities, including the colloquia, awards competition, and the inaugural Design Incubation curated exhibitions. Watch for the announcements and calls-for-participation in the coming weeks.

Borami Kang
Ohio State University
Post Graduate Research Fellow

Borami Kang is a recent MFA graduate in Design Research and Development from The Ohio State University, where she also served as a Graduate Teaching Associate in communication design. With over two decades of professional experience in visual communication design, including brand identity design and UX/UI design, creative direction, and project management, she integrates industry practice, design education, and critical research.

Her research explores the intersection of design education and emerging technologies, with a particular focus on creative agency, authorship, and decision-making in AI-assisted design processes. Through qualitative and participatory research, she examines how emerging designers negotiate roles, responsibility, and control when working with generative AI. Her work also considers broader cultural implications of AI in visual communication, including bias, homogenization, and inclusivity.

Having recently relocated to New Jersey, Borami is currently exploring opportunities to contribute to research, teaching, and design communities while continuing to develop pedagogical frameworks and ethical approaches for reflective, responsible, and inclusive AI-integrated design practices.

Narges Sedaghat
East Carolina University
Graduate Research Fellow

Narges Sedaghat is a graphic designer, researcher, and educator currently pursuing an MFA in Graphic Design at East Carolina University. Her research explores belonging, perception, and meaning-making through typography, embodied experience, and emerging technologies. Working across experimental typography, interactive systems, creative coding, and installation, she investigates how relationships among the body, language, space, and visibility shape the experience and interpretation of meaning.

Her practice combines design research with material and computational experimentation, using typography as a spatial, interactive, and participatory medium. Her work has been presented through exhibitions, conferences, and interdisciplinary academic contexts. She is particularly interested in critically examining how emerging technologies, including AI, influence communication, interpretation, and meaning, while maintaining human agency at the center of the creative process. Alongside her research and studio practice, Sedaghat teaches graphic design and develops participatory approaches to design education that encourage experimentation, critical thinking, and active engagement.

Call for Abstract Submissions, Colloquium 13.3: University of Connecticut

Digital Media & Design
University of Connecticut
In-Person Format

Submission Deadline: Friday, October 30, 2026.

Host: Ting Zhou and Dr. Xi Zhang
Digital Media & Design Dept.
School of Fine Arts
University of Connecticut

Event date: Friday, March 5, 2027.
Submission deadline: Friday, October 30, 2026.

We invite abstract submissions on presentation topics relevant to Communication Design research. Submissions should fall into one or more of the following areas: scholarly research, case studies, creative practice, or design pedagogy. We welcome proposals on a variety of topics across the field of communication design.

Submit an abstract of 300 words using the Design Incubation abstract submission form found here:
https://designincubation.com/call-for-submissions/

Submissions are double-blind peer-reviewed. Accepted presentation abstracts will be published on the Design Incubation website.

Accepted researchers will be required to produce a 6-minute videotaped presentation that will be published on the Design Incubation channel.

The sessions will include 6-minute PechaKucha presentations by each researcher, followed by moderated group discussions.

Colloquium 13.2: CAA Conference 2027 Call for Abstract Submissions

115th CAA Annual Conference, New York, NY.
In Person Format.

Submission Deadline: August 31, 2026.

We invite abstract submissions on presentation topics relevant to Communication Design research. Submissions should fall into one or more of the following areas: scholarly research, case studies, creative practice, or design pedagogy. We welcome proposals on a variety of topics across the field of communication design.

Submit an abstract of 300 words using the Design Incubation abstract submission form found here:
https://designincubation.com/call-for-submissions/

Submissions are double-blind peer-reviewed. Reviewers’ feedback will be returned. Accepted presentation abstracts will be published on the Design Incubation website.

Accepted researchers will be required to produce a 6-minute videotaped presentation that will be published on the Design Incubation channel. The CAA conference session will consist of 6-minute presentations and a moderated discussion.

The session will involve a 6-minute presentation from each accepted submission researcher, followed by a moderated group discussion.

115th CAA Annual Conference: In Person
New York Hilton
1335 6th Ave
New York, NY 10019
February 3–6, 2027

Presentations and Moderated Discussion.

Presenters will follow the basic membership and fee requirements of CAA.

We are accepting abstracts for presentations now until August 31, 2026.

Design Incubation Colloquium 12.3: Virtual Summer

Event date: Friday, June 26, 2026
Time: 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST
Format: Virtual/Online

Event date: Friday, June 26, 2026
Time: 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST
Format: Virtual/Online

Moderators

Cat Normoyle
Director of Peer Reviews, Design Incubation
Associate Professor
East Carolina University

Dina Benbrahim
Associate Professor of Graphic Design
University of Connecticut

Presentations

Design, Identity, and Social Contexts

This session brings together projects that explore how design engages with identity, lived experience, and social context. The work examines how design can support care, representation, and belonging, while addressing complex cultural, political, and community-based issues.

Care-Stories: Demystifying Women’s Reproductive Health

Holly Strickland
Assistant Professor
Middle Tennessee State University

Illustrating Feminist and Queer ‘South Asian-ness’ in British Print Material from 1980s–90s

Shreyas R. Krishnan
Assistant Professor
Washington University in St. Louis

Fragment to Coherence: Designing Belonging through Position

Narges Sedaghat
Graduate student
East Carolina University

Designing Facilitated Experiences for Early Adolescents: Supporting Psychological Capital and Educational Access in Refugee Contexts

Hanna Ji
Graduate student
Master of Design Program
University of Arkansas

Moderated Discussion

Design Pedagogy, Process, and Systems

This session focuses on how design is taught, structured, and practiced across different contexts. The presentations explore pedagogical approaches, process-driven methods, and emerging tools, highlighting how designers build frameworks that shape learning, research, and professional practice.

The Shift Deck: Pragmatic Design Pedagogy Interventions for Climate Resilience

Cindy Raspiller
Lecturer
San Jose State University

A Global Approach to Typography: Introducing Multilingual Scripts in Beginning Design Courses

Anna Jordan
Assistant Professor
Rochester Institute of Technology

Aisha Al Nouri, Jatin Joshi, Unika Dhakhwa
M.F.A. candidates

Rochester Institute of Technology

Relational Construction in Graphic Design: ALT as Process-Driven Practice

Niharika Yellamraju
Adjunct Professor
Boston University
University of Connecticut

Nudged by Design: AI Features and Researcher Agency in Everyday Research Tools

Borami Kang
Graduate student
MFA Candidate in Design Research and Development
The Department of Design
The Ohio State University

Moderated Discussion

Round Table Discussion

Closing Remarks

CFP: Academic Abstract Writing Program 2026

Application Deadline: April 25, 2026.

The online Academic Abstract Writing Program 2026 at Design Incubation offers a series of activities that will help design researchers craft a written synopsis of their research. The outcome(s) goals include a concisely written document, typically expected of academic publication venues. This includes conferences, journals, grant applications, publishers, and academic organizations.

The program is designed along two tracks:

  1. The first track is for design faculty who are new to academia and want a program that will help them navigate the academic publication venues.
  2. The second track is aimed at design faculty who have established their research agenda and activities and would like to explore ways to broaden their scope of publication opportunities.

Application:

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