Showcase & Discover Creative Work

I love being a designer. To take a blank piece of paper or a blank screen and create something that can communicate a message or intent to others is the ultimate position of power.

I’ve been fortunate in my career to work in practically every medium that has been possible for a designer to be creative with. My traditional hand skills eventually morphed into the digital world, where layouts on the computer became the status quo and I was working completely with digital media such as websites, DVDs and interactive CDs.

I always thought that I might try to be a designer with a specific style, such as Art Deco or Googie, which, early on, were loves of mine in high school and college. It took me a few years to understand that there were many styles that I was attracted to and that this knowledge could be applied as needed and be pulled from the recesses of my mind. I didn’t need to stick to one or two things and this variety of interests wasn’t restricting at all to my career.

I’ve also been able to take this methodology and adapt it into a teaching style. One of my favorite parts of my time in the classroom is when I have an opportunity to discuss a historical era or design style and provide examples to the students. I find that trying to provide a bridge between the past and the present is a very successful way of establishing a starting point for many students.

This has also transitioned to the Design-ed coalition, a not-for-profit advocacy group that was recently formed in partnership with Dr. Robin Vande Zande from Kent State University and Cristian Fleming of Public Society, a design studio in Brooklyn. Together we are the founding trustees for the group, which we hope will grow to become a major player in the national education discussion.

Our core group of about 500 designers, design educators and education administrators have expressed an interest in the formation of a group such as ours. It is hoped that from this group, we can cull a dozen or so dedicated individuals who are interested in taking a more active role as volunteer advocates. We’re looking to create a “cult of Design-Ed”.

Our target markets for the achievement of these goals are definitely K-12 public school educators – teachers, supervisors and administrators. Our end goal is nothing less than causing a paradigm shift in the way that art and design are taught and integrated into the standard K-12 classroom. We’re joined in our opinion that with the subject of public education, what will make definitive reform is not more standardized testing or more supervision from above. Real change will come from the teachers in the classroom and we want to give them the power and the tools to enact such change.

“Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead Read Less