design
Department of Art and Art History

Design Lecture Series

Fall 2011

James I. Bowie
A Half-Century (Or Two) of the Longhorn Logo
Wednesday, September 7, 6:30
ART 1.110

On the 50th anniversary of UT's Longhorn logo, sociologist James I. Bowie discusses its history and examines its appeal in the context of the social world of logo design.

James I. Bowie is a sociologist at Northern Arizona University whose research analyzes government data to explore trends and organizational strategies related to logo design. A graduate of UT's Plan II program, he received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Arizona. His writing on logo design has appeared in Voice: AIGA Journal of Design, BusinessWeek Online, and Brand New. He served on the Arizona State Quarter Commission, which helped design the Arizona state quarter coin, and is a contributor to the Austin-based design blog Quipsologies. His article "Longhorn Logo Turns 50" appears in the September/October issue of The Alcalde, UT's alumni magazine.
Jessica Hammer
Transformative Play: Making Games that Do Good
Monday, September 26, 6:30–8
ART 1.120

Jessica Hammer is a Mellon Interdisciplinary Graduate Research Fellow at Columbia University, a founding member of the Teachers College EGGPLANT game research laboratory and a member of the Creativity Research Group. She is the lead designer and researcher for the Advance game project, on which she is writing her dissertation. Her larger research interests include stories, games, communities, gender, creativity and learning. She also developed the game design course sequence for the Communications, Computing and Technology program at Teachers College Columbia University. Before joining the department, Jessica worked as a writer, consultant and game designer with an emphasis on serious games and social software. She has taught at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, consulted for both academic and business clients, and worked at noted New York game company Gamelab. She received a masters degree in interactive telecommunications from NYU and her BA in computer science from Harvard University. In her free time, she runs an experimental storytelling group in New York City.


Steve Bishop
Monday, October 17, 2–3
DFA 2.204

Steve Bishop is Global Lead of Environmental Impact at IDEO, where he helps companies build brands, develop new offerings, and shape their innovation processes by repositioning environmental challenges as platforms for growth. He also works with colleagues to incorporate a green dimension into the design-thinking approach. Steve has worked with the US General Services Administration to devise a high-performance green building strategy, helped utilities bring energy efficiency into their smart grids, and designed instrument panels for Ford’s 2010 Fusion Hybrid (for which he holds patents). His portfolio also includes award-winning office furniture and medical injection devices.

After earning a graduate degree in product design from Stanford University, Steve returned as guest lecturer and adjunct professor. In 2007, he launched a course on sustainable design and still periodically teaches and coaches students at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the d.school). Steve serves as an adviser to several companies and frequently speaks at conferences and other events. He also writes for various publications, including Metropolis, Rotman, and Men’s Health magazines. Prior to joining IDEO in 2004, Steve co-founded Terrascope, an interaction design firm whose clients included Autodesk, Sun Microsystems, and Kaiser Permanente.



Maia Wright
Footnotes, sheep herding, and Mahler: Bending form to content
Monday, October 24, 6:30–8
ART 1.120

Maia Wright is a designer and assistant professor in the Communication Design program at Texas State University. She holds an MFA in visual communication from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA with honors in comparative literature from Princeton University. Her book and environmental design work has been recognized by the AIGA 50 Books / 50 Covers show, the Type Directors Club, STEP magazine, Print magazine, the Mohawk Show, the Association of American University Presses, and the Chicago Book Clinic. Her work is in the permanent collections of the National Design Archives, the Rare Book and Manuscript Collection at Columbia University, and the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She recently moved to Austin from Chicago, where she worked at Studio Blue and the University of Chicago Press, and taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has worked with clients including the Chicago Architecture Foundation, the Knoxville Museum of Art, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Otis School of Art and Design, Johns Hopkins University Press, and Performing Arts Chicago.


Rich Kegler
Monday, November 7, 6:30–8
ART 1.120

Richard Kegler is the founder and lead designer at P22 type foundry. Before his involvement in type design, Mr. Kegler was a bookbinder, designer, postgraduate, artist seeking a respectable self-sustaining life as a hand-craftsman. The years of historical typographic research at P22 has influenced a profound interest in using hand techniques alongside digital capabilities. Mr. Kegler has recently started a non-profit Book Arts Center in Buffalo NY and has returned to an active involvement in hand setting and printing metal and wood type as a concurrent career with digital font research at P22.


Past Design Lectures can be found on the Past Design Lecture Series page.