CONCENTRATIONS SINCE TENURE REVIEW, 2011-2016
PASSIONS AND PURSUITS / 3 OBJECTIVES
OBJECTIVE 1 / CURIOSITY AND EXPLORATION
I often compare designers to talk show hosts. They have the ability to conduct conversations on many topics with individuals of different backgrounds and interests. Designers must be good listeners and observers. In addition, designers must also be educators, psychologists, business people, problem solvers, and entertainers. These are also essential qualities for teachers of designers. Like my design and personal interests, my scholarship pursuits are varied and diverse.
I am a generalist, not a specialist.
I am curious, and I enjoy exploring new subjects. My scholarship and teaching commitments are overlapping and connected, making each more vital in the process. Some of my investigations have resulted from a simple question posed in class about typefaces used on eye charts to test visual acuity, or from a child asking how it is possible that a lowercase two story g is the same letter as a one story g. When I am intrigued by something, I start exploring, and it may or may not become a scholarship topic. I have four main areas of concentration that have been on-going since receiving tenure:
COLLABORATION AND INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN ALL CONTEXTS AND SETTINGS.
These interactions are conducted with other professors, classes, departments and schools within CIAS, other colleges at RIT, and with other universities and external organizations. I have presented on my collaborations in many peer reviewed conferences, and have written about this topic in peer reviewed journals and publications.
CALLIGRAPHY, LETTERING, AND TYPOGRAPHY; PAST, PRESENT, EMERGING, ANALOGUE, DIGITAL, AND EXPERIMENTAL.
I conduct invited lettering and calligraphy workshops tailored to the needs and interests of specific audiences. In addition, I have presented at several peer reviewed conferences on this topic, and have written articles for the Letter Arts Review and ilovetypography.com.
DESIGN THINKING STRATEGIES TO ASSIST INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS
OF ALL AGES, INTERESTS, AND SKILL LEVELS.
I have presented at peer reviewed conferences on this topic, and have also conducted invited lectures and workshops for adults and children to introduce design thinking fundamentals to solve problems and challenges in daily life. I will be conducting more workshops with the goal of presenting my findings at peer
reviewed conferences.
LETTERFORM DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND CONSISTENCY TO HELP CHILDREN LEARN TO READ.
The inconsistency of typeface appearance and presentation in games, toys, books, and educational materials adversely affects the ability of some children to acquire reading skills. My colleague Carol Fillip and I have presented at peer reviewed conferences on this topic and conducted invited workshops for teachers and
reading specialists.
In addition to these four main areas of interest, I have written on Optotypes, the symbols used on eye charts to test visual acuity, for ilovetypography.com. I have also presented at peer reviewed conferences with Carol Fillip on our Typographic Carousel Interactive Circuit Events, which help students understand analogue typographic processes and techniques in an interactive and fun format. I also have an interest
in alphabets designed for communication for specific audiences, such as Semaphore, Morse Code, American Sign Language, and Braille. I hope to explore those interests
in the future as scholarship pursuits.
A LIFETIME OF LEARNING IS A WONDERFUL THING.
For more information, please visit Scholarship/Conferences, Scholarship/Exhibitions, Scholarship/Publications, Scholarship/Invited Lectures and Workshops, Scholarship/Commissions, and my CV.
OBJECTIVE 2 / DISSEMINATION AND EVALUATION
Scholarship for the design disciplines in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences
is divided into four categories: Discovery, Teaching/Pedagogy, Integration, and Application. In all of these areas, documentation, dissemination, and peer review
are required in order to evaluate activities.
For my diverse scholarly pursuits, the methods of dissemination and peer review are determined by the most appropriate and effective venues for delivery of content. I participate in peer reviewed conferences, juried and invitational exhibitions, journal and blog publications, invited lectures and workshops, and commissions, collections, and competitions.
Information regarding collaboration has been delivered in a conference setting or in journal articles. Calligraphy/lettering information is disseminated in conferences, articles, exhibitions, and workshops. Design Thinking content is delivered through conference presentations and workshops. Letterforms and Literacy findings have been presented at conferences and at workshops for teachers and reading specialists.
I have provided speci c information on documentation, dissemination, and peer review in sections in this documentation for your review and consideration.
SCHOLARSHIP / PEER REVIEWED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PAPERS
This section contains the abstracts from the 24 conferences for which I have created presentations, papers, posters, or workshops since tenure review. Although the text for related abstracts is similar, the presentation content is always revised, updated, and reframed, to address the theme of the conference or the interests of the audience.
SCHOLARSHIP / CREATIVE ACTIVITY / EXHIBITIONS
This section provides specifics about the 9 juried and invitational exhibitions in which I have participated since tenure review.
SCHOLARSHIP / PUBLICATIONS, JOURNAL AND BLOG ARTICLES
This section contains details about the 11 journal and blog articles that I have written or in which I have been featured since tenure review.
SCHOLARSHIP / CREATIVE ACTIVITY / INVITED LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS
This section provides specifics about the 17 invited lectures and workshops I have conducted since tenure review.
SCHOLARSHIP / COMMISSIONS, COLLECTIONS, AND COMPETITIONS
This section contains details about the 5 commissions, collections, and competitions in which I been involved since tenure review.
It is my objective to focus on the areas of exhibitions, publications, blog articles, invited lectures and workshops, and commissions in the future.
THERE IS STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY.
For more information, please visit Scholarship/Conferences, Scholarship/Exhibitions, Scholarship/Publications, Scholarship/Invited Lectures and Workshops, Scholarship/Commissions, and my CV.
OBJECTIVE 3 / WRITING WORDS
My scholarship and creative activities are synergistic and symbiotic. What I do in the classroom moves into my creative work, scholarship pursuits, and service activities. What I learn in those experiences is then brought back into the classroom. My passion for letters and type that I share with my students is exemplified in my scholarship activities in exhibitions, articles, commissions, collections, and workshops.
My creative work is diverse and eclectic. It ranges from graphic simplicity to expressive playfulness. I create work for myself, friends, colleagues, clients, competitions, and collaborations. The connection in all of my work is letters and words; their visual and verbal power and expressive potential. In fact, it is letterform design that led me to pursue Graphic Design as a profession.
After working as a designer in a variety of positions and environments, I decided to seek a more personal path as a designer in the late 1980’s. This led me to work with clients seeking small identity programs and personal greetings, some of which incorporated custom hand lettering. In 1998, I took a calligraphy course at RIT,
an experience that changed my work, and which provided the opportunity to teach calligraphy. This in turn has led to scholarship commitments, course projects, and service contributions.
The passion I have for words, lettering, and typography is a part of my being. Drawing letters is one of my greatest pleasures. I like to make letters unique, playful, and expressive. I enjoy the contrast of the old and new, past and present, and the expressive and systematic in telling stories. Words are my most valuable and valued messaging tools. I use the power of words to reach, teach, touch, motivate, and persuade. My goal is to communicate the meaning of words effectively, skillfully, sensitively, artistically, powerfully, cleverly, systematically, and appropriately for the message and the audience. Type tells the story.
While looking through my tenure documentation in preparation for creating this documentation, the shift in the balance of my scholarship is evident. Previous
to tenure, my creative work was a larger proportion of my scholarly work. In this document, there are significantly more peer reviewed conference presentations than creative work. Although conference presentations are effective and efficient in terms of dissemination and evaluation of scholarly work, I would like to explore other methods of sharing information in the future.
It is a goal to write, design, hand letter, and illustrate another children’s book.
I enjoyed creating my 2007 children’s book Zeke Meets Streak, which I wrote,
and for which I did the illustrations and hand lettering.
I have been fortunate to be invited to be a speaker at the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum Waygoose 2016 event in November. The list of speakers is impressive, and includes internationally known experts such as lettering artist Jessica Hische and typographer Erik Spiekermann. I will conduct two calligraphy workshops
and host two interactive sessions during the event. Exposure at this level will increase my national reputation as a calligrapher and lettering expert.
I also enjoy writing about topics related to lettering and typography, and I hope to continue as a contributing writer to ilovetypography.com and other blogs, journals, and books.