Vignelli Center Lecture: Kimberly Elam

Lecture title: "Grids, Non-Grids, Broken Rules, and Passion for Design"

Kimberly Elam is a writer, educator, and graphic designer. She is currently on the faculty of the Graphic Design Department at the Ringling College of Art Design, Sarasota, Florida. During her time at Ringling she has written three best-selling books for Princeton Architectural Press Design Briefs series: Geometry of Design, Grid Systems, and Typographic Systems. She has also self-published short subjects in both ebook and print venues. Over 100,000 of her books are in print in seven languages, and are used as essential texts in college design and architecture programs. These books feature her educational research and methodology and prominently display the innovative work of her design students. She feels that by bringing her research into the classroom, the teaching experience is transformed from a process of conveying information to a collaborative partnership of creating knowledge. She has been a contributing author to books by Steven Heller, llene Strizver, Willam Lidwell, and the new Phadion Compendium of Graphic Design.

Over the past 10 years Kim has given presentations, led panels, and conducted workshops at over 20 professional and educational venues throughout the United States and abroad. She has been a recipient of the Ohio State University Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Robert O. Barkley Distinguished Educator Award, and is a Teaching Fellow at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.