When I began my sabbatical in Fall 2024, I carried a question with me: what does it mean to be a designer right now?

It’s a question I’ve been asking my whole career, going back to my time as an undergrad design student at UMass Dartmouth, where I interned for my mentor, Todd DePerno in Burlington, VT. Todd is now a prolific painter still living in Vermont, but when I knew him as a young designer, he was the one who gave me a way to put words to what I was feeling. With his encouragement, I wrote a cover letter for my first job that has stayed with me ever since:

“We are, at the truest core of our beings, animals. Instinctual and impulsive. And so it is for art. The artist has no more control over the need to create than a wolf does to protect her young. It is what we are. It is not an option. It is how we relate, communicate, feel, and react. Instinct. Pure and simple.”

Those lines became a compass for my work. They remind me that design isn’t just skill or strategy — it’s instinct.

This past year — a semester of sabbatical, a spring of teaching, and a summer of practice — was a chance to rediscover that instinct, to see why it still matters, and why it matters now more than ever.

The Pause: Rediscovering Instinct

My sabbatical in Fall 2024 was not a break but a return — a return to the idea that creativity is instinct.

Stepping back from daily teaching opened space to focus on my research — including Random Actor, where computation and performance intersect. What struck me is how much the project mirrors instinct itself: you don’t control the outcome, you respond to it.

Travel also played a central role. Time in Amsterdam, Maastricht, Stockholm, Karlstad, and Reykjavík offered a blend of family, friends, inspiration, and observation. That mix of conversation, culture, and quiet reflection refreshed my perspective and reframed how I see my work moving forward.

The sabbatical also gave me the space to step back and take stock. I assembled a 100+ page dossier reflecting on my career — especially the past eight years at BU — weaving together research, teaching, and service. At the same time, I updated my website profgrady.com to make this work public-facing, giving shape to the full arc of my practice.

Looking back, these months weren’t about stepping away from design but about re-grounding myself in it — through travel, reflection, and the instinctive need to create and share.

The Return: Teaching in an Age of Acceleration

By Spring 2025, I returned to Boston University, where design education feels more urgent than ever. My students are navigating an environment where AI can generate images in seconds, where content floods faster than it can be absorbed.

In class, I encouraged them to balance the timeless with the emergent: fundamentals like audience, context, and craft alongside experiments with AI. Projects like AI && You —yes two ampersands—made space for both hand-driven and machine-driven methods. The point wasn’t to elevate AI as replacement, but to show that it can be supportive — an amplifier, not a substitute for instinct.

This work also reached a wider audience. AI && You was featured at Boston University’s inaugural Symposium on Generative AI in Academics and Administration and in a faculty interview with the BU Institute for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, where I shared insights on integrating AI into creative pedagogy.

Teaching in this moment reaffirmed something I’ve always believed: our task as educators is not simply to teach tools, but to cultivate instincts. To help students trust their curiosity, embrace uncertainty, and create meaning in a rapidly changing world.

The Summer: Practice as Proof

Summer 2025 brought momentum in practice. With Design Axl, I collaborated on projects that stretched from venture capital to engineering, from packaging to digital storytelling. Whether it was Companyon Ventures’ new site, a brand identity for a civil engineering firm—to be announced, or packaging for Bubble Works, each project asked a common question: how do we create clarity and trust in a noisy world?

What made this summer especially meaningful was the chance to share that process with Andi Zhang, a current BU MFA student who joined Design Axl as an intern. Years ago, my mentor opened a door for me, and I’ve never forgotten how transformative that was. To be able to do the same for students now — to give them real-world opportunities where they can grow and contribute — feels like completing the circle.

Andi’s impact this summer reached well beyond what’s usually expected of an intern. Through client work, portfolio development, and countless conversations that challenged and inspired me, he became a true creative partner. His energy and perspective reminded me why I value mentoring as much as designing: it keeps the work alive, evolving, and connected across generations.

The breakthroughs, as always, came from instinct. Strategy framed the work, but intuition made it resonate. That same lesson I learned early in my career — design isn’t just about knowing, it’s about sensing — is one I see reflected now in those I mentor.

Why Now

This year reaffirmed something I first put into words at the start of my career: creativity is instinct.

In a world overflowing with generative content, that instinct matters more than ever. AI can accelerate, but it can’t feel. It can’t wrestle with complexity, or care about audience, or imagine better futures. Only people can do that.

Design is how we respond to complexity. Education is how we teach the next generation to respond with curiosity, empathy, and imagination. And instinct — the impulse to create, to question, to connect — is what carries it all forward.

As I reflect on this year, I’m reminded of the influence of my earliest mentor, who continues to inspire as a painter today. His words helped me define my “why.” Sabbatical, teaching, and practice have given me my “why now.” And right now, instinct feels more important than ever.

With gratitude to my family, friends, and the mentors who have shaped me — past, present, and those who continue to guide me today.

About Design Axl

I lead Design Axl, a boutique design practice that specializes in partnering with organizations to transform their brands through thoughtful design and strategy. My agile and imaginative team is constantly fueled by curiosity, dedicated to pursuing innovative methods and tools to elevate your brand. Our commitment to exploring new horizons and pushing creative boundaries remains unwavering, ensuring that we stay at the forefront of design excellence. As I extend my warmest wishes for the New Year, I invite you to take a moment to reflect on a year of work from Design Axl. 🐣

Exceptional Clients in 2023

In 2023, Design Axl had the privilege of working with a diverse range of esteemed clients across various industries. Here’s a glimpse of the exceptional organizations we partnered with in 2023:

Bain Capital Ventures
Contextual AI
Dell Technologies Capital
Distyl AI
Secuvy AI
Jump Capital
Momentum Commerce
World Technology Games
Tower Compactor Rentals
Grid City Beer Works
Bubble Works
Todd DePerno Painting

Our Focus on Venture Capital

At Design Axl, we specialize in providing tailored design solutions for Venture Capital firms and their portfolio companies. Our expertise extends to firms like Bain Capital Ventures, Contextual AI, Dell Technologies Capital, Distyl AI, Secuvy AI, NextView Ventures, and Jump Capital. Our designs align with the strategic goals of both VC firms and startups, setting them apart in the competitive landscape. We thrive on collaboration, delivering tangible value to VC firms and their portfolio companies, making design a catalyst for success in Venture Capital. Some of the services we’ve delivered include strategic brand positioning, brand identities, motion graphics, video animations, end-to-end web experiences, and even a Times Square billboard.

Building Momentum and World Technology Games

Design Axl takes pride in designing and developing cutting-edge websites for clients like Momentum Commerce and World Technology Games. For Momentum Commerce, we showcased their marketplace solutions through a dynamic web presence, ensuring seamless integration of their online digital marketplace tools. Our collaboration with World Technology Games resulted in a sophisticated and visually captivating website that reflects their innovative approach to technology and sports. These projects exemplify our commitment to staying at the forefront of design trends and technologies, providing our clients with websites that position them as leaders in their respective industries.

Collaboration with Friends

In addition to our core clients, Design Axl also had the pleasure of collaborating with a few other friends whom we hold in high regard. Our curiosity about various industries led us to work with Tower Compactor Rentals (TCR), where we elevated their brand presence. We also had exciting collaborations with Grid City Beer Works, Bubble Works, and Todd DePerno Painting, allowing us to delve into unique creative challenges and push the boundaries of our design capabilities. These projects highlight our passion for exploring new horizons in the world of design.

Special Thanks to Our Designers

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the talented designers who played a pivotal role in making all of our projects in 2023 a success. Each of them is a current or former BU student of mine, and their dedication and creativity were instrumental. Special thanks to:

Claire Bula
Mina Chung
Jesse Finkelstein
Arjun Lakshmanan
Angela Lian
Jacqueline Mang
Arjun Kumar
Wanjing Li
Perry Sosi
Ash Wei

Strategic Partnerships

In the world of design, strategic partnerships are essential. At Design Axl, we have the privilege of collaborating with trusted partners, Herzog & Schindler, and Code Greene, who have been with us since our inception. Herzog & Schindler specializes in brand strategy, research, concepting, communications, and product development. Our partnership has spanned over a decade, resulting in remarkable brand experiences. Code Greene ensures that our designs seamlessly translate into functional websites and applications, providing assurance to our clients that our designs will perform flawlessly.

Looking Ahead

Design Axl’s journey through 2023 was a testament to our commitment to design excellence, innovation, and collaboration. I eagerly anticipate continuing our mission to help brands evolve and create impactful experiences in the years ahead. Thank you for being a part of our journey, and stay tuned for more exciting projects in 2024!

Want one of these limited edition letterpress postcards?

For the 5th year in a row, we collaborated with Elias Roustom at EM Letterpress to create limited edition letterpress postcards. This year, we printed 2 foil colors and die-cut a slice out of the center of the card on Colorplan Cool Grey 130# Duplex Paper by Legion Paper. If you would like one of these unique postcards, please reach out to us, and we’ll be happy to send one your way. Supplies are limited! See past years: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020

To learn more about Design Axl, visit our website at axl.design, check out our Instagram, or email me at james@axl.design.

If you enjoyed this post, please follow or 👏 to show your support. Thanks for being a part of our journey!

—James

“We figure out what excites a student the most and we help make it happen.”

What is graphic design?

Grady: The simplest way to answer that is, it’s the synthesis of form and content. It’s an art form. It’s mark-making. A visual experience. It can be other things too, like a haptic experience, a sensory experience. But generally, it’s a visual experience which has the intention of communicating something to an audience, whether it be crystal clear or abstract. There’s a blurry line between graphic design and fine art. Although they’re helpful for a wide audience, these terms — fine art and graphic art — are pretty antiquated at this point. Graphic design has been appropriated into corporate communication, logos, identities, and branding. All of that is part of what graphic design is. But it can also be an immersive experience. It can be a solution to the problem of communicating a certain thing to a certain audience. There are many contexts of use. For example, some audiences respond to using an Apple watch, a phone, interactive installation, sculpture, poster, painting, or a book. No matter what the context of use is, its purpose is to communicate. The beauty of graphic design is, it’s still being defined. It’s not tied to a particular medium. It doesn’t need to be a poster or even typography, although those are some of the tools we use.

“The beauty of graphic design is, it’s still being defined. It’s not tied to a particular medium. It doesn’t need to be a poster or even typography, although those are some of the tools we use.”

What are some of the strengths of the BU programs in graphic design, (MFA and Certificate)?

Grady: We offer prolific form-making, with lots of divergent ideas, prototyping, sketching, concepts. We don’t have a “one-solution” point of view. Our faculty doesn’t have a singular point of view. We try to meet the students where they are, especially the graduate students. We want them to bring their experience but leave some of it behind, too. They should unlearn some of what they thought graphic design is. We want them to be incredibly divergent with their ideas, especially in the beginning. Once they find their curiosity, they can match it with a visual form. They can bring them closer, converging them. The question always is: how do they want to frame their point of view through the lens of graphic design and all the many different mediums it can employ? So, the idea is to go really wide and then converge on a thesis which can be topic-driven or process orientated. We help them to define their own process and can direct them to various topics.

Can you talk about the MFA Thesis?

Grady: You can do many different projects that run the gamut of different visual styles and mediums. You identify what your process is whether its posters, digital, installation, etc. Some students define a process around a subject area that can be political, environmental policy, human rights, etc. We want them to ask how can more be uncovered about an issue using graphic design?

The Certificate program has a similar philosophy. We want to bring promising students into the program and introduce them to as much as possible. We want to give them a historical context of where graphic design has been, where it’s going, and where it should go. We really want to send Certificate and MFA students out into the world to make a difference in society through the lens of graphic design. The programs are built to assist students through the long term, not just create a portfolio style to get a job. There are certainly practical applications of graphic design and people need to make money. That’s important. We give them those tools. But we want them to have a long range philosophy and process that they can adapt to the current climate and also to five, ten, twenty years from now. It’s not just about learning Illustrator and making logos. That’s fun and I love doing that but that does not define graphic design.

“The programs are built to assist the students through the long term, not just create a portfolio style to get a job.”

So it’s not just about a portfolio but about developing a process or processes?

Grady: Yes, I would define it that way. Process is the only way to adapt. If you are in tunnel vision about a current trend or style, it won’t help you in the long term. Life is a long journey and you need to be prepared for those pivots. Whether your project is four weeks long or 10 years long, you need to be prepared. Our goal is to provide those tools.

How much experience if any, should an MFA applicant have?

Grady: In the past, we looked for two to five years of experience after college in the industry, whether it’s in-house or in a studio where the student has tried different things. By having that experience you can see what you’re missing regarding your process. You’ve seen some other ways people do things and you now know a little more about how you want to define your process. Recently, we have many more MFA applicants directly out of college due to the pandemic. For these students, we need to hear from them that they have a clear reason for coming to graduate school.

“We give them real world projects. We do that in the context of a fine arts college which encourages them to be more divergent in how they think about graphic design as an independent field.”

Same question for Certificate applicants.

Grady: Many of our Certificate applicants majored in another field in their undergraduate program but they had always wanted to “do graphic design”. Most of them have some experience in the working world in business, marketing, or even biology. They’re looking for a career shift and want to immerse themselves in graphic design. We try to introduce them to the culture of graphic design. We talk about what studios look like and how they operate. We give them real world projects. We do that in the context of a fine arts college which encourages them to be more divergent in how they think about graphic design as an independent field.

Is the graphic design faculty composed of professionals in the field?

Grady: Definitely. I certainly am. Some of us work for clients. Others are publishers or curators. Some of us work in more esoteric places and others work in client-driven roles that help sell products or ideas. There’s a practicality to graphic design that no matter what we do, we’re communicating with a wide audience.

If New York City is the media center, why shouldn’t a student get their MFA or Certificate there?

Grady: I’ve been in the Boston area working since the late 1990s and I’ve seen huge growth here in the technology industry using graphic design. There is more of an opportunity in Boston to chart your own course. There are places here that will respect you and your individual vision. You don’t need to just get in line here and work in a large firm with a certain point of view. You can be a visionary, not just a worker. From my experience, you can partner with people and do new things. There are many international companies that have their headquarters here. I have a resources page on my website that lists all of the companies and studios in Boston that have either hired BU graduates or are friends of mine. If you want to go to New York, that’s great. There are tons of opportunities here and in New York. I guess I am a homer. I come from Rhode Island. There’s space for breathing here.

“I just took some people around the studios last week and they were blown away.”

Can you talk about the graphic design facilities here at BU?

Grady: I just took some people around the studios last week and they were blown away. The facilities were a big draw for me to come to BU to teach. The first time I saw the graduate studios, I could imagine myself here. I think that’s true for our students, too. They can really imagine themselves here. It’s not a dark basement studio where you just grind things out. Here, you enjoy the space you’re working in. I think that’s incredibly important. That’s (the work space) is graphic design, too.

“In academia, we’re told you can’t cross boundaries but I’ve been able to do it easily here. There are so many opportunities for collaboration between design and technology here.”

Anything you want to add?

Grady: I came here with an interdisciplinary career. I love the University because its graphic design department is within a School of Visual Arts, itself within the College of Fine Arts which sits alongside all these other amazing colleges. In academia, we’re told you can’t cross boundaries but I’ve been able to do it easily here. There are so many opportunities for collaboration between design and technology here. I work with BU Spark! (BU’s technology incubator and experimental learning lab) where I co-teach the design fellowship. BU Spark! is less about bringing a product to market and more about bringing together designers and developers who share curiosity about how to solve a certain problem. I also have a partnership with the BU School of Theatre where we’re working on an immersive experience for a theater production where we’re using projection and motion tracking as the set. That project brings in graphic designers, computer scientists, and theatre students — all working together in a seamless way. It’s challenging work but really fun. It’s all about finding the right people to work together, regardless of their department or college. I am very practical but I also have a broad range of interests and BU gives me that range to explore them and I want the students to have that, too. I ask students, “Is there something on the medical campus you’re interested in? Or, do you want to work in film at COM (BU College of Communication)? All of these things are possible at BU. We figure out what excites a student the most and we help make it happen.

See more about James Grady’s teaching and student work here: profgrady.com

James Grady: I came up with a few questions and they’re in no particular order, but we can just see how it goes, alright? So, all about Arjun! Happy first anniversary working together—it’s been awesome!

I thought it would be really helpful—and fun—to do a post that showcases some of the work that you’ve done at Design Axl and give a little background about who you are. Tell us about yourself; where you’re from, what you did before Grad school at BU*/what you did before working with me at Design Axl, and we’ll go from there—the floor is yours.

*Arjun took a gap year (fall 2020–spring 2021) from Boston University—during the pandemic—and will be returning in fall 2021 to complete his MFA at BU.

Arjun Kumar: So I’m from New Delhi, India and I grew up in Delhi itself. When I talk about myself, I like to tell people about what interests me and what I like rather than just reading off my CV, because that’s pretty boring.

JG: Sounds good! One of the questions that I have is about inspiration, where it comes from, and what you’re curious about, so take it wherever you want —we’ll fill in the gaps. However you feel comfortable talking about yourself is the way to go. I wanted to do this without giving you the questions in advance so you did not overthink it.

AK: I think that’s nice. I’m a person who really likes to keep myself busy and it’s not always work—many times it's personal projects or things that really excite me. I love to play soccer, go swimming, and play squash quite a lot. If I just want to chill I love playing my PlayStation, I also like reading a lot of novels—I love reading dystopian, historical fiction, and fantasy novels.

I realized—as a designer—you need to have interests outside your area of study because that’s what inspires your projects. If you are only focused on being a designer all the time it becomes too insular.

After high school, I studied Electrical Engineering. I was really good at science, and in India—unfortunately—that’s what many of my peers end up studying. Many people I know study to be a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer. Because everyone around me was studying in those fields I was not exposed to a lot of other things, but I liked to paint.

In high school and middle school, everyone knew me as a person who used to make amazing oil paintings, I used to paint all the time.

I also loved to work in Photoshop, but it was just a hobby—somehow throughout the four years of my undergrad I never gave up painting—I used to paint every semester. Every club that I became a part of I became the “creative guy” I was designing posters and banners, stuff like that. I enjoyed that more than my engineering studies.

After my four years in undergrad, I had a job offer, but I talked to my parents and I said, I want to give design a shot. If I don’t give it a shot right now I’m worried I won’t do it later in life. Then I became an intern at an ad agency, it was quite terrifying because truthfully I was being paid a quarter of what I was offered as an engineer.

So I became an intern at this ad agency called IPG Mediabrands, it was quite interesting, I was shocked by the ad agency world. I had imagined people working formerly dressed in proper suits and ties and all working in offices on laptops, but it was quite the opposite. They don’t act all that professional, but it was really nice to be exposed to that creative world. There was freedom and I liked being thrown into it. I learned a lot about creative brainstorming, new media, technology, and software. I was able to hone my technical skills a lot.

I also learned to manage projects and clients—it’s not about just executing—it’s the 10 steps before the final deliverable. I learned to work with a team and bring feedback into the process and understand the client’s needs.

JG: You’re also a really great photographer and animator. How does that influence the work that you do and when did you really start honing your skills in animation and ways of seeing?

AK: That started in the first year when I was working at IPG Mediabrands. It was just two or three months into my job, I was working for brands like Coca Cola and MasterCard and those brands wanted more than static images for their social media campaigns. They kept telling us “we want something dynamic—we want something to be made that actually shows movement” so that’s when I jumped into it. One of my colleagues told me I could make simple animations in Photoshop and then I moved into After Effects and that got me hooked. After many many hours of tutorials I started to get the hang of things. I started to proactively work on some things and then share them with my creative director and she really liked it. She decided to put me on the Coca Cola team so that’s how I actually got into motion design.

JG: What made you leave advertising and work? It sounds like you were having a great time there.

AK: My second year of work was nearly ending, and during that second year I just felt I had exhausted how much I could learn. I realized I wanted a formal design education and to be surrounded by a group of faculty and talented peers from whom I could learn, that’s when I decided to apply for Grad school. I got into BU and started my MFA journey.

JG: You’ve worked on a lot of really great projects—at BU and with Design Axl—what’s your favorite project that you’ve worked on?

AK: It has to be the MediaVax project—it’s been my favorite project—because this was my first time working from start to finish on a UI/UX project and it’s a project that has so many arms and legs to it. It’s not just focused on one area of design. I remember when you were working on the UX study for it, then we started working on the UI design, and then working on the video, and back on the UX. It was very iterative. That was also the first time I was working with a development team, so there was a lot that I learned during that project.

AK: One of my favorite specific parts was the app promo video. You gave me a lot of creative freedom for what to do with it. We had a clear idea of what we wanted to do but I had a lot of flexibility and a lot of time. There wasn’t a deadline that was imposed because you wanted to showcase the app for the Design Axl portfolio. Without a deadline it eases up the tension. I could actually spend time to figure out some new things that I really wanted to experiment with, it was really nice.

We also worked on the website and that was really fun. That was the first project in which I had been learning about micro-interactions and CSS animations. I learned so much by doing this project and it was just really nice to be a part of a project like that.

JG: What about a dream project that you’d like to work on or a dream client? I know you talked about working for Coca Cola, and that was really exciting because of the work that the team was doing but, if you had to visualize a dream project or client, what does that look like?

AK: It depends, I’m really interested in UI/UX, motion, and brand. These are the three pillars that I really love to work on and I’ve already worked with you a lot on UI/UX and motion design projects.

Actually, Grid City is an example of something that could be a dream project. I’d love to expand on that brand, maybe create a whole new campaign for them. Maybe use some of the 3D skills that I’ve been learning to create some new visual assets for them. I feel there’s so much more that I can learn with programs like Cinema 4d, I’d love to see how that could be applied to expanding a brand like Grid City.

AK: Otherwise, dream clients? Huh, I know people like to have some big names under their belt but even a small business can end up being the best project you can work on. So it’s no big name that comes into my mind it’s what the project that comes to be the will matter the most.

JG: I have to agree with that—each project is unique and each client is unique. Anything has the opportunity to be a dream situation. I’ve worked for Fortune 50 companies and many top brands that are out there, but the same thought and execution goes into a small startup or a major corporation.

JG: Alright, last question what special trick or superpower do you have that we don’t know about.

AK: In terms of graphic design?

JG: No, not necessarily.

AK: I feel it’s more to do with stamina? Some people don’t know this, but when it comes to stamina, I can work, for what seems like days when I get really excited about a project. For example, photography projects take a lot of stamina. That’s one thing that shocks people quite a lot. I went to the city called Varanasi in India and it’s one of the most ancient cities in the world. I wanted to capture the prayers that were happening on the banks of the river Ganges and those prayers used to happen at 4am in the morning. I had to plan these projects very thrifty, because I was a student and I didn’t have a lot of money, I’d stay in these hostels and get up at 3am. I traveled an hour to get there, I’d spend the entire morning then spend the entire day roaming the streets. They were the most beautiful narrow streets! I would take photos and staying at one place for two to three hours until I got my perfect shot and then I used to come back and do that again for the next two to three days.

JG: That’s an awesome answer and I think that is a great way to wrap this up, because I think that you’re an incredibly talented and hard working person. I think that really comes through and everything that you do. You really commit to it and are very focused. I think you have a really great work ethic, and I think that’s really important.

I was doing end of semester reviews this spring and a student asked me “What kind of work ethic, do you need as a graphic designer?” I said an incredibly strong one. Being a designer is something that you have to do because you love it, it’s a lot of work, it takes a lot of time, you can do other things and make a lot more money.

You’ve got to absolutely love this and at the same time, everything you do, you should love and be passionate about. I always like to say cleaning my house is graphic design—creating order, systems, and aesthetics. Taking pride and the things that you do and getting love from it. Whatever it is, if it’s animating a logo, or if it’s vacuuming the floor, you should have a lot of passion for it and passion for life.

It takes that hard work and effort to make these things happen. To wake up at 3am to get the perfect photo—that’s really experiencing life, and I think more than anything if you can incorporate the things that you love into the work that you do you really find a lot of fulfillment—from being a designer and living your life. You’re very inspirational to me. I look forward to continued collaboration. ✌️

👀 To learn more about Arjun take a look at here:
Instagram
Portfolio
Medium

To learn more about Design Axl look here: axl.design or email james@axl.design.

Please follow or 👏 if you like this post.

Thanks! James

Teaching was difficult — but amazing work still persevered — client work made me grateful — but never compromised — and I could not have asked for more from my family. I am so grateful for many things and pray for everyone’s health and safety now and throughout 2021. Please read on to see what my students at BU have been up to and what Design Axl has been working on during this crazy year.

Augmented Reality

On March 11, 2020, we received the email from the BU President’s office that classes would temporarily be suspended due to COVID-19 — no one expected it would still be having such an impact on our lives. I was teaching CFA AR 882 Graduate Studio, CFA AR 576 Motion Graphics, and HUB XC 433 Spark! Technology Innovation Fellowship. As we all transitioned to an online format I was so impressed with the agility of all my students, especially the graduate graphic design students. We were in the middle of a project on liminality and this situation could not have been any more liminal. I shifted the project from something that had an open-ended final output to something that needed to employ augmented reality. AR is something I started introducing in the fall in my CFA AR 589 Interactive Design class and I thought it was an appropriate medium for this project. Check out a few of the projects here: Michael Rosenberg, Arjun Kumar, and more on Instagram.

Design for Space and Screen

Fast forward to the fall. BU took on the ambitious challenge to safely open up amidst the global pandemic. As faculty, we were required to get a weekly COVID test and my students were tested twice a week if they were going to be on campus and in my classroom.

As part of our effort to protect the community and safely conduct residential teaching, learning, and research activities, we operate our own clinical testing lab, which can test at large volumes and return results rapidly.

Fortunate for me and my students one of the testing sites is located in my building at 808 Comm. Ave. Unfortunately, it occupied our CFA gallery—it’s worth the temporary sacrifice.

For students that choose not to come back to campus or could not return to campus, BU set up what was called Learn from Anywhere (LfA).

As described in BU Today, the aim of LfA is to present the same academic content to all students, whether they are in a classroom, in a BU residence, or in another country, and to allow all students to take part in equivalent learning activities.

To say the least—I knew this would be challenging for all of us. I decided early on that I was going to try to make the best experience I could for students who participated in class or remotely. I also wanted to make all my classes as collaborative as possible, many of the projects were teams of 2 to 5 students. Collaborative projects have their share of complications but I think this helped students connect even if they had to stay 6 ft or 6,000 mi away.

One thing I found to be effective when we could not tightly gather around the classroom tables, handle or pass around work, or even all be in the same room at the same time was large scale space, large screens, and large scale projection. I love design at all scales but there is an important pedagogical experience to seeing things at a human scale or larger for discussion and critique.

Check out a few outstanding projects from CFA AR 483 Senior Studio here: Design In Question Installation: Design Nomads, 27–1024: Question Exhibition, and 9:12 PM.

Interdisciplinary Performance

My role continues to grow in collaboration with the BU Spark! program. As well as co-teaching the Technology Innovation Fellowship I am the Creative Director of Spark! which allows me to work with students in the X-Lab program.

Students participating in the X-Lab are provided with opportunities to work on a wide range of computer science and software engineering projects on behalf of external partners from diverse sectors.

One of the ongoing X-Lab projects has been working with Clay Hopper and the School of Theater at BU on his project, A Random Act.

The goal of this project is to combine computer vision and generative graphics to create an application that can be used to follow and track actors on the play stage. The students have been working with technologies that allow them to interpret the data that is being created from the camera, recognize human forms, and then create visual effects coming from the human skeleton in order to simulate complementary effects.

This project has been going on for multiple semesters now and is one of my favorite interdisciplinary collaborations I’ve been apart of.

Design Axl keeps rolling

While life at BU turned remote, so did our work and clients at Design Axl. 2020 was a big year as we launched our new website, started a social media presence through an Instagram page, and worked for a portfolio of new clients executing projects ranging in branding, product UI/UX, motion graphics, and web design.

I also hired my former student, Arjun Kumar who has been working with me remotely since the pandemic started. Even though he is based out of New Delhi, India we have been operating our workflow quite smoothly with a virtual workspace on Trello and other collaborative design software tools. No matter what, one thing that this pandemic has taught is the power of remote work and collaboration with others despite the physical distance and difference in time zone.

The cobbler gets new shoes!

As we were approaching the 3rd anniversary of Design Axl, I realized that it was high time that the website got a facelift. Over the years we’ve been so fortunate to work with amazing clients on complex and interesting web, brand, and digital products, that we wanted to revamp our site to update all our new projects and make it easier for viewers to see what we offer and have worked on over the years.

Polyplexus

Polyplexus is developed by Aixxia, a not-for-profit consortium of cross-disciplinary experts, dedicated to exploring different means of amplifying the power of science, in the pursuit of invention and innovation. Design Axl, created a completely new information architecture, visual design, front-end, and back-end system.

MediaVax

One of the most exciting projects that we worked on was to create an app that analyzes and measures the risk of social media content in real-time. MediaVax arms media and business for the fight against social disinformation. We created the entire UX flow, wireframes, UI, and visual design. Design Axl teamed up with the data science team at MediaVax on the back end AI pipeline and Code Greene on the front end development. Design, development, and data science worked hand in hand over many weeks to create a prototype for MediaVax to test with users.

Trio Health

Trio Health works with biopharmaceutical companies using a proprietary technology platform that redefines the approach and methodology of collecting data on real world patients. Design Axl has been working on a persona-driven UI dashboard that enables their stakeholders—Physicians, Pharmacy, and Payers—to intuitively browse and filter this data.

GridCity

We continued our work with Grid City, launching various new cans in 2020. We designed the labels for the Seltzer pack — Hoppy Hard, Cucumber Lime, and Rosé Hard Seltzer, and The Big Fruitcake barleywine ale.

Creative Industries Zone (CIZ)

The South Salt Lake Arts organization approached us to design a logo for their Creative Industries Zone in South Salt Lake, Utah. This zone possesses a wealth of small industrial buildings offering flexible, inexpensive space for startup enterprises, artists, craftsman industries, and small service businesses. Owners and tenants cherish the location, flexible zoning, appropriate real estate, the rugged character, and the company of other creative entrepreneurs.

Looking forward

Keeping myself busy helped avoid some of the difficulties of this past year, but I could not have gotten through it without my family, thank you—and thank you for reading! I look forward to new endeavors in 2021. If you ever want to discuss design, teaching, or client work, please drop me a line, I’d love to chat. What’s one more zoom call?

Clap 👏, Follow 🏃 , or email me 📧 : james@axl.design | jjgrady@bu.edu

Part 2: pedagogy

In continuation from a previous post, Summer reflection Part 1: practice, Part 2: pedagogy focuses on the 2019 spring semester and summer session at Boston University. After two years teaching full-time at BU I would like to think I have a handle on things, but I continue to push myself and my students with new and relevant projects that support our departments learning objectives within the MFA and BFA. I’m excited to share some of the work from my talented students and provide a glimpse into the world of design at BU.

In a nutshell

In the spring I taught Senior Thesis and Motion Graphics. I also partnered with the Computer Science department, collaborated with the School of Theater, advised multiple grad thesis students, hosted numerous design lectures, guided field trips to amazing studios and galleries, and helped spearhead a new faculty search committee. I also taught a typography course over the summer, but who’s counting? 😅

Graphic Design Senior Thesis

Senior Thesis was challenging and exciting. Managing 30 individual thesis projects over the course of a semester left me intellectually exhausted—in the best of ways. I felt I learned just as much from the students as I taught them. They were amazing, thoughtful, articulate, creative, and professional.

Thesis projects ranged from Dissecting white imaginations and the Black body in horror film, to What it means to exist among multiple cultural identities, to How patriarchy interrupts the pursuit of the authentic self. Take a look at a few examples below.

Below are a few more thesis projects I’d recommend checking out:

Patricia Ho: 855 Beef Noodle Shop
Sam West: Eavesdropping, People Watching, + Paying Attention
Gabrielle Dipietro: Bone Folders + Blue Gloves
Nikita Singh: The Materials of Memory
Jami Rubin: Sugar Coated

Motion Graphics

For the second year I also taught Motion Graphics: an introduction to the methods and processes of creating motion graphics for broadcast and cinema. I love this class! The foundation of cinematic narrative, composition, and editing makes for a natural transition to design students who have never worked with video or animation before. I picked up on a few projects I did in grad school and I love the spin this class put on them.

Graphic Design + Computer Science

I’ve continued to bring together Graphic Design and Computer Science through the partnership of the BU Spark! programs.

BU Spark! is housed by the Hariri Institute for Computing, the Institute initiates, catalyzes, and propels collaborative, interdisciplinary research and training initiatives for a better society by: promoting discovery and innovations through the use of computational and data-driven approaches, and advancing computing sciences inspired by challenges in engineering; social, health & management sciences; and the arts.

The programs consist of Spark! Fellowships and X-Lab. Spark! Innovation Fellows start with an idea and are provided with a structured semester-long innovation experience to guide them through the process of taking their ideas from initial concept to a working prototype. Students participating in the X-Lab are provided with opportunities to work on a wide range of computer science and software engineering projects on behalf of external partners from diverse sectors. At the end of the semester the projects culminate with a public presentation and a pitch to venture capital investors.

Graphic Design students work in collaboration with these teams from beginning to end and are able to gain real-world experiences that have converted into many industry leading jobs. We will kick off a new group this fall and I can’t wait to see what they create.

Graphic Design + School of Theater

Another collaboration I’m really proud to be a part of is with Clay Hopper and the School of Theater. Clay and I met at a Dean’s luncheon and discussed ways we might be able to work together on an upcoming adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984.

In an experimental and unique collaboration between SOT, SVA and ENG’s Dept of Computer Engineering, we produced an adaptation of Orwell’s 1984 in the Spring of 2019. We were attempting a scenic design that utilized conventional projection mapping technology in combination with generative-computer graphics and computational vision, in order to create a completely fluid and projected media environment for the actor. We hoped to make certain aspects of the projection scape truly interactive by mapping actors’ movements to the programming of the generative images.

I introduced Clay to one of my amazing students, Ellen Lo, who was in one of my web design classes. Ellen helped build some generative software that tied into their projection and lighting design. The outcome was amazing!

This is only the beginning…this fall we will expand the team to include BU Spark! and I will oversee a directed study design student to collaborate with the team and continue the exploration of this aesthetic. I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes next.

So what’s next?

Classes start in less than a week. I’ll be teaching Senior Studio, Interactive Design, and co-teaching the Spark! Product Innovation class, as well as a list of other things I won’t bore you with right now.

Thanks for reading!

James Grady, Assistant Professor of Art, Graphic Design Boston University

Send me an email jjgrady@bu.edu | james@axl.design

Part 1: practice

As summer winds down I want to reflect on my work over the past 8 months. A lot is happening with my practice, Design Axl, as well as my pedagogy at Boston University. The two have gained momentum and continue to support each other. Design Axl supports clients in three strategic areas: web design, UI/UX design frameworks, and brand building. Take a look below at some of our latest work.

Web design

Our most recent web redesign and fantastic new client is NextView Ventures.

NextView Ventures is a group of seed stage investors who champion founders that want to redesign the Everyday Economy.

NextView was a referral from the wonderful folks at T3 Advisors. NextView reached out in need of some minor updates to their current site. I’m happy to say we were able to effectively illustrate and communicate their innovation.

We transformed NextView’s website from a homogeneous style into something completely unique with the help of illustrator and designer, Rachel Harris. NextView, Design Axl, and Rachel, brainstormed to create 3 feature homepage animations as well as numerous spot illustrations that give NextView a new personality.

Design Axl teamed up again with Code Greene on this project. Design and development worked hand in hand over 12 weeks to create a system allowing NextView to test wireframes and provide weekly feedback. Front-end design and back-end development happened simultaneously to save time and improve collaboration. Optimization and responsive design were critical to support their continuously updated content. The site loads super fast without compromising quality. (Full case study to come…)

T3 Advisors update

We continue to work with T3 Advisors on updates to the look and feel of the site, including specific client stage navigation on their homepage and new client pages: Early Stage, Growth Stage, and Enterprise. The site received a nice write up on a commercial real estate blog. We look forward to continued collaboration!

Why do we like their homepage? Instead of a header image, they use a header video. They don’t define themselves as a typical brokerage but rather a “collective brain trust” of “makers, entrepreneurs, creators, thinkers, and negotiators.”
—apto.com

UI/UX design frameworks

Design Axl continues to work with SymphonyAI Group across two of their key enterprise companies, Concerto HealthAI (formally Precision HealthAI), and Symphony MediaAI.

Based in Denver, Symphony MediaAI provides services for broadcast, cable, satellite, mobile and digital content providers around the world. Symphony MediaAI is developing a suite of SaaS products leveraging the power of artificial intelligence for their clients. We’re working on user experience, user journeys, user interface, dashboards, and an overall design framework for their new suite of products.

Most of the work can’t be shown because of the NDA, but it’s been a great partnership over the past few months. In July they invited me to Denver to meet, collaborate, and strategize the path forward. Denver is a beautiful city! I particularly liked the restaurant Forest Room 5. What an interesting pub in the middle of a city. 🌲

Brand building

I’m humbled to see the development of brands evolve from napkin sketches to physical construction. Grid City Beer Works is a client from the inception of Design Axl. I’m excited to see them break ground, build their community, and start pouring beer to the underserved folks of Utah. It’s a pleasure working with Grid City and I can’t wait to come out for the grand opening! 🍻

Harves

I’m also excited to see the identity we created for Harves and its partnership with Manchester United beginning to grow into themed entertainment and experience centers across China. I hope to get to visit one of these experience centers soon. 😉 ⚽️

Looking forward

I’ve been really fortunate to work with some fabulous clients on interesting projects over the past few months. I’m very thankful for all the opportunities and look forward to continued collaboration with my current clients. I’m always on the lookout for new design challenges. Please reach out, I would love to hear from you! —James Grady, Principal, Design Axl

Please keep on the lookout for more updates.

Send me an email james@axl.design | jjgrady@bu.edu

Thanks for reading!

Happy 2019

I’ve enjoyed working on some really awesome projects with some great partners and clients. I’ve also been able to build a design curriculum in lockstep with client work and vice versa. Please read on to see some highlights from the past year.

UI and UX and AR, oh my!

I’m sure there are a few acronyms I missed, but for now I’ll start with those. Over the past year, Design Axl worked with MathTalk to develop the User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), and Augmented Reality (AR) for their forthcoming mobile app. MathTalk aims to activate public spaces for early math learning. MathTalk is creating “MathScapes” — artistic, culturally relevant, easily accessible, physical installations that will be paired with the MathTalk app, both designed to stimulate adults and children to utilize their immediate environment to playfully explore key early math concepts.

What I found so special about their mission was that it was all about parent-child interaction through math concepts. Their goal was not to find right or wrong answers, but to create a dialogue without intimidating the child—or the parent—with math. This one-on-one conversation works well at the breakfast table or even the park. The challenge was to make a mobile experience that wasn’t just handed off to a child to keep them occupied, but to engage them in conversation.

The MathTalk team consisted of numerous experts on Early Childhood Education from Boston University and the University of Chicago, as well as community experts from neighborhoods in Cambridge, MA — where many of the meetings and family testing happened. The creative team was a mix of designers, developers, and illustrators. We conducted weekly calls and UX prototyping workshops at BU and in Cambridge.

One of the really exciting components of the project was working with Augmented Reality (AR). In many cases, augmented reality is a solution in search of a problem. It can seem unnecessary and sometimes nauseating 🤢, but it can also be completely magical for kids and offer a collaborative experience for parents and children.

We teamed up with BU Spark! to work on the development of the AR portion of the MathTalk APP. It was so much fun—and yes, challenging—designing in a 3D space. Having 5 and 7-year-olds at home made for some perfect user testing! Check out Joy and Flora having fun with the early stage demo.

Web dev and strategy

Design Axl is continuing to work with T3 Advisors, assisting with the development of their website and strategic goals for 2019. To see more details on that project check out this previous post.

AI—Ah, I knew I was missing an acronym

We’ve also been working with a HealthCare company to develop UX strategies for their Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform. This is an extension to some previous data visualization work with another HealthCare client.
More to come…

Brand Identity

Brand identity and visual design are central to Design Axl’s work. Design is a collaboration between so many different partners and stakeholders; through design thinking and brand strategy we can build trust among the teams. Not only is it our obsession to make things beautiful and functional, it is critical to the success of any Design Axl project. Over the past year, we’ve been able to work with some great clients on their branding efforts, including logos, typographic systems, color palettes, video and image libraries, and of course websites. Take a look at a few examples.

Harves

Harves is a Chinese real estate development and investment firm with some exciting news—Harves recently announced a partnership with Manchester United and will open a series of club-themed entertainment and experience centers throughout China. Design Axl created the new Harves visual identity system and website.

Liz Linder

Liz Linder is a Boston-based photographer who uses images to tell stories that matter. Liz is an amazing photographer and even better person. I’ve been fortunate enough to collaborate with Liz on many photoshoots—including this guy—and it was a privilege to work on her visual identity system, and website, and consult on her latest portfolio. One of the most exciting projects was working on a time-based animation featured in Times Square.

Practice and Pedagogy

The foundation for all of Design Axl’s work comes from my design education starting as an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth where I first fell in love with art and design pedagogy, to my MFA in Graphic Design at the Rhode Island School of Design. There is a lot you can learn from your everyday surroundings and individual research about graphic design and design tools, but I believe it is critical to study art and design in an institution with mentors that can provide so much more than you can possibly learn on your own. That is why I’m so honored to be able to split my time between my practice and my pedagogy. My goal is to offer all I’ve learned—and continue to learn—to my students. Below are a few examples of some classes, workshops, and extracurricular events I have been involved in over the past year.

Spark!

BU Spark! is an initiative to support student-driven innovation and entrepreneurship in computer science, computer engineering, and related disciplines. I have been working with Ziba Cranmer, Director of BU Spark! on many of their initiatives, including the User Interaction Design Fellowship. The User Interaction Design Fellowship is a unique program that aims to help computer science and graphic design students build their skills in user experience design. This program, offered in partnership with the RedHat’s UXD team includes an educational component comprised of a series of workshops including a UX-UI Bootcamp, UX-UI Workflows and tools, PatternFly open source design library, and UXD Prototyping Review Clinics.

Teaching with Technology

In the fall, I was asked to become a BU Digital Learning & Innovation (DL&I) Multimedia Ambassador. This role involves advocating for new ways to teach students and faculty new technologies, in particular, the Adobe Creative Cloud. BU has an amazing partnership which gives all faculty and students the use of the Adobe Creative Cloud for free! This is an amazing opportunity to showcase and test new software Adobe is continually unveiling and updating. DL&I also hosted an Adobe Creative Jam “a 3-hour design charrette showdown.” I was asked to be a judge—it was great! I also was a speaker at the Teaching with Technology (TwT) Festival hosted at the George Sherman Union (GSU). TwT is an all-day festival open to the entire university that showcased many ways the BU community fosters digital learning & innovation. I look forward to what’s in store as I continue to teach with technology at BU.

Studio Classes

Finally, I’m also consumed with my studio courses, working with graduate and undergraduate students on their thesis work, sophomore typography, and motion graphics to name a few. I will explore all of that in a future blog post. If you’ve read up until now, thank you, but I would be telling my students at this point to leave on a high note! Here are just a few photos from some hands-on workshops, a studio visit to my first employer as a young professional, and some graduate work. Please follow me on Instagram for the most recent updates.

Keep it rolling

In closing, it has been an amazing, but very bittersweet year. I lost my Father in December and it’s been difficult. He would be so happy to see all that I have accomplished. He would never tell me to slow down only to keep rolling. So here’s to my Dad and 2019—let’s roll!

Please keep on the lookout for more updates.

Send me an email james@axl.design | jjgrady@bu.edu

Thanks for reading!

T3 Advisors’ focus is on real estate and workplace solutions for the world’s most innovative companies.

Research and Planning

Upon first review of T3’s previous site, it was not clear to us exactly what T3 Advisors did. Real estate brokers? Real estate developers? Interior designers? All of the above? These initial questions seemed like a great starting point to sorting out T3’s new website. We began our research and planning phase by conducting a complete current site audit. We reviewed their Google analytics, site navigation, user experience, site engine optimization (SEO), security gaps, and pros and cons of their current content management system (CMS).

After evaluating the current site we could see that critical content was not being discovered. The about page “Why T3” was #10 on the list of most visited pages and the “Solutions” page came up #23. This research and our discovery sessions with key stakeholders helped us identify some top level goals for the site:

+ Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.
+ Tell the story—Why T3?
+ Showcase the team — It’s all about the people!
+ Outline the T3 Method—Design Thinking for Real Estate
+ New videos and case studies—Show don’t tell
+ Call to action—Get more face to face meetings

Information architecture

After the research and planning phase we were given the green light to blow up the current Information architecture (IA) and start from scratch. T3 stands for Technology, Tenant, and Team. The “3” theme seemed like an interesting opportunity to hang the site architecture on. Could we simplify the site down to three main sections? After some whiteboarding sessions and IA refinement we were able to do just that: “Why T3”, “T3 Solutions”, and “Latest” became the main sections of the new site.

Visual direction

T3 truly practices what they preach. They place companies in very desirable spaces at the center of innovation around the globe and they have their own cool spaces in San Francisco, Palo Alto, NYC, and Boston. We had our meetings in their Boston office and that gave us inspiration for the initial look and feel, color palette, and typography for the new site.

Based on the T3 office space design we crafted multiple mood boards to show how their physical space could translate to a virtual space.

T3 asked us to outline our design philosophy, the design “why”. This is a rare client request but we were more than happy to oblige. They wanted to know—specifically—what goes into the decision making for color, form, typography, and information design? We referenced a few books that support some of our design decisions: Envisioning Information—Edward R. Tufte, Never Use Futura—Douglas Thomas, Visual Thinking for Design—Colin Ware.

Finally, all the research, planning, information architecture, and mood boards went into wireframes and multiple design directions including motion studies—some a little too frenetic 😬. We developed these initial prototype options for T3 to test with key stakeholders and provide regular feedback. Seeing the animations early on was a valuable part of the process.

Development

Design and development worked hand in hand over 16 weeks to create a system where T3 could test wireframes and provide weekly feedback. Front-end design and back-end development happened simultaneously to save time and improve collaboration. The site was built on a WordPress platform with WP engine and WordFence as a security solution. The CMS was customized to fit T3’s needs without overwhelming them with unnecessary features.

Launch!

Last month we had the honor of launching the new site at T3’s annual company retreat hosted at their San Francisco location. It was slightly nerve-racking finishing and launching in front of a live audience, but in the end everything came off without a hitch.

Some kind words from T3

Once our team at T3 decided to revamp our website, I spent a lot of time researching design and development firms. I wanted to work with someone who was a focused expert in design and could make a beautiful site, as well as make the notoriously painful website redesign process somewhat enjoyable. After talking with about six firms, I received a referral from another design firm to talk to James. I could tell right away that James was not only an expert in design, but he was also an incredibly thoughtful and genuine person I could trust.

James led the entire project and easily managed our team’s many voices and ideas. Throughout the process, every single person on our team who interacted with James would tell me how impressed they were with him and how much they enjoyed working with him. The process and communications were clear from the beginning, and I can honestly say that I look back on the project with fondness. On a personal level, I loved learning more about design through working with James, but our entire team also really appreciated how he communicated his design choices, helping us feel even more proud of our new site.

The site feels so much like “us.” It’s an unbelievably better reflection of our brand, our people, our services, and what it’s like to actually work with us.

As a firm that also works in the professional services industry, we at T3 feel proud when we can make our clients look good. James did that for me — I got the credit of launching a successful new website, but it was all because I chose the right partner. I can’t sing his praises enough and would recommend anyone work with him that wants an enjoyable process and a thoughtful, beautiful end result.

Natalie Taylor, Marketing Director at T3 Advisors

What’s next?

Well, take a look at the new site and let us know if you have any feedback—we’d love to hear what you think. T3 is continuing to build out their case studies and latest updates. We’ll be keeping an eye on traffic and seeing where things can be improved.

A sincere thanks to the team at T3 Advisors, especially, Natalie, Roy, Berge, Morgan, Amy, Tyler, and everyone else who contributed to this project. It has been a great partnership and we look forward to continued collaborations.

Check out the new site here: t3advisors.com

Please keep on the look out for more updates.

Send me an email james@axl.design

Thanks for reading!

It’s been a very exciting year juggling all new classes, new clients, and at the same time preparing to apply for the Assistant Professor position. It was a lengthy application process which included meeting with the National Search Committee, the Director of the School of Visual Arts, and the Dean of the College of Fine Arts. I also gave a presentation that was open to all the faculty and students in the College. I feel very fortunate to have made it through the rigorous process and am honored and thrilled to be extending my position here at Boston University. I thought I’d share a little of my teaching philosophy as well as some of the amazing work my students have been doing this past year.

Teaching Philosophy

I have been developing my teaching philosophy for many years. It was not until I left a long-standing professional position to pursue an MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design that I discovered how the cycle of teaching and learning could help me rethink my own design philosophy. Through the process of researching and producing my master’s thesis I came to understand that my own surroundings and culture were a key source of inspiration, and I could translate that into a design methodology that supports my teaching philosophy.

My methodology is a port of entry when working with my students. I seek to instill the confidence in my students that they don’t need to look far for inspiration, they just need to look closely. Often, things that are overlooked from our everyday can inspire formal and theoretical work. With this foundation, students can begin the process of critical thinking and problem-solving. After the iterative design process begins, I support my students to experiment with different types of media, from traditional 2D print media, and all aspects of digital media. Needless to say, digital media is critical in contemporary graphic design, but it must be supported by the history of graphic design, typography, and 3D form making.

Understanding specific tools and technology is important to prepare students for life outside the university setting, but it is more important that students understand first where their inspiration can come from, and second what their role is as multidisciplinary designers in society. If students have an understanding of themselves, as well as multiple systems of discipline, this will help them cross traditional boundaries to find where new ideas can emerge. Well-rounded thinkers and makers need to be critical and accept criticism to be good collaborators. Graphic Design is a shared experience now more than ever, and as a teacher, I look forward to learning from the next generation of designers.

Undergraduate and Graduate Courses

Since classes started in the Fall, I’ve been teaching Graduate Studio, Graduate Typography, Web Design, Motion Design, and Senior Thesis. Below are a few of the projects from Undergraduate and Graduate students.

What’s next?

My Senior Thesis class will be installing their show in the 808 Gallery next week. Come on by, it’s going to be great! More details at: thesis.show

This summer I’ll be teaching a Typography class, working with select clients, and spending some quality time with my family. (Oh, and I did update my website, axl.design since my first post back in January.) If you have an interesting project or would like to talk about anything design or education related please drop me a line.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported me (especially Christina 😘).

Sincerely,

James Grady
Assistant Professor, Graphic Design
School of Visual Arts, College of Fine Arts
Boston University

Please keep on the look out for more updates.

Send me an email james@axl.design | jjgrady@bu.edu