Maria Smith Bohannon

Associate Professor of Graphic Design
Chief Academic Adviser
Graphic Design Adviser
Studio Art Adviser

319 West Wilson Hall
248-370-2577
[email protected]
www.Mariasmithbohannon.com

 Maria Smith Bohannon, Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Chief Academic Adviser of the Department of Art, Art History, and Design, is a designer, maker, and writer with a strong focus on sustainable design. Her creative scholarship is dedicated to exploring environmentally conscious materials and design methodology, seeking innovative solutions that reduce ecological impact. Her research emphasizes the importance of integrating sustainability into the design process and education. Smith Bohannon’s work also explores expressive, typographically driven design, where she views letters and language as a playground for endless design experiments. Her designs push the boundaries of typography, blending function and emotion. 

Her work has been featured in international typography and graphic communication journals such as HYPHEN, Design and Culture, and Graphis Letterhead 4. The American Advertising Awards (ADDYS) and Louisville Graphic Design Association (LGDA) awards have recognized her design work. Additionally, she has presented her sustainable pedagogical methods and other creative work at conferences and exhibited her designs nationally and internationally. She serves on the editorial board of Message, an international peer-reviewed journal published by The University of Plymouth in the UK. 

Smith Bohannon received her M.F.A in graphic design from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, and her B.F.A. in graphic design from the Mary Schiller Meyers College of Art at the University of Akron, Akron, Ohio. 

Education
BFA in Graphic Design with minors in Illustration and Drawing, The University of Akron
MFA in Graphic Design, Kent State University

Major Fields of Interest
Graphic Design, Sustainable and Climate Design, Community Design, and Typography

Courses Taught
ART 1130 Graphic Design for Non-majors
DES 1130 Foundations of Graphic Design 
DES 2230 Graphic Design I
DES 3330 Graphic Design II
DES 4300 Graphic Design III
DES 3350 Typography
DES 3390 Package Design
DES 3900 Special Topics: Portfolio Design
DES 3900 Special Topics: Typography II
DES 3900 Special Topics: Sustainable Design
DES 3900 Special Topics: Experimental Typography
DES 3950 Internship in Graphic Design 
DES 4999 Senior Thesis in Graphic Design

Grants
Sustainable Activism: A visual study of words connected to climate change, University Research Committee Faculty, 2022

Judd Family Endowed Fund, Illustrator JooHee Yoon 2019-2020

Visual Investigations of Elemental Geometry, University Research Committee Faculty Research Grant, Spring, 2019

ITC grant for The Preserve/H2OU: A community-based environmental education program, Partnered with Associate Professor of Biology Scott Tiegs, 2020

Judd Family Endowed Fund, Lucille Tenazas, 2017-2018

Awards
Signal Return Music in Detroit, Poster Finalist, 2016

Detroit Central Community Mental Health Community Service Award, 2009

Lexington Advertising Club, American Advertising Award, ADDY first place,

Lexmark International Printer Product Guide, 1998

Lexington Advertising Club, American Advertising Award, ADDY first place,

The Williams McBride Group Identity, Creative Director, 1998

Lexington Advertising Club, American Advertising Award, ADDY Citation of Excellence, University of Kentucky Home Care Calendar, Creative Director, 1998

Lexington Advertising Club, American Advertising Award, ADDY Citation of Excellence, Lexmark International Partner Program, Campaign Flat, Creative Director, 1998

Lexington Advertising Club, American Advertising Award, ADDY Citation of Excellence, Lexmark International Collateral, Product Sheets, Creative Director, 1998

Lexington Advertising Club, American Advertising Award, ADDY Judges’ Choice,

Dupree Catering Business to Consumer Campaign, Creative Director, 1998

Louisville Graphic Design Association, LGDA 100 Show, Williams McBride Group Identity, Gold Award, Art Director and Designer, 1998

Louisville Graphic Design Association, LGDA 100 Show, Lexmark International Product Guide, Excellence Award, Art Director and Designer 1998

Louisville Graphic Design Association, LGDA 100 Show, Actors’ Guild of Lexington, Excellence Award, Art Director, 1998

International Association of Business Communications, Bronze Quill Award, Award of Excellence, Lexmark Laser Printer Brochure, Art Director and Designer, 1997

International Association of Business Communications, Bronze Quill Award, Award of Excellence, The Mark, Art Director and Designer, 1997

International Association of Business Communications, Bronze Quill Award, Award of Excellence, Lexmark Spring Laser Printer Brochure, Art Director and Designer, 1997

Lexington Advertising Club, American Advertising Award, ADDY first place,

Lexmark Newsletter, Designer, 1997

Lexington Advertising Club, American Advertising Award, ADDY first place,

University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital Site-Exterior, Designer, 1997

Lexington Advertising Club, American Advertising Award American Advertising Award, ADDY first place, UK Children’s Hospital Poster, Designer, 1997

Lexington Advertising Club, American Advertising Award, ADDY first place,

Buzzword Stationery Package, Designer, 1997

American Advertising Federation Akron ADDY, Akron Art Museum Beaux Arts Ball, Designer, 1994

Articles
Review of Vital Media: Making, Design, and Expression for Humans and Other Materials by Michael Nitsche, Design and Culture Journal, Taylor & Francis Group, 2023/24

HYPHEN, International Journal of Typography and Graphic Communication, 2022–2023 Volume, Climate Design Activism: Lessons for graphic designers from environmental pioneers of the late 1960s and early 1970s, 

Review of Design, Nature, & Revolution: Toward a Critical Ecology by Tomàs Maldonado, Design and Culture Journal, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021

HYPHEN, Volume 12, 2019-2020, In Restless Aesthetic Pursuit: Recontextualizing Typography. A study of expressive, creative and non-traditional forms of typography and their application using both digital and analog methods.

ARTISTIK, Design for a Cause: Community Service Identity Design, published 2012

Graphis Letterhead 4, Buzzword Stationery, 1998

Wayzgoose Anthology, Designer/printer for Type High Press at Kent, published in Grimsby, Ontario, 1993

Oral Presentations/Colloquium/Residency:
Sustainable Material Explorations and Methodologies in Package Design, Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru),2023 National Conference “What’s Next, Imaging New Education Futures for Ourselves, Our Community, and Our Planet”, Penn State University, Pennsylvania, 2023

Sustainable Design Pedagogy: a fifteen-week case study of sustainable and climate design methodology and outcomes, College Art Association National Conference, New York, 2023

Climate Design Activism: Lessons for graphic designers from environmental pioneers of  the late 1960s and early 1970s, Design History Society Conference, Ankara, Turkey, 2022

Climate Design Activism: Lessons for graphic designers from environmental pioneers of the late 1960s and early 1970s,  Presenter at International Conference on Typography & Visual Communication, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2022

Design Incubation Fellow, 2021 Design Incubation Writing Fellowship Workshop

Sustainable Design Thinking: Changing the Design Process, Design Incubation Colloquium 7.1: Oakland University, October 2020

Design Writing Resident, Design Incubation Residency, Haddon Avenue Writing Institute, Chicago, IL. October 2019. 

In Restless Aesthetic Pursuit: Recontextualizing Typography, Design Incubation Colloquium 6.1: Quinnipiac University, Connecticut, 2019

In Restless Aesthetic Pursuit: Recontextualizing Typography, International Conference of Typography and Communication, Patras, Greece, 2019

Process Based Design, Oakland University, 2018

Design is a Verb, Oakland University, 2017

Exhibited Works: Group Exhibitions
Outside Work, Oakland University AAH Faculty Show, Rochester, Michigan, 2023

Textures, Patterns, Shapes or Forms, Las Laguna Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, August 2021

Textures and Patterns Art Exhibition, Art Room Gallery, Online Exhibition, June 2021

Moving Forward, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, Fall 2020

ARCHITECTONIC, Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, Missouri National Show, August-September 2019

50 Years of Design, Visual Communication Design Alumni Show, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, August-September 2019

Ann Metzger National Biennial Exhibition, St. Louis Art Guild, St. Louis, Missouri, January–February 2019

117 Gallery, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2018–2020

Be There, Be Square, Las Lagunas Gallery, Las Lagunas, California, December 2018

Rinse and Repeat, Ann Arbor Art Center, Regional Show, August-September 2018

Michigan Fine Arts Competition, Birmingham, Bloomfield Art Center, Michigan,

Regional Show, Juried, July-August 2018

At Your Service, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, January 2018