Stories

Associate Professor of Design Carma Gorman's article "The Role of Trademark Law in the History of US Visual Identity Design, c.1860–1960" was published in the Journal of Design History.

The College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin announced that it has appointed Jan Ryan to the newly created position of Director of Creative Entrepreneurship and Innovation. A successful entrepreneur and passionate advocate for professional women in Texas, Ryan has joined UT to create a new entrepreneurship program for students in the College of Fine Arts. Ryan will work closely with Dean Doug Dempster of the College of Fine Arts, Doreen Lorenzo, assistant dean of the School of Design and Creative Technologies and the Fine Arts Career Services office to develop new courses and co-curricular programs that prepare students for 21st century creative careers.

Jan Ryan recently joined the College of Fine Arts in the newly created role of Director of Creative Entrepreneurship and Innovation. As an entrepreneur, software tech executive and investor, Ryan has been focused on building expansion stage companies for 28 years, resulting in four successful acquisitions and one IPO. Ryan is currently a strategic advisor and angel investor in some of Austin’s most innovative young companies. She serves as partner at Capital Factory, an Austin-based accelerator and mentoring program for startups, as well as TechStars, an international accelerator where she frequently shares her founders story and funding advice. We caught up with her recently to learn more about her new role in the college.

In a move aimed to support the need for creative professionals in the business, nonprofit and government worlds, The University of Texas at Austin has created the School of Design and Creative Technologies. The school is the fourth major academic unit in the College of Fine Arts.

Paul Toprac leads UT’s Games and Mobile Media Application (GAMMA) Program, an interdisciplinary undergraduate certificate program for students of the Center for Arts and Entertainment Technologies (CAET), Computer Science Department and Radio-Television-Film Department. The program produces graduates ready to design, develop and provide leadership in computer game, mobile app and creative media agencies and studios in Texas and around the world. We recently caught up with Toprac to discuss​ his experience in gaming, both inside and outside of the classroom.

Neal Daugherty is an artist currently teaching AET production courses that cover 2-D animation, working with Adobe Creative Cloud and a digital practicum that focuses in game concept and elements. His work outside of the classroom includes visual arts, graphic design and printmaking. Daugherty has worked with Nike and had his work featured in exhibitions, and he runs his own company called Misunderstood Technologies and is a part of a multimedia band called Death and Astronauts. We recently caught up with him to talk about his work.

Dax Norman is an artist and animator who is currently teaching 3-D animation in AET. He teaches production courses where students work with 3-D animation, practice using software like Photoshop and create a video game. As an artist, his work includes numerous paintings, animated projects and GIFS. Norman’s work has been shown in exhibitions and festivals both nationally and internationally, such as Spike & Mike’s Sick and Twisted Animation Festival and Gallery 444 in San Francisco. He’s also created animation for Adult Swim and MTV.

Michael Baker is a game developer and graphics production expert with more than 15 years experience in games and VFX production. He’s worked on big licensed projects based on Star Wars and Alien, and developed software tools for the popular Bullet Physics Framework which powers countless authoring tools, feature films, and games. In 2013, he co-founded Codex Worlds, an indie game studio based in Austin, Texas. We caught up with him recently to talk about his work and teaching.

Center for Integrated Design Lecturer Jared Huke writes about teaching an Intro to Design Thinking course to non-designers. 

School of Design and Creative Technologies Doreen Lorenzo writes about “Designing Business and The Future” before moderating a panel of the same name at the 2017 Techonomy NYC conference.