EWU Design Faculty & Staff

About

Born in Germany, raised on the east coast outside of Philadelphia, I headed to the Midwest and received a BA in Graphic Design from the University of Notre Dame, and then to the Pacific Northwest to complete an MFA in Graphic Design at the University of Idaho. Along the way, I freelanced in Boulder CO and Prescott, AZ, and was an in-house designer at Grand Targhee Ski and Summer Resort before joining Riddell Advertising and Design in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Currently, I am Professor of Visual Communication Design and Chair of the Department of Design at Eastern Washington University. Along the way, I learned that I am happiest outside in nature, I got married, had two daughters, and have had five dogs, though never more than two at a time.

About

Sonja’s likes: social impact design, sustainability, semiotics, curiosity, sparkly sidewalks, things out of place. Over the course of her design career she has worked at a newspaper, two small design studios, in-house for a multi-national brand, as a sole-proprietor (freelancer), and as the art director for two magazines. She taught design at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle before settling in Department of Design at EWU.

Sonja is working on getting students to stop apologizing for asking questions. They should ask questions without regret.

About

Meg earned her BA in Visual Communication Design and UX Certificate from EWU and followed it up with a MS in Instructional and Technological Communication with coursework focusing on adult education and cognitive psychology. Currently, Meg is looking for PhD opportunities that will allow her to keep doing what she loves most: working with students in Eastern Washington. Meg teaches courses in user experience design, web design, portfolio and works with entrepreneurial-minded students as a faculty mentor in the E-Ship Center. Meg’s research interests lie in the intersection of accessibility, usability, education and design ethics. Her goal in life? Never make things harder for anyone than they need to be.

About

He stewards the UX Design Certificate, and explores the myriad of web-connected devices, platforms, and emerging technologies via the UX Lab.

When asked to divulge more personal details, he politely declined. This response is apropos.

About

Complex phrase fan, doer, and reformed karaoke-ist. For the past ten years, he’s wandered freely in the realm of higher education and reality design. A Bauhaus fanboy and child of postmodernism, existing on rearview sweet spots and remixed aesthetics. Spokane, WA #bornandraised. A design/art/tech-head producing at the intersection of craft and experience. All around professional doodler on a quest to develop visual systems that promote and inspire wonder.

My mission: Invest as many people with creative confidence as I can.

About

Sam Mills studied architecture at Columbia University, creative writing at the University of Montana, and cartooning on his own. He’s published a graphic novel, Butcher Paper, and a prose science-fiction novel, The Obsoletes. His logos, illustrations, and cartoons have appeared in The Inlander, Smoke Long Quarterly, Scablands Books, Okey Panky and other venues. At Eastern, he teaches classes in drawing, visual storytelling, and imaginary worlds. He embraces the unplanned, unexpected elements that find their way into his drawings and stories—and he’s committed to inspiring his students to encounter those elements in their work, too.