PRESENTATIONS
Peer-Reviewed Conference Presentations
July 2010 World Conference on Transportation Research
Lisbon, Portugal
Speaker: “The Role of the Graphic Design in Developing Place Brands”
Abstract: Public transportation advertising plays an important role in influencing travel behavior and shaping public opinion about public transit. Over the past five years, advertising campaigns in North America (and, more broadly, marketing campaigns) have featured messages that promote the value of riding public transit. Such campaigns underscore a somewhat broader branding effort seeking to distinguish public transportation as a better value than commuting by automobile, undoubtedly bolstered by a weak international economy, a spike in fuel prices, and growing public concern about environmental issues. However, the efficacy of these programs remains untested. Analysis of transit advertising, marketing, and branding has been limited for a number of reasons; the scarce availability of reliable data coupled with differences between private sector corporate and public sector professional culture has prevented careful examination of examination of public transportation advertising. The resulting deficiency in literature and best practice examples extends equally to academic literature as well as to professional practice and leaves the efficacy of transit advertising programs in question. This study examines the proliferation of value-oriented advertising messages and the effect of these messages on ridership and revenue. A critical analysis of advertising messages in 10 North American public transit markets yields a typology that describes advertising objectives, graphic and visual communication, and outcome of marketing campaigns. With this technique, we examine best practices and short- term outcomes of advertising in response to situations external to a transit agency from which transit managers can objectively evaluate future efforts.
March 2010 American Cultural Association/Popular Culture Association National Conference
St. Louis, Missouri
Speaker: “Sunset and Suburbia: The influence of Sunset magazine on home design and living in mid-century America”
Abstract: The innovative graphic style developed by the editors and staff of Sunset magazine between 1947–1967 significantly influenced the visual style of a number of subsequent home-oriented publications including Dwell, Real Simple, and Martha Stewart Living. The significance of this graphic primacy is slowly gaining academic attention, though little research exists on the influence of the Sunset graphic style on shaping the mid-century American suburban paradigm. Between 1947–1967, Sunset published more than 100 articles and about two dozen books which featured “ideas” for modern homes. These homes styled by Sunset editors as “western” embodied the ideals of high-modernist architects; simplistic materiality, visual clarity, and geometry expressed as a formal container for idyllic suburban living. Though distributed primarily on the West coast and focused primarily on mid-century Californian suburban culture, the influence of Sunset reverberated throughout America. Television scenic designers and props masters emulated the Sunset suburban aesthetic, which in turn shaped the now quintessential images of suburbia viewed on television across the country throughout the the fifties and sixties. Likewise as suburban zeitgeist ignited during the post-war era, architects and real estate developers across the Unites States borrowed from the vernacular elements featured in Sunset. Often, the Sunset architectural vocabulary was excerpted piecemeal and exported to other regions of the country where these otherwise highly fashionable design elements were rendered utterly impractical. This paper examines the steady proliferation of the Sunset suburban aesthetic and presents several lasting examples of its significant influence on contemporary material culture.
October 2008 MAPACA Regional Conference
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Speaker: “The Role of the Graphic Design in Developing Place Brands”
October 2008 Outside the Frame
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Keynote Speaker: “Part and Parcel: a critical evaluation of the role of public architecture and contemporary place branding in the creation of the city image.”
Abstract: Iconic structures, buildings, and urban conditions have for centuries helped the public to identify specific cities. Structures such as the Eiffel Tower and buildings such as the Louvre and La Défense are commonly associated with Paris; much in the same manner that the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and Times Square are unique to New York. These iconic constructs provide an understructure that is used to assemble a visual image of place, and collectively form a unique visual identifier that represents a specific city. The universal recognizability of these images is a significant component of place-based identity and in this manner shares a relationship to contemporary place branding efforts. As place brands develop and become increasingly pervasive, the value of architecture as the principal means of defining place has begun to shift, and is becoming one mode among many more ephemeral modes including the development of place-based logotypes, signature urban objects, colorways, transportation brands, advertising campaigns, and slogans. These different approaches of place branding mesh along with architecture as part of a contentious debate often marked by concern over social and economic division, control, and the corporatization of public space. Like resistance to place branding, opposition to “starchitecture,” is often a very public rallying point for those concerned about the invasion of shared community spaces and places by quasi-commercial public space. The vociferous and often negative reaction to high profile architectural projects closely mirrors a countercultural backlash to contemporary place branding exercises in many communities across North America. This presentation will evaluate a number of recent controversial building projects as well as several contemporary place brands and will aim to identify the common threads of these ongoing changes.
July 2008 New Views 2
London, England
Invited Speaker: “Defining Place Branding: a critical examination and the implications for graphic designers”
July 2007 IIID International Conference
Schwarzenberg, Austria
Speaker: “Deconstructing the Measure of Disability”
Abstract: Data, both qualitative and quantitative, which represents the physical, cognitive, and situational abilities of the global population is inconsistent and is not centrally collected by any one international source. Moreover, the definition of ‘disability’ is relative and is linked uniquely to culture. This fluidity makes difficult the standardization of a definitive definition of disability, and makes the measure of disability problematic to quantify. Though some statistical estimates place the number of disabled persons between 20 and 60% of the world population, the normalization and aggregation of disability statistics remains a low priority for most international governing bodies. Unavoidably, this absence of reliable and valid data directly affects the design process, and hinders the efficient and effective design of places, spaces, products, services, and systems that serve a broad and diverse population of end users. This paper puts forth one potential sampling model for the testing of systems of visual communication and information-based graphics and graphic systems, and tests the utility of it.
June 2007 Ourtopias, annual Design Exchange Conference
Toronto, Ontario
Speaker: “What is Place Branding?”
Abstract: The environments in which we live, work, and play have been changing in terms of social integration, economic segregation, architectonic vernacular, and ethnic as well as racial composition over the past 50 years. Corresponding to this unprecedented social and economic change, the manner though which cities, neighborhoods, and communities are identified and perceived has also been transformed. One notable trend that has increased dramatically as a response to these changes is the rise in corporate-style branding of cities, neighborhoods, and communities. Through “place branding”, notions of luxury, safety, leisure, excitement, and adventure have been contrived to retain residents and to attract visitors and industry. City brands also ensure economic well being, and help to stabilize property values. While the short-term effects of place-based brands can be measured in terms of dollars, the long-term effects remain unclear. The democratic and organic place-based identities that traditionally defined the once ubiquitous, central, and shared village green, have been replaced by artificial prescribed brands which, are quickly becoming the civic norm. In light of this rapid growth, it is necessary to critically examine the evolution of place branding, in practical, as well as in conceptual terms. A thorough understanding of the long-term effects of place branding can likely be inferred through the study of consumer product branding precedents. An examination of wholesale branding practices and methods will uncover potential issues and concerns that will relate to future issues that will surround place branding. This examination is well underway. In response to the dramatic increase in place-based branding, the literature and discourse across a number of previously distantly related disciplines has been flooded with a marked increase in books, articles, historical accounts and empirical research exploring the branding of places and spaces.
May 2007 Logo Cities
Montréal, Quebec
Paper Presentation: “Defining Place Branding”
Abstract: The moniker ‘place branding’ continues to gain currency and acceptance, but the meaning of the phrase becomes increasingly less clear. Proponents and critics agree that contemporary place branding shares a conceptual history with systems of corporate identity, the ultimate aim of which is the creation of an identifiable and recognizable countenance for an otherwise inanimate entity. However, notwithstanding this nominal consensus, a definitive definition of ‘place branding’ remains elusive. The phrase ‘place branding’ is colloquial, and is often employed as a convenient, all-inclusive, verbal shorthand to communicate the broad-reaching and complex concepts that place-based branding encompass. The phrase nonetheless is a misnomer, and however convenient, has proved to fuel confusion and distrust among the public and civic officials, rather than helping to make the concept more clear or the processes associated with creating a place-based brand more transparent. Until the meaning of the phrase is clarified, the broader popular backlash against consumer culture, global trade, and brand-based marketing, will continue to frame the perception of ‘place branding’ and can ultimately have only a detrimental affect on long-term popular acceptance of it.
April 2007 American Cultural Association/Popular Cultural Association National Conference
Boston, Massachusetts
Paper Presentation: “Politics of Branding”
Abstract: Major cities and small municipalities alike have started to adopt ‘place brands.’ often, these brands are created using tested models that have for years been used to brand consumer product such as laundry soap, jeans, and lipstick. However, as consumer branding models begin to change as a function of the shifting mediascape, the legitimacy and viability of place brands and the methods used to develop them may fall under greater scrutiny. Contemporary place branding remains in its infancy and the socio-spatial affects of it are largely unstudied, though a chorus of critical voices has already begun to develop. This debate has caused proponents of place branding to argue that the dissent is fuelled more by anti-corporate and anti-globalist sentiments than by opposition to the practice of place branding, per se. This paper outlines the primary arguments for and against contemporary place branding, and presents an agenda for future research to better understand the efficacy of the phenomenon.
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Kern Conference on Visual Communication and Counterpublics
Rochester, New York
Paper Presentation: “The Graphic Communication of Brands Facilitates the Formation of Counterpublics”
Abstract: According to Habermas, ‘broken modernities’ provide a crevice thorough which counter publics are formed. The graphic manifestations of brands, particularly on clothing, consumer products, and automobiles, is an example of the degree to which brands enable subscription to a particular counter public. The notion of membership in a counter public is facilitated by brands and the conspicuous exhibition of brand cues which, have helped to establish trans-national and trans-ethnic counter publics defined more by economic means than by traditionally more common identifiers of geographic proximity, nationality, religion, and social status. Brands provide a medium through which membership can be easily communicated. Because allegiance to brands is not mutually exclusive, brand-based counter publics may co-exist simultaneous y and in parallel. Subscription to a particular public often spawns vehemently allegiant constituents marked by characteristics akin to religions, nationalisms, or cults. Because of this, the development of brand-enabled counter publics has begun to change the manner by which designers engage the development of graphics and graphic-based products for advertising and brand making.
October 2006 Kyoto 2nd International Conference on Universal Design
Kyoto, Japan
Session Moderator and Speaker: “Toward the Universal Design of Bus Rapid Transit Identity Systems: Ensuring Usability for All” (with Daniel Baldwin Hess)
Abstract: As Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems continue to become more popular, and as capital expenditures for such projects continues to grow, careful consideration of BRT identity design becomes evermore necessary. Properly considered identity systems can ensure accessibility to and usability of the physical features and can also ensure that BRT systems are physically accessible and practical to use system-wide. Based on the seven principles of universal design, this paper proposes a basic means to evaluate existing and planned BRT identity systems. The paper concludes with recommendations for evaluators and guidelines for designers or BRT identity systems which will help to ensure the practical usability of BRT identity systems by a broad audience of diverse users, regardless of physical, cognitive or situational ability.
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“Universal Design Identity Program” (with Beth Tauke)
Abstract: The Universal Design Identity Program (UD-id) project, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, was initiated to promote increased understanding, acceptance, and use of universal design by a broader audience of consumers, design professionals, industry leaders, government leaders, and academics. In this project, co-investigators Beth Tauke and Alex Bitterman explored public perceptions and attitudes towards universal design, and used this information to develop an identity program for universal design. They developed options for a multi-sensory symbol that can be used to identify products, media, graphics, and built environments that are universally designed. This paper will describe an overview of the first two phases of the project including research and the design development process, Upcoming phases of the project will include 1) refinement and testing of final symbol, 2) attendant graphic/sensory standards proposals, 3) guidelines for use, and 4) dissemination/adoption methods.
April 2006 American Cultural Association
Atlanta, Georgia
Paper Presentation: “The Cicatrix as Branded Space: Issues and Trends in the Transformation of Marginal Linear Urban Spaces”
Abstract: Cicatrix is the medical term for scar, a physical reminder, and perhaps an emotional aide memoire of an injury to the physical body. The notion of cicatrix is not, however, limited to the physical body, but can be of the urban body as well. In the urban context, cicatrixes are a physical remnant, a reminder of careless injuries to the urban form or of tears in the urban fabric created by political, ethnic, or economic differences. While many such cicatrixes exist, several are undergoing a transformation from unique marginal or sacred spaces to homogenous branded spaces. Ultimately this commercialization and commodification of emotionally charged spaces will destroy the historical significance, collective memory, and public perception of these unique spaces. This paper examines the notion of cicatrix, the branding of cicatrixes across the broad urban context, and examines the cicatrix through the lens of its geometric derivative, the line.
April 2006 National Conference on the Beginning Design Student
Ames, Iowa
Paper Presentation: “Method | Matrix” (with Beth Tauke).
Abstract: Developing and delivering a studio experience that is both relevant and significant has become increasingly more challenging for the studio instructor, as design studio pedagogies continue to become more interdisciplinary and as enrollment in studio-based courses continues to grow. Harnessing the diversities and complexities of the studio environment, the Method | Matrix system explores a unique, fast-paced inclusive method that delivers a relevant and academically rigorous studio experience for all studio students. Method | Matrix concentrates on inherent cross-disciplinary interactions to involve all students, regardless of design background, social development, or academic preparation. The Method | Matrix system ensures that every studio participant is presented ample opportunity to add value to a final group project, while actively engaged in administrative, research, and design tasks. The Method | Matrix system simultaneously provides the studio instructor with an effective but flexible method to effectively engage, manage, and individually involve each student in a large and/or academically diverse studio environment.
January 2005 Transportation Research Board
Washington, DC
Paper Presentation: “Bus Rapid Transit Identity” (with Daniel Hess)
Other Academic Presentations
July 2008 Active Living Research Annual Conference
Coronado, California
Poster Session: “Neighborhood crime, information design elements, poverty, and spatial accessibility to food retail opportunities.” (with Beverly McLean)
October 2007 City of Rochester
Rochester, New York
Invited Briefing: “Understanding Place Branding Through Historical Precedent”
Presented to directors of three major city departments and officials from various local community service organizations.
October 2007 San Antonio College
San Antonio, Texas
Invited Guest Lecture: “Brandcodex: Decoding the Role of Designer in an Increasingly Branded World”
August 2007 Design Exchange
Toronto, Ontario
Keynote Presentation, TTC Design Charette: “Branding Public Transit: Reinforcing Positive Perceptions”
Autumn 2007 Design Exchange
Toronto, Ontario
Master Class Instructor, “Universal Design Series: Wayfinding for an Aging Population”
Spring 2006 Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society
Buffalo, New York
Speaker Series (4-Part): Reading Between the Lines, “Branding of Place: How Branding Is Changing Where and How We Live”
March 2006 Kern Visual Studies Conference
Rochester, New York
Paper Presentation, “Brandtopia: Place Branding and Where We Live”
July 2006 National Endowment for the Arts
Washington, DC
with Paula Terry and Beth Tauke, conceived, organized, and hosted 2-Day International Symposium, “UDid: Universal Design Identity Project Symposium”
March 2005 York University
Toronto, Canada
Presentation to Faculty of Environmental Science, “Pedagogies for Integrating Universal Design into Environmental Design Education”
January 2004 Design for the 21st Century International Conference
San Paulo, Brazil, “Diversity + Design = Inclusion” (with Beth Tauke)
April 2004 National Conference on the Beginning Design Student
Hampton, Virginia
Keynote Speaker (with Beth Tauke), “Introducing Diversity in Design”
Invited Presentations to Industry
2007 City of Rochester, NY and NeighborWorks Rochester
Rochester, New York
Invited Speaker, “Place Branding: Context, Precedent, and Warning”
2006 Arnold Worldwide
New York, New York
Invited Speaker, “Place Branding: How It Is Changing Where We Live“
2006 Grant Writer’s Boot Camp
Rochester, New York
Introduction and Kickoff Lecture, “Painting Your Picture: The Right Brain and Left Brain in the Grant Writing Process”
2004 Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America
Orlando, Florida
International Conference, “Eat, Live, Work, Play: Didactic Design Exhibit Systems”
2003 University at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Summer Institute Lecture Series, “Communication Design for a Universal Audience”
2003 Eastmedia
New York, New York
Presentation and Demonstration, “XML Data Coding for Universal Accessibility”
2003 Young Architects’ League of New York City
New York, New York
Poster Presentation: “Hl2 and E-Skin”
2002 Buffalo State College
Buffalo, New York
In-Service Presentation, “Priorititization of Study-Abroad Program Development for Design Students”
2002 Studio Arena Theater
Buffalo, New York
Invited Guest Host for “Sunday Salon” After-Performance Discussions
2001 Pratt Institute
Brooklyn, New York
Invited Presentation to Graduate Urban Planning Studio, “Map. Building.”
Other Presentations
2010 Broadway Market
Buffalo, NY
Faculty Leader (with Students), “Broadway Market Rebrand and Identity Plan”
2009 Amherst Town Board
Amherst, NY
Faculty Leader (with Students), “Amherst Identity Plan”
2008 Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
Rochester, NY
Moderator and Keynote Speaker, “Rochester 2033: What will Rochester be like in Twenty- Five years?”
2004 Department of Commerce
Washington, DC
14th anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act Conference, “Commerce Salutes the ADA”
2003 Department of Education, Nat. Institute for Disability & Rehabilitation Research
Washington, DC
“RERC on Universal Design Summative Review Presentation”
2003 Center for the Arts Gallery, University at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
AIA Continuing Education Session, “Unlimited by Design”
2002 Buffalo State College
Buffalo, New York
Design Department Faculty In-service, “Clarifying the Notion of ‘Line’ to Beginning Design Students”