Lorraine Wild

Lorraine Wild was born in Ontario, Canada, but has lived in America for a greater part of her life. She is a graphic designer, published writer, art historian, and art instructor of design. In 1973, she entered the Cranbrook Academy of Art program which was, at the time, under the leadership of Michael and Katherine McCoy. In 1975, she received her BFA. Two years later, she moved to New York to work for Vignelli Associates from 1977-1978. During this time, she was researching the history of American graphic design post World War II. This personal interest of research led her to further studying at Yale University where she earned an MFA degree in 1982. While at Yale University, she designed Perspecta 19, which was Yale’s architectural journal. Along with Perspecta 19, she also designed the Chamber Works and Theatrum Mundi portfolios for the architect Daniel Libeskind, and the book of architect John Hejduk entitled Mask of Medusa in 1985. Her work on the designs of these books helped launch her fast-growing reputation for thoughtful and distinctive design in books on architecture, art, and design. Her MFA thesis entitled "Trends in American Graphic Design: 1930-1955" was recognized as an important contribution to design scholarship and led to many commissions for essays. During the early 1980s, she taught in the University of Houston’s architecture school. In 1983, she wrote "More Than A Few Questions About Graphic Design Education," which was regarded as a very influential essay. It was first published in The Design Journal. In the article, she gives a provocative analysis which became the driving force for recharacterizing graphic design education in the United States. From here on, her reputation continued to soar and her work earned national recognition.

While teaching in the University of Houston’s architecture school during the early 1980s, Wild wrote the influential essay ‘More Than A Few Questions about Graphic Design Education’ (1983), which led to her being hired as graphic design program director at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia in 1985. During her time as director, she developed and implemented a new model for graphic design education that emphasized the process of conveying meaning through experimental, conceptual, and formal development. The program challenged modernist graphic design methodology by encouraging students to use personal and emotional experiences to their work. In 1988, Liz McQuiston selected Lorraine Wild as one of forty-three women in six countries whose work is innovative or has had significant impact in their chosen fields of design. The other American graphic designers included Jacqueline Casey, Muriel Cooper, June Fraser, April Greiman, Katherine McCoy. She continued to stay on the Cal Arts faculty after she stepped down as program director in 1991.

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