UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School at Penn State will host Clinton Carlson, associate professor of design at the University of Notre Dame, at 4 p.m. on Oct. 24 in the Stuckeman Family Jury Space. The talk is free and open to the public.
The lecture, titled “Community-Activated Design: Design through community,” will address several issues including how designers should shift their methods when working alongside marginalized groups, how designers might evolve their practices to better serve small communities with limited resources, and how mindsets must change for designers to create more sustainable change in local settings. Carlson will be presenting projects from Foundry Field, an urban park that is part baseball field and part living museum in South Bend, Indiana.
In his projects, Carlson partners with local schools, the Boys & Girls Club and the Civil Rights Heritage Center to highlight underrepresented local histories and stimulate conversations around race, representation and access in South Bend. The lecture will explain how community-activated design emphasizes advocating for, developing and equipping community advocates and activists. This design approach integrates social innovation and co-creative design alongside principles from restorative justice, instructional coaching and community to create sustainable changes within micro-communities.
Carlson focuses his research on how design can improve health and well-being in micro-communities. He has previously worked on projects that address underserved public interest issues such as social safety nets, food recalls, teacher development and more.
He currently teaches interaction design, typography, brand identity and digital media design. He has taught courses in graphic design, interaction design (UI/UX) and design research. His students have been recognized with honors from Communication Arts, Adobe, the National Student Show and more.
As a designer, Carlson has worked for AT&T, Toyota Racing, Intel, McGraw-Hill, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and more. His work has been exhibited and published internationally.