Meredith Davis Papers 1981-2014

Meredith Davis has been a professor of graphic design at North Carolina State University since 1989. She served for ten years as the chair of the Department of Graphic Design (now the Department of Graphic Design and Industrial Design) and four years as head of the interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Design program. Her research explores the ways in which design can be used in educational reform efforts in K-12 schools, and the relationship between design and cognition.

Before coming to NC State, Davis taught for thirteen years at Virginia Commonwealth University. Between both schools, Davis has taught courses in design and cognition, design education, design studio, and typography, and she has won numerous teaching awards for graduate education. She is also a fellow and the 2005 National Medalist of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. She is a former president of the American Center for Design and the founding president of the Graphic Design Education Association. From 1979 to 1989, Davis was the principal in the graphic design firm, Communication Design. She has won over 50 national and international design awards, and her work has appeared in multiple professional publications.

The Meredith Davis Papers, 1981-2014, contain journal and magazine articles, lecture notes and presentation materials, small- and large-scale design work, and awards and honors related to Meredith J. Davis's career as a graphic designer and educator. These papers document Davis's teaching activities, participation in professional organizations, design work, and research.

Series 1: Publications, 1981-2014, contains journal and magazine articles that reflect Davis's research interests in the use of design in achieving K-12 educational reform and the relationship between cognition and design. Davis's articles have appeared in many prominent design journals, including the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design, the Arts Education Policy Review, and the Design Management Journal. This series also contains publications in which Davis's design work appeared. These include AIGA USA, Creativity, ID: Magazine of International Design, Print Regional Design Annual, and Typography.

Series 2: Presentations, 1989-2014, contain notes and presentation materials for the numerous conferences and lectures that Davis has given over the course of her career, nationally and internationally. Many of these presentations stemmed from her research and were later published.

Series 3: Design Portfolios, 1981-2001, contains examples of Davis's small- and large-scale design work, including brochures, posters, magazine and report covers, and exhibition catalogs. Many of these materials won awards for design excellence. Awards and honors that Davis has received for her design work can be seen in Series 4: Awards and Honors, 1981-2005.

This collection is arranged in four series: Publications, 1981-2014 (Series 1); Presentations, 1989-2014 (Series 2); Design Work (Series 3); and Awards and Honors, 1981-2005 (Series 4). Series 1 and 2 are arranged alphabetically by publication or presentation title. Series 3 is arranged by size of the design work. Series 4 is arranged alphabetically by award received.

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[Identification of item], Meredith Davis Papers, MC 00541, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Gift of Meredith J. Davis, 2014 (Accession number 2014.0264)

Processed by: Rose Buchanan, February 2015; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rose Buchanan, February 2015; Digital materials processed by Jessica Rayman, 2016 September.