Matthew Wizinsky is an Associate Professor of Urban Technology at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning; Associate Editor for the design journal Visible Language; PhD researcher in Transition Design at Carnegie Mellon University; and author of the book Design After Capitalism (MIT Press, 2022).
download CV ︎
︎ Summary
Matthew Wizinsky is an award-winning designer, educator, researcher, and author. He is currently Associate Professor of Urban Technology at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning; Associate Editor for Visible Language, the longest-running peer-reviewed design journal; and a PhD researcher in Transition Design at Carnegie Mellon University. He has practiced interaction, communication, and experiential design for over two decades. He has taught, studied, and written on contemporary design’s intersection with issues of political economy, urbanism, public history, strategic foresight, and postcapitalism.
Wizinsky has lectured and conducted workshops at universities around the world, including the American University in Cairo (Egypt), Art Center College (USA), CENTRO (Mexico), Digital Society School (the Netherlands), University of Málaga (Spain), Northwestern University (USA), Università Iuav di Venezia (Italy), Ontario College of Art and Design (Canada), and the University of East London (UK). He has curated, organized, and designed exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Cultural Center, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Cincinnati Art Museum and contributed lectures and exhibited projects at events such as the Smart Life Festival in Italy (2023), Milan Design Week (2022), Exhibit Columbus (2019), the Venice Architecture Biennale (2018), and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, NYC (2014).
Wizinsky’s creative practice and research have included interdisciplinary collaborations in Architecture, the Social Sciences, Digital Humanities, and Public Health. His research, scholarship, and creative works have been awarded, exhibited, published, and presented internationally. His work has been supported by approximately US$1.5 million in grants, commissions, and sponsorships, including support from the Mellon Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Humanities Without Walls, MAC AIDS Fund, and others.
He studied graphic design and design research at the University of Cincinnati (BS), the University of Illinois at Chicago (MFA), and the Institute of Visual Communication in Basel, Switzerland, and he has professional certification in strategic foresight from the University of Houston.
From 2015–2023, Wizinsky was an Associate Professor at the Ullman School of Design at the University of Cincinnati. He served as Director of Graduate Studies for the Master of Design (MDes) program 2022–2023. From 2012–2015, he held dual teaching & research appointments at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). At UIC’s Innovation Center, Wizinsky was the Founding Director of the Responsive Media Lab. He led research collaborations with the Colleges of Medicine, Engineering, Business, and Learning Sciences that resulted in externally funded research, patents, and curricular offerings working with partners including the City of Chicago, Morningstar financial services, Ford Motor Company, Baxter medical products, Herman Miller, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Arts Alliance of Illinois to name a few.
In 2022, Wizinsky published his first book Design After Capitalism (MIT Press). The book diagnoses challenges for design practices operating in an evolving information and service economy and proposes a modified disciplinary model, blending design entrepreneurship with social empowerment. To support the book, he produced the accompanying website designaftercapitalism.org, which contains a variety of tools to help translate the ideas in the book into practice.
︎ Curriculum Vitae overview
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy, Transition Design, Carnegie Mellon University / 2025 (anticipated)
Master of Fine Arts, Graphic Design; University of Illinois at Chicago / 2012
Bachelor of Science, Graphic Design; University of Cincinnati / 2001
Certificate: Strategic Foresight; University of Houston, College of Technology / 2019
Certificates: Design Inquiry, Type Design, Poster Design; Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst, Institute of Visual Communication, Basel, Switzerland / 2011
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2023–PRESENT
University of Michigan
Clinical Associate Professor of Architecture & Urban Planning; Urban Technology
2015–2023
University of Cincinnati
2022–2023
Graduate Program Director, Master of Design (MDes).
2018–PRESENT
Associate Professor, Ullman School of Design, College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning. Teaching appointments in Communication Design, Master of Design, and Honors College programs.
2015–2018
Assistant Professor
2019–PRESENT
Visible Language
Associate Editor. Visible Language is the oldest peer-reviewed journal of design, in publication since 1967
2012–2015
University of Illinois at Chicago
2013–2015
Assistant Professor, School of Design, College of Architecture, Design & the Arts.
2012–2013
Visiting Assistant Professor
2012–2015
UIC Innovation Center. Research Specialist & Director, Responsive Media Lab,
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2009–2022
Principal & Designer, Studio Junglecat, Chicago, IL & Cincinnati, OH
2007–2009
Senior Graphic Designer, FRCH Design Worldwide, Cincinnati, OH
2003–2007
Exhibition Designer & Department Head (Design), Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
2001–2002
Interaction Designer, Hyperquake, Cincinnati, OH
RESEARCH PROJECTS
2016–2021
I’m Still Surviving. Brier, J. & Wizinsky, M.
partnerships: STAR Program, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate, Womens’ Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Chicago, WIHS University of North Carolina. funding: MAC Cosmetics AIDS Fund ($70,000). status: active
2017–2021
Transmedia Collage. Jagoda, P., Brier, J., Rhyne, M., Wizinsky, M., Ridley, C., Bennett, I. & Kater, G.
partnerships: Ci3 Lab, University of Chicago; African American Cultural Center, University of Illinois at Chicago; Arts Incubator, University of Chicago. funding: Humanities Without Walls Consortium, “The Work of the Humanities in a Changing Climate” (Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, $110,000). status: active
2020
Site-Specific Interactive Environmental Data Objects in Augmented Reality, NordiCHI 2020. Wizinsky, M. & Ayoade, A. status: finished
2019—2020
Collaborative Curation Tool. Wizinsky, M. & Mann, N. partnerships: UC Digital Scholarship Center. funding: Catalyst Award ($10,000), UC Digital Scholarship Center. (Mellon Foundation). status: finished
2019
The Long Now, Exhibit Columbus 2019. Lally, S. & Wizinsky, M. funding: Exhibit Columbus, University Design Research Fellowship ($10,000). status: finished
2019
Anti-OD. Rebola, C. & Wizinsky, M.
partnerships: Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, University of Cincinnati College of DAAP. status: finished
2018–2019
What Is and What Can Be: Women of Color and the Struggle for Justice in Cincinnati, Malat, J., Webb, C., Sadre-Orafai, S., Wizinsky, M. & Aijaz, M. partnerships: Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Reverb Art & Design, YWCA, Findlay Market. funding: People’s Liberty ($7,500), Seasongood Good Government Foundation ($19,408), Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Taft Research Center. status: finished
2018
Alchemy, Venice Architecture Biennale. Bohling, T., Probst, R., Palazzo, D., Wizinsky, M. & Giraondola, J. partnerships: Rookwood Pottery Co., Formica Corp., & Gorilla Glue Co. funding: Simpson Center for Urban Futures. status: finished
2018
UC Digital Scholarship Center, Institutional Support. Lee, J., & Jonston, A., Task force member, capabilities presentation & Catalyst Award grantee. funding: Andrew W. Mellon Foundation ($900,000). status: finished.
2017
Urban Futures at the Scale of the Human Body, IASDR 2017. Wizinsky, M., Rahman, M. & Campos, J. funding: University of Cincinnati, Office of the Provosot ($7,500). status: finished
2014–2016
In Plain Sight. Brier, J., Wizinsky, M. partnerships: Womens’ Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Chicago, Chicago Public Library, Pop-Up Justice Art Center. funding: The Nathan Cummings Foundation ($5,000). status: finished
2016
Instrument112, Lumenocity 2016. Wizinsky, M. & Groom, T. partnerships: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Lightborne Communications, Procter & Gamble. funding: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra ($50,000). status: finished
2015
iPhone Rapid Digitization, Applications and Workflows. Wizinsky, M. & Nichols, J. funding: Interdisciplinary Collaboration in the Arts & Humanities Award ($10,000). status: finished
2015
Drowsy Driver. Pfanner, P., Wizinsky, M. & Clark, M. partnerships: UIC College of Medicine, UIC College of Engineering, UIC Innovation Center. funding: UIC Sleep Science Center ($50,000). status: finished
2014
Pop Swipe Cinema: Mobile Interactive Touch-Screen Cinema. Wizinsky, M. & Mulder, D. funding: Interdisciplinary Collaboration in the Arts & Humanities Award ($10,000). status: finished
2014
Chicagoisms, Art Institute of Chicago. Mekinda, J., Eisenschmidt, A., Wizinsky, M. & Kice, K. partnerships: Art Institute of Chicago, UIC School of Architecture, UIC Innovation Center. funding: Graham Foundation, Art Institute of Chicago, UIC School of Architecture. status: finished
2013–2014
Not in the Yearbooks. Brier, J., Flohr, J. & Wizinsky, M. partnerships: UIC Innovation Center, Chicago Public Schools, Read/Write Library, Chicago. funding: Chancellor’s Discovery Grant, UIC ($38,924). status: finished
2012–2013
ecoCollage. Lyons, L., Zellner, M., Minor, E., Moher, T., Pellegrino, J., Goldman, S., Shelley, T., Slattery, B., Dasgupta, C. & Wizinsky, M. partnerships: UIC Learning Sciences Institute, College of Urban Planning & Public Affairs, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago, UIC Innovation Center. funding: NSF REESE Award. status: finished
2012–2013
BikeDX. Niderberger, C., Hotaling, J., Pfanner, P., Wizinsky, M. & Clark, M. partnerships: UIC College of Medicine, UIC Innovation Center, SRAM Corporation. status: finished
2012
C-Spot: Future of Campus Computer Labs. Starr, A., Wizinsky, M. partnerships: Academic Computing & Communications. funding: Academic Computing & Communications , UIC Innovation Center. status: finished
2011–2012
Operating Room of the Future. Niderberger, C., Hotaling, J., Pfanner, P., Starr, A., Wizinsky, M. & Clark, M. partnerships: UIC College of Medicine, UIC Innovation Center. funding: UIC College of Medicine. status: finished
PUBLICATIONS
Wizinsky, M. (2024) “Shapes of Satisfaction: Rethinking Design and Designing for an Ecological Economy,” book chapter in Egenhoefer, R. B. (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Design (2nd edition). Routledge.
Wizinsky, M. (2022) Design After Capitalism. MIT Press.
Brier, J. & Wizinsky, M. (2021) “Worlds of Signification: Power and Subjectivity in Global AIDS Posters,” book chapter in Albrecht, D., et al (eds.), Up Against the Wall: Art, Activism and the AIDS Poster Design and Global Health. RIT Press.
Wizinsky, M. & Ayoade, A. (2020) “The Long Now: Site-specific interactive environmental data objects in augmented reality.” ACM Conference Proceedings of NordiCHI 2020.
Wizinsky, M. (2019) “South Side Speculations: Designing Public Histories & Public Futures on Chicago’s South Side.” Proceedings of IASDR 2019.
Wizinsky, M., Mann, N., Lee, J., McCabe, E., Avant, J. & Arthur, G. (2019) “Curatorial Groupware; Designing Collaborative Curation Tools for Public Exhibition of Community-Built Archives.” Proceedings of IASDR 2019.
Han, T. & Wizinsky, M. (2019) “The Furniture of Science Fiction: Studying Audience Cognitive Mechanisms to Understand how Designed Objects Convey Social Ideas through the Semantic Differential Method.” Proceedings, IASDR 2019.
Wizinsky, M. (2019) “Speculative City: Critical Speculation in Defense of Design’s Material Expertise.” Dialectic, 2(2): 23–46. Published by the AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC ) and University of Michigan Publishing.
Rebola, C. & Wizinsky, M. (2019) “Design as Understanding [&/or the Varieties of Research by Design].” Proceedings of Decipher 2018: AIGA Design Education Conference.
Wizinsky, M. (2019) “Violence, Vulnerability, & Care: Participatory Design in Public History and Public Health Toward a Model of Translational Design Research.” Design for Health 3(2): 4–26. DOI: 10.1080/24735132.2019.1583400
Wizinsky, M. (2019) “Design After Capitalism,” invited blog post for AIGA Design Educators Community.
Wizinsky, M. (2017) “Violence, Vulnerability & Care: A Women’s History of HIV in America.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Design4Health, Kurt Seemann & Deirdre Barron (eds.).
Wizinsky, M. (2017) “Dread & Desire: Urban Futures at the Scale of the Human Body.” IASDR 2017 Exhibition Catalog. Scholar@UC: 16 pp. DOI: 10.7945/C2BD6W
Brier, J. & Wizinsky, M. (2016) “History Moves: Mobilizing Public Histories in Post-Digital Space.” Scholarly and Research Communication, 7(2), 2016: 13 pp. DOI: 10.22230/src.2016v7n2/3a248
Wizinsky, M. (2016) “Conflict Interfaces: Mediated Meditations on Desire, Fear, and Anxiety” in Design, User Experience, and Usability: Novel User Experiences, LNCS 9747, Aaron Marcus ed., Springer-Verlag, 2016: 86–97.
Wizinsky, M. (2015) “Touch Here to Begin: Paper Interfaces and Legible Circuits,” Scholarly and Research Communication, 5(2), 2014: 9 pp. DOI: 10.22230/src.2014v5n2a155
RECENT PRESS & INTERVIEWS
McKenzie, P. (2022). Episode 119: Design after Capitalism with Matthew Wizinsky. The Deep Dive (podcast).
Digital Society School. (2022). Episode 18: Interview with Matthew Wizinsky. Dear Future, I’m Ready (podcast).
Brady, A. (2020). “An Interview with Sean Lally and Matthew Wizinsky.” The Center for Sustainable Practices in the Arts.
Poggio, N. (2019). Design Educator Profiles: Matthew Wizinsky, AIGA Design Educators Community.
Blair, B. (2019). Building architecture and relationships: Exhibit Columbus’ beauty includes 1,000-plus volunteers. The Public.
Royzman, V. (2019). “How can you help stem the opioid crisis? Interactive exhibit touring libraries offers answers.” Cincinnati Enquirer.
Testado, J. (2018). “Exhibit Columbus awards six University Design Research Fellowships for 2018-19.” Archinect.
Reilly, M.B. (2018). “Cincinnati to Venice.” LEAD Magazine.
Alejandro, J. (2016). Interview with Matthew Wizinsky. Dissection (podcast).
Schefft, M. (2016). “Dazzling display: UC students and faculty create giant musical playground for LUMENOCITY.” UC Magazine.x
Kaufman, G. (2016). “Lumenocity 2016: Expect new venue and producers, eye-popping art” WCPO Cincinnati.
Alewine, M. & MacNeil, E. (2016). “In Plain Sight: shining a spotlight on women living with HIV.” AIDS Foundation Chicago.
Rote, L. (2016). “Kartemquin Films celebrates 50 years of documentary filmmaking.” Time Out Chicago.
Sarabia, T. (2016). “UIC Exhibit Shares Stories of Chicago-area Women Living With HIV.” WBEZ Morning Shift.
Riley, C. (2016). “HIV Positive Chicago Women Share Oral Histories in New UIC Exhibit.” WTTW Chicago Tonight.
“Design 50: Who Shapes Chicago 2014,”NewCity.