Rebecca Tegtmeyer

tegtmey2@msu.edu

C26 Kresge Art Center
600 Auditorium Rd
East Lansing, MI 48824

FacultyArt, Art History, and DesignExperience Architecture

Associate Professor
Graphic Design

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Rebecca Tegtmeyer is a graphic design educator and practitioner. Through her active research, writing, making, and teaching agendas she investigates the role of a designer and the creative process through a variety of forms. Working both individually and collaboratively, she approaches design as a catalyst in facilitating systems that challenge and inspire—further extending the capabilities and responsibilities of a designer in today’s complex world. Current collaborative research projects focus on prioritizing the student experience and strengthening the values of design education. Her solo work examines sewing as a design practice, challenging  the technical tools, consumerism, and patriarchal systems in design production. This practice results in data visualizations that bring awareness to the inequities of motherhood and reproductive rights. Her essay about this practice, “On Designing with Authenticity Over Perfection,” is in the publication, Feminist Designer, published by MITPress in 2023. Additionally, Rebecca is co-author and co-editor of Collaboration in Design Education, published by Bloomsbury Academic in 2020.

Rebecca is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art, Art History and Design and recently served at the Associate Chair of the Department. She teaches undergraduates and graduates in the areas of interaction design, motion design, typography, user experience and branding design. She is an active contributor to both the BFA in Graphic Design curriculum and the BA in Experience Architecture degree program.Her research has been presented and published at several international and national venues organized by the highest-ranking organizations in the design field such as: UCDA (University and College Designers Association), Cumulus Association (International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media), DRS (Design Research Society), EAD (European Academy of Design), CAA (College Arts Association) and AIGA National + Design Educators Community. Rebecca is a three-time alumni of DesignInquiry, a non-profit educational organization devoted to researching design issues in intensive team-based gatherings. She is a former member of the organizing committee for MODE (Motion Design Education) Summit and the AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC) Steering Committee. Recent artist residencies include Vermont Studio Center and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

Rebecca holds a BFA in Visual Communication from the University of Kansas and a Master of Graphic Design (MGD) from NC State University College of Design.

Projects


Prioritizing our values: Design Educators Collectively Building Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Practices in a (post-) Pandemic era

Published in Dialectic, 5.1 (2023), edited by Keith M. Owens & Michael R. Gibson, 8–60. AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC) and Michigan Publishing, December 2023.

The Value Design Education Pledge was co-developed by the co-authors of this article: Associate Professor Anne H. Berry, Associate Professor Meaghan A. Dee, Assistant Professor Penina Laker, and Associate Professor Rebecca Tegtmeyer, with contributions by Kelly Walters (Assistant Professor, Communication Design, Parsons, The New School, New York City, N.Y., U.S.A.), to develop and promote long-term, inclusive, and equitable teaching practices that could positively affect design education. The pledge was initiated in the wake of events that transpired during the spring and summer of 2020—namely, the COVID-19 global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, both of which evolved across the United States during that time. It was also undertaken in recognition of 1) the changes and challenges that evolved as a result of remote and online learning having to be implemented across most U.S.-based, university-level and K-12 design education programs, and 2) the need for pedagogic accountability when decisions have been taken by faculty and administrators to commit to inclusive and equitable teaching practices

On Designing with Authenticity over Perfection

Published in Feminist Designer: On the Personal and the Political in Design, edited by Alison Place, 88–92. The MIT Press, September 5, 2023.

Collaboration in Design Education: Case Studies and Teaching Methodologies

Published by Bloomsbury Academic, 2020
With Marty Maxwell Lane, Associate Professor of Graphic Design at University of Arkansas

The book is a comprehensive guide for students and practitioners who want to take a collaborative approach in their design practice. Authors Marty Maxwell Lane and Rebecca Tegtmeyer introduce a range of case study collaborations, both face-to-face and remote, and between individuals and groups. The book addresses the basics of getting started, planning ahead and reflecting on outcomes, alongside the issues that come up in collaborative work, e.g. cross-cultural exchange, or managing roles within a diverse team. Editorial commentary runs throughout the chapter introductions and case studies, with informatics illustrating key concepts and expanded ‘call out’ points in the martin. More complex case studies offer a ‘deep dive’ section to explain and share further details of the featured projects.

Critical and Collaborative Making with Augmented Technical Tools

Published in the Proceedings of DRS 2020 International Conference: Synergy (Volume 3: Co-Creation)
With Cat Normoyle, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at East Carolina University

Our research practices a critical approach to collaborative design making and speculates how present technologies shift future possibilities where interactions and exchanges are limited to those mediated by technological devices. We conduct a series of collaborative investigations prioritizing a critical making process over the final artifacts. In these investigations we consider and address the social and technological implications of how remote collaborative-making, mediated by augmented technical tools, might (1) foster new ways of thinking and making through play and experimentation (2) affect social interactions and empower people to become producers (3) affect relationships between collaborators and the technologies in use through transparent processes.

Media Mentions

University News

MSU Graphic Design Graduate Crowned Miss Michigan 2023
Published June 20, 2023 in College of Arts & Letters
Maya Schuhknecht, a Spring 2023 Michigan State University graduate with a BFA in Graphic Design, was crowned Miss Michigan 2023 on Saturday, June 17, at the Frauenthal Theater in downtown…Read now »
New Graphic Design Major Popular with Students
Published January 26, 2016 in College of Arts & Letters
The MSU Department of Art, Art History, and Design (AAHD) has rolled out a new Graphic Design undergraduate major this Spring 2016. To date, 42 students have enrolled in the new BFA program…Read now »
New Experience Architecture (XA) Major Delivers on Creating Innovative Digital Solutions
Published June 17, 2015 in College of Arts & Letters
students working on laptop together
Experience Architecture, or XA, is one “hot” and expanding MSU College of Arts & Letters major, and founding faculty members Liza Potts, Rebecca Tegtmeyer and William Hart-Davidson,…Read now »