Anne H. Berry is a practicing graphic designer, writer, and educator. She has advanced research on representation and diversity in design, as well as ethnic and racial disparities in the field. As Director, Anne will continue to amplify design’s social impact and advocate for equity and inclusion to a student body that is uniquely diverse in its cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds, and national origins.
Anne brings more than 20 years of expertise and cutting-edge work to UIC Design. She is finishing her term as President of AIGA Cleveland and was a Design Incubation Fellow in 2018. Her edited publications include The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression & Reflection, named one of Fast Company’s “Best Design Books of 2022.” The book examines how Black designers have shaped their field professionally and aesthetically through the work of over 70 designers, artists, curators, educators, students, and researchers representing a cross-section of Black diasporic identities and multidisciplinary practices.
Her research has helped propel important conversations in the field. In 2021, Anne and collaborator Sarah Edmands Martin co-created the award-winning project Ongoing Matter: Democracy, Design, and the Mueller Report (OM). Focusing on the Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, the project emphasizes the importance of making information publicly accessible and understandable. Anne’s writing for design journals and magazines includes “The Virtual Design Classroom,” for Communication Arts; “The Black Designer’s Identity,” for Recognize; and the co-authored article “The Intersection of Electoral Politics and Design Education,” for Message. In 2021, she was featured in Kelly Walters’s book Black, Brown + Latinx Design Educators.