Andrea Quam

Real name: 

Andrea Quam is an assistant professor of graphic design at Iowa State University’s College of Design. In 1997 she received a BFA in Graphic Design from Iowa State. She has over ten years’ experience practicing professionally as a multimedia and print designer. In this time she worked with a range of clients including: McGraw Hill, Ford, Principal Financial Group, General Electric, Elsevier Science and Meredith Corporation. She received her MFA in graphic design from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2008. Andrea teaches at all levels of Iowa State’s graphic design program and serves as the faculty advisor for student events such as EXPLORE graphic design and Senior Portfolio Night. Her work has been published and exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally. She has presented papers at the Design Research Society Cumulus Conference, Southeastern College Art Conference, Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, and the University and College Designers Association Conferences. Her research interests focus on the relationship between design education and professional practice and how this influences design pedagogy. Andrea’s recent work includes the development of a card-based system for teaching design fundamentals in an outdoor classroom, investigations into ethnographic and generational research methods, and transformations in digital publishing.

Papers submitted to the Studies in Material Thinking Journal