013. Informed by the Things Around Us: with Meena Khalili (S1E5)

MEENA KHALILI is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Visual Art + Design, Meena holds a BFA in Illustration and an MFA in Visual Communication + Graphic Design from VCUarts and currently serves on the AIGA Design Educators Community National Steering Committee.

Meena is the recipient of the 2019 National Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement in Graphic Design by the Southeastern College Art Conference. Her work has shown at the Type Director’s Club of New York, Chicago Design Museum, and galleries throughout North America, Canada, China, Indonesia, Croatia, Australia and Moscow, with illustrations and book art in permanent collections at the VCU Libraries Special Collections and Archives, the Omni Hotel Louisville, and recently inducted artwork in the Library of Congress.

Meena makes daily drawings of things @thedrawndaily. She is an artist who uses design as a strategy for creation, and a designer who brings artistic methods to her solutions. Her interdisciplinary research moves between traditional design and studio art practices and explores UX, storytelling, typography and language through design, illustration, moving image, and book art. She completed study at the Illustration Academy, and the LdM Institute in Florence, Italy, and finds inspiration in travel, culture, and her experience as a first generation Iranian-American.

In addition to her international exhibition schedule, she maintains an active speaking schedule with engagements and workshops held in Qatar, Italy, and throughout the U.S.

Recorded 10.10.2019, Aired 11.24.2019

Links of Note

Where to find Meena Khalili online

Meena's work can be found at:

  • DesignEDU
  • Type Hike
  • SheVotes100 created by Elizabeth Kiehner
  • Ficciones Typografika - dOGUMENTA 

Music featured on this Episode

  • Opening and closing track: “Street Background Vlog Hip-Hop”

Where to find the DESIGN DEDUX™ podcast

Where to find Pete Bella online

Contact the DESIGN DEDUX™ podcast

The DESIGN DEDUX™ Podcast (formally The DESIGNED Podcast) is a professional broadcast quality podcast exploring art and design studies for educators, mentors, students, and practitioners that are pursuing success in their work.