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Fine arts faculty receive Cincinnati Design Awards

11/17/2011

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Exhibitions display research work by John Humphries and Samantha Perkins.

John Humphries and Samantha Perkins of Miami University's School of Fine Arts, were recognized for excellence in design at the Cincinnati Design Awards ceremony, CDA Fifteen, held Nov. 11 at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza. Humphries is an assistant professor in architecture and interior design and Perkins is a visiting professor in graphic design. Both are affiliated with the Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies.

Perkins was awarded in the category of environmental graphics for her recent exhibition of research, “Knowhere: finding ways to wayfind.” Her research explores how human behavior and environmental context aid in navigation decisions in an effort to determine a better method of teaching wayfinding design. “Knowhere” was displayed in the Cage Gallery in Alumni Hall Oct. 10-21.

Perkins and Humphries won a merit award for course material designed for their international workshops, Mobile Italy 2009 and 2011. “The Road Kit for Exploring Knowhere” is a teaching tool for study abroad programs aimed at increasing visual literacy when traveling to unfamiliar places.

Given a kit to facilitate hand drawing and digital media capture techniques, students were asked to look at individual elements such as color and texture each day as they navigated unfamiliar spaces and use those elements to help define their understanding of each location. The Mobile Italy Exhibit held in Cage Gallery September 12-23 displayed the results of the technique and showed how students came to define and redefine Italy through their own eyes.

The Cincinnati Design Awards are given collaboratively by the Cincinnati chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Cincinnati), the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Cincinnati/Dayton City Center, the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Cincinnati/Dayton, the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) Cincinnati chapter and the Miami section of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). The jurors included professional designers from New York, Chicago, Cincinnati and Toronto.