Cranbrook Architecture 1980-81 Poster

Katherine and Michael McCoy’s influence as designers and educators was most predominant during their tenure as cochairs of the Design Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1971 to 1995. Understanding design as a communication device and a means by which intellectual, cultural, and social questions are framed and explored, they worked to develop an interdisciplinary design program that was internationally recognized. As a graphic designer, Katherine also created a rich body of material for the Cranbrook educational community, including the group of posters shown here. These designs illustrate her groundbreaking practice of layering imagery and text—a theory she referred to as “typography as discourse,” in which the meaning of the work is determined through the conversation that results from these careful juxtapositions.