Harris earner her BFA in Communication Arts and Design from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University. After graduating from Yale, she cofounded Two Twelve Associates with classmates Juanite Dugdale and David Gibson. Two Twelve was one of the first firms that really began to ask questions that would later inform a broader sense and action towards user-centered design. The firm expressed diversity of thought and understanding and worked to design for a better experience
Throughout her career, Harris was a constant and avid advocate to "design for good." She began as a designer for WGBH, Boston's public TV station, and then moved onto work at The Architects Collaborative (TAC) headed by Walter Gropius. However, it was her work at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) that prompted her to get involved in the public sector and helping the communities around her.
Additionally, she created the professional practice Citizen Research & Design (formerly Sylvia Harris LLC) in 1994, which she planned to be a firm designer to help public sector organizations better communicate with constituents. Her practice had two goals, "to dig deeper into the field of research--to conduct rigorous investigations that would help organizations understand how people actually experience design systems; and with that research to set in motion plans for large-scale public design programs" (House).
More than anything, Harris wanted to design with and for public good. Harris grew up in the 1960s, as a young black woman in the South. She experienced first-hand desegregation and a grasp on how social systems work to inform and affect people's lives. She was awarded the AIGA Medal in 2014 for her impact.
"Harris was a woman of great energy, passion and intelligence. She nurtured these qualities by reaching out beyond the walls of her studio. She had a remarkable ability to draw smart, talented young people into her network, making them collaborators and friends. And she generously gave back to the design community that she so vibrantly inhabited for more than three decades, mentoring students as a faculty member of Yale’s graphic design program and as a teacher at the School of Visual Arts, Cooper Union and Purchase College. She also served on the U.S. Postal Service’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee. As a designer and a woman, Sylvia Harris always wanted to do the right thing, the smart thin, the thing that would make the biggest difference to most people. She was the model citizen--a Citizen Designer" -- David Gibson, cofounder of Two Twelve
WORK
Harris was one of the pioneers of public information design, which laid the groundwork for a greater understanding and emphasis on accessibility and understanding for the public sector. She wanted a better world, for people to have access to all they needed.
Harris redesigned the Census forms, that not only prompted and encouraged people to fill out the Census, but a design that made it easy and understandable to do so. This was the type of design work that she did that put the user at the center -- "How can I make this experience the most impactful for those I am designing for?"
IMPORTANCE
Sylvia Harris was a designer for the people; a designer engaged not only in the outcome and its impact, but also the process. Harris grew up as a Black woman in the south, and this influenced her work and mission in life. She is an inspiration for "designers for good" everywhere, and is also a figure for all women to look up to (especially women of color!)
I appreciate how much effort and passion she had for making design accessible for everyone, especially in our current political climate in which many oppressed communities are stifled or not given the resources needed for many social, economic, and political endeavors--which in turn impacts their own voice and representation in our world. Harris's work is an amazing example of modern design and innovation with the user's life and experience in mind.
I appreciate how much effort and passion she had for making design accessible for everyone, especially in our current political climate in which many oppressed communities are stifled or not given the resources needed for many social, economic, and political endeavors--which in turn impacts their own voice and representation in our world. Harris's work is an amazing example of modern design and innovation with the user's life and experience in mind.
See what others have to say about Harris's work: https://youtu.be/pkm_MZF9uxU
SOURCES:
Gibson, David. “Sylvia Harris Biography.” AIGA, www.aiga.org/medalist-sylvia-harris.
House, Laura. “Sylvia Harris's Design Journey.” AIGA, www.aiga.org/design-journeys-sylvia-harris/.
“Sylvia Harris AIGA Medalist 2014.” Google, Google, artsandculture.google.com/asset/sylvia-harris-2014-aiga-medalist-video/hAEqrZOxF2hQDg?hl=en.
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