Has anything from your time in MFA Design Criticism—now MA Design Research, Writing and Criticism—proven to be especially useful in your current work?

I’ve always loved research, and in producing a podcast, you have to do deep research on the person you’re interviewing.

I definitely improved my writing skills in the program, though I wouldn’t ever consider myself a picture-perfect writer like Toni Morrison, who painted her words on the page. I teach part-time and I always tell my students that we read maybe 100 to 200 pages a week at D-Crit! It was daunting but reading widely really helps you become a much better writer.

A fellow graduate, Alicia Ajayi [MA 2020 Design Research, Writing and Criticism], serves as the podcast producer. She came on board after I started planning out the series, but she was pivotal in mapping out each episode, developing themes, selecting and inviting guests, and managing the production schedule. Alicia also assists with preparing the audio for mixing and editing and helps with music selection too. She is great with organizing and scheduling workflows.

And a former teacher, Leital Molad [also the vice president of content at audiobook and podcast company Pushkin Industries], gave me really helpful podcasting advice. She said that I should record in a studio for quality sound, and suggested that I explore the resources at the Columbia Journalism School. They have a sound studio for interviewing and mixing.

I understand that you’re also working on a book inspired by your SVA thesis topic?

I’m working on a book project about Black graphic designers with [designer] Maurice Cherry and Gail Anderson [chair, BFA Advertising and BFA Design; BFA 1984 Graphic Design] for Princeton Architectural Press. We’re calling it I Didn't Know They Were Black, which comes from the title of a talk that I once gave on the history of Black designers. I had initially wanted to do it for my thesis but the scope seemed too large for the time frame we had.

I’ve interviewed a lot of Black graphic designers over the years, and the book really is a passion project. We're excited about it. I feel that other projects will emerge from this, whether it's an oral history or another book spin-off.

How would you describe the overall sensibility with which you approach your work?

Curiosity. I was a very observant and curious child. The old folks would call that being a “busybody,” but I always asked a lot of questions and was very curious.

Anne Quito (MFA 2014 Design Criticism) is a journalist and design critic. She wrote Mag Men: Fifty Years of Making Magazines (Columbia University Press), a book about the glory days of magazine design as told by Walter Bernard (1961 Graphic Design) and the late Milton Glaser, a longtime SVA faculty member and former acting chairman of the College’s board.

This interview has been condensed and edited. A version of this interview appears in the spring/summer 2022 Visual Arts Journal.

Features

A feature from the spring/summer 2022 ‘Visual Arts Journal’