What happens when graphic design students trade their screens for a letterpress studio? In this session, Kate Tepe, Associate Professor and Head of Design at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, shares how analog processes disrupted rapid digital workflows, creating space for deeper material sensitivity and intentionality. Students began to see type as texture, paper as presence, and process as meaning. Unexpectedly, this hands-on experience also transformed the studio culture – fostering emotional connection, collaboration, and pride in design and craft. By revisiting heritage tools of communication design, students gained fresh insight into contemporary methods – and a renewed sense of purpose in their creative work.
Kate Tepe
The Ink Made Me Do It: Reclaiming Process in Design Education
Kate Tepe
Art Academy of Cincinnati.
Kate Tepe is a Cincinnati-based graphic designer who is rooted in user-centered design that connects people to purpose. With a background in interactive design, community programming, and social practice, she creates bold, expressive visuals that invite user activation and emphasize human connection – both to one another and to their environments. Kate is currently Associate Professor, Head of Design at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.
