Douglass Scott began teaching in 1973 and has been teaching graphic design at RISD since 1980. He has also taught at Yale University (1984–2023), Northeastern University, UMass/Dartmouth, Harvard University and Maine College of Art, among others. In 2011 he received the John R. Frazier Award for Excellence in Teaching at RISD, and in 2019 the Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2023 High Impact Teacher Award at Northeastern University College of Art, Media and Design. Scott has been a visiting critic at over 40 schools and has given over 250 lectures on art and design history and his work.
For 35 years Scott was graphic designer and design director at WGBH, public television and radio in Boston. Major projects include Masterpiece Theatre, NOVA, This Old House and Evening at Symphony. Before coming to WGBH, he was a principal of two architecture/graphic design firms: Art Coalition and Rainbow Studio in Lincoln, NE. He has also been a consulting creative director of Davis Publications, an art education publisher. He has designed over 200 books for prominent publishers and has won over 140 awards for his work.
Scott was the curator of the History of American Typography section of the 1989 Graphic Design in America exhibit, which opened at the Walker Art Center and traveled to New York, London and Phoenix. He also curated The Roots of Modern American Graphic Design at the Art Institute of Boston in 1987. Since 1978, Scott has curated over 200 exhibits of design examples and has served on the board of directors of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, where he was honored as a Fellow of the AIGA in 2016. He holds a BArch from the University of Nebraska and an MFA from Yale University, and he studied the history of graphic design with Louis Danziger at Harvard University.
Courses
Fall 2024 Courses
GRAPH
- 3225-01
HISTORY OF GRAPHIC DESIGN
LevelUndergraduate
UnitGraphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Fall 2024
Credits 3
FormatStudio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
HISTORY OF GRAPHIC DESIGN
LevelUndergraduate
UnitGraphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
PeriodFall 2024
Credits3
FormatStudio
ModeIn-Person
Start and End2024-09-04 to 2024-12-11
Times: F | 8:00 AM - 1:00 PMInstructor(s): Doug ScottLocation(s): Design Center, Room 704; Design Center, Room 501; Design Center, Room 409; Design Center, Room 407; Design Center, Room 404; Design Center, Room 208; Design Center, Room 206; Auditorium, Room 132Enrolled / Capacity: 75Status: Open
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Chronological survey of graphic design through slide lectures. The course will study how graphic design responded to (and affected) international, social, political, and technological developments since 1450. Emphasis will be on printed work from 1880 to 1970 and the relationship of that work to other visual arts and design disciplines. In addition to the lectures, the course will schedule a studio section in which design projects are integrated with research.
Students are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graphic Design Students.
Major Requirement | BFA Graphic Design, MFA Graphic Design (3yr)
GRAPH
- 352G-01
GRADUATE TYPOGRAPHY STUDIO III
LevelGraduate
UnitGraphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Fall 2024
Credits 3
FormatStudio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
GRADUATE TYPOGRAPHY STUDIO III
LevelGraduate
UnitGraphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
PeriodFall 2024
Credits3
FormatStudio
ModeIn-Person
Start and End2024-09-04 to 2024-12-11
Times: F | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PMInstructor(s): Doug ScottLocation(s): Design Center, Room 704Enrolled / Capacity: 14Status: Closed
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Typography III is the culmination of RISD's typography sequence, with an emphasis on typography and contemporary display platforms. Advances in software and hardware have created new opportunities for how language is written, sequenced and accessed. Projects in this semester depend on altered states, where the content, composition, and context all are potentially at play. Students will continue to develop proficiency in designing for static compositions while extending the meaning and voice of that work across multiple platforms. Students will have ample opportunity to further shape their perspective and individual voice in relation to contemporary typography. This is a studio course, so some class time will be used for discussions, most of the time we will be working in class, often on a computer. There is an expectation that students work both individually and in groups and be prepared to speak about their own work and the work of their peers in supportive and respectful ways. A laptop and relevant software are required.
Please contact the department for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday.
