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Emily Burns

  • Assistant Professor of Graphic Design

  • Typography

  • Type Design

  • Branding

  • Editorial Design

  • Design Education

  • Painting

  • Visual Arts

  • Curatorial and Exhibition Design

24C Borland

Emily Burns

Biography

Emily Carol Burns is an assistant professor of graphic design at the Stuckeman School, and currently the graphic design graduate program coordinator. In 2020, she was selected as an Arts and Architecture Sustainability Faculty Teaching Fellow.

Her interdisciplinary research interests include design and the expanded field, including visual arts, entrepreneurship, and sustainability. Her work includes the development of new projects and curriculum in design education, and investigations into the creative process.

Burns is the founder of Maake, a collaborative, artist-run arts organization that curates and publishes the work of contemporary artists. Maake publishes a biannual guest-curated print publication and maintains an online archive of features and interviews with contemporary artists and artist-run projects. Maake Projects, the public exhibition space, features exhibitions, and curates nomadic exhibitions and public events with galleries across the country. Maake seeks to provide publishing opportunities, improve access and equity in the visual arts, and build community around the world.

Burns specializes in typography, type design, branding, editorial, design education, painting, visual arts, and curatorial and exhibition design. She earned a certificate in type design from the Type@Cooper program at The Cooper Union in New York City. Burns' achievements in design have earned awards and recognition from the AIGA, University and College Designers Association (UCDA), Graphis, the Art Director's Club of Tulsa, and the United Design Alliance (UDA) International Design Competition, among others.

Her work has been exhibited both internationally and throughout the United States. She has been a visiting speaker at BRIC Brooklyn, NARS Foundation, The School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, NYC Crit Club, and the UCDA Design Education Summit.

Curatorial projects include Linger Still, a solo show by Kaveri Raina at Assembly Room in New York City, and group exhibitions Biophilia at Unpaved Gallery in Yucca Valley, California; Zip City at Left Field Gallery in Los Osos, California; Garden School at Trestle Gallery in Brooklyn; Imprint the Air at the Cleveland Institute of Art; and Charm Phase at Maake Projects.

She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art in Drawing and Painting and a Master of Fine Art, with a concentration in graphic design from Penn State. Burns has run a freelance design studio since 2010, focusing on a wide variety of client projects, including identity design, editorial, photography, packaging, and more.

Collected Works

CD album art featuring "Ted McCloskey Sea Foam Green" signage against clear sky background. Open CD album is sitting behind, revealing artwork of more signage, a photo of Ted McCloskey, and a copy of his CD.
Fuschia geometric art with rows and columns of various linework, against a solid light pink background.
Book cover illustration of a great horned owl silhouette perched on a hypodermic needle against a parchment paper background. Title of book is embedded in the owl illustration.
Studio headshot of a young woman wearing a variety of pastel spring flowers in her hair, her hands placed against the front of her shoulders.
Stylized artwork of several yellow and pink flowers dispersed throughout the canvas. Background features a few large pink outlines of flowers with dark stripes and solid lilac background.