Rodney Allen Trice

  • Professor of Practice in Graphic Design

24A Borland

Rodney Allen Trice

Biography

Rodney Allen Trice is a 1987 alumnus of the graphic design program at Penn State who returned to his alma mater as a faculty member in August 2018.

Trice spent the previous 30 years working primarily in the magazine publishing industry in New York where he art directed and contributed on a number of mainstream publications, including Allure, Cosmopolitan, Essence, InStyle, Glamour, People, Seventeen, Teen Beat, US Weekly, and Vibe.

His print work evolved into content creation as he expanded his media experience through producing TV pitches and developing video and film concepts around his quirky environmental furniture design business, T.O.M.T.

Trice has been the recipient of numerous industry awards, including the Society of Publication Designer Awards, Content Council Pearl Awards, and Content Marketing Institute Magnum Opus Awards. Trice was also honored to make Time magazine’s Green Design 100 list for his furniture work.

Teaching in New York City has afforded Trice his first valuable opportunities to develop his foundational approach to visual communication pedagogy. REFIT OR DIE, Trice’s “design studio of the future,” is where he now actively tests that foundational design ideology through a project-based approach as his research redefines graphic design gestalts and formats through immersive technology experiences.

He’s currently developing a game project called L.S.D., which gathers behavioral data to help players identify their own possible vulnerabilities in the deceptive world of social media. Additionally, he is creating an outreach project called The Lab, which spins off from his large-scale Pittsburgh-focused Angel’s Project.

Collected Works