Katie Krcmarik has worked as both a graphic designer and educator for the past two decades. She has worked in a variety of design positions, including in a studio, in-house for a variety of companies, and as a freelance Graphic Designer. She currently teaches and coordinates the visual communications foundational courses for the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She previously taught Graphic Design at Mott Community College for eleven years as an adjunct faculty member in the Fine Arts and Social Sciences Department.
Katie most recently earned a Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her thesis work explored women in graphic design history as well as the relationship between space and power. Her thesis, Hierarchical Space: How the Use of Space Creates Bias, explored the relationship of visual communication in perpetuating cultural bias. Katie earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Wayne State University in Studio Art with a concentration in Graphic Design. She completed a Master of Arts in Educational Technology from Michigan State University, focusing on instructional design. She continues to pursue professional and artistic development by taking workshops to improve her skills. She most recently has been learning to use the lathe and how to weave after her graduate studies piqued her interest in the crafts.
In her current position as an Assistant Professor of Practice and Visual Communications Coordinator, Katie oversaw the development of the foundational visual communications courses for the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She developed a curriculum for the courses with the assistance of colleagues and continues to refine that curriculum. The courses cover seven core areas—Typography, Layout, Audio, Video, Photo, Mobile, and Web—as well as several exploratory modules in Color Theory, Photoshop, After Effects, UX Design, and 360 Video. With her colleagues Adam Wagler and Alan Eno, she spearheaded the development of digital textbooks for the courses, including writing portions of the textbooks. Additionally, as the program coordinator, she creates the schedule for the 40 sections of the classes, including hiring adjuncts as needed and training other faculty as needed. She supervises several graduate assistants who teach for her and the student lab assistants who help staff the lab. She has also had the opportunity to teach a multi-discipline exhibits course for two years that focused on students producing an exhibit that was installed in a specified location. She will be teaching a class in women in media history this Spring, which combines her feminist leanings and her love of history.
Katie has worked as a graphic designer for the past twenty years for a variety of companies and continues to work as a graphic designer in print, web, and video as time allows. Her hand-bound thesis book recently won a Gold Award and a Judges Choice Award in AIGA Nebraska's 2018 Show design competition, a local Gold Addy, and was a winner in the Publication Category for the Flux Student Show. She continues to work as a freelance designer as her schedule allows focusing mainly on print and web design. Her personal work focuses both on prints and 3-dimensional work such as installations and sculptures.
Katie also has a strong commitment to university and professional service. She was recently named an Adobe Education Leader. She is currently in her second year as the president of the Nebraska AIGA chapter. She previously served in positions as Show Co-chair and Chair for the Nebraska chapter and Director of Education for the Detroit chapter. She is serving on the university-wide ITSC Committee and currently serves as the chair of the committee. She is currently the faculty advisor for the student group, NUSAMS, a group that works to inform students on campus about human trafficking and its effects. She has performed a variety of other service-related activities for the university and the community.
Katie's research interests have also included instructional design to improve student outcomes. Besides completing a Masters Degree in Educational Technology, she has also explored more deeply the role design can play in producing more effective instructional materials. She won the 2014 LAND Competition in Adjunct Category for her presentation on Rethinking the Syllabus: Setting the Stage for Success. She has also presented at the Teaching Professor Technology Conference on using storyboarding to create more effective instructional videos. Moreover, Katie explores the integration of technology into the classroom and regularly explores new avenues for incorporating it into her classroom to improve student engagement and learning outcomes.