MEENA KHALILI is a professor of design and interaction, who makes daily drawings of things. She is an artist who uses design as a strategy for creation, and a designer who brings artistic methods to her solutions.
A native of Washington, D.C. and Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Visual Art + Design, Meena holds a BFA in Illustration and an MFA in Visual Communication + Graphic Design from VCUarts. She currently serves on the AIGA Design Educators Community National Steering Committee.
Khalili is the recipient of the 2019 National Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement in Graphic Design by the Southeastern College Art Conference. Her work has shown at the Type Director’s Club of New York, Chicago Design Museum, and galleries throughout North America, Canada, China, Indonesia, Croatia, Australia and Moscow, with illustrations and book art in permanent collections at the VCU Libraries Special Collections and Archives, the Omni Hotel Louisville, and recently inducted artwork in the Library of Congress.
Her interdisciplinary research moves between traditional design and studio art practices and explores UX, storytelling, typography and language through design, illustration, moving image, and book art. She completed study at the Illustration Academy, and the LdM Institute in Florence, Italy, and finds inspiration in travel, culture, and her experience as an Iranian-American.
In addition to her international exhibition schedule, she maintains an active speaking schedule with engagements and workshops held in Qatar, Italy, and throughout the U.S.