Gregory Turner-Rahman is an award-winning designer, illustrator, writer, educator, and researcher. His work explores story, space, and experience.

Research and Exploration

I am interested in the relationship between storytelling, images, and our everyday reality.My concept of cinematic subsumption (developed with a co-author) refers to the idea that cinema has profoundly influenced how we perceive and construct our environments, relationships, and even our day-to-day lives, essentially shaping our world in a cinematic mode. It also sugggests that the immersive and narrative qualities of film have permeated our physical and virtual spaces, leading to a further blending of the real and the cinematic. I have been exploring how filmic grammars influence our lives and how storyspaces have are intertwined with the built environment. This research reveals a direct lineage from the beginnings of film and animation to the immersive experiences of today's technologies that includes theme parks and video game development. In collaborative research, my colleague and I outlined a taxonomy of spatial regimes that describe nothing less than a 100–year intermingling of virtual and built environments. The importance of this work is that we can begin to see patterns in our interactions with imagery and our desire to immerse ourselves in storyworlds.Read more about cinematic subsumption:The End of Architecture: Theme Parks, Video Games, and the Built Environment in Cinematic Mode (The International Journal of the Constructed Environment)Toward a Taxonomy of Contemporary Spatial Regimes: From the Architectonic to the Holistic (The International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design)

Parallel Practices: In the late 90s, I began writing about online creative communities and the production of auto-theoretical texts that are essential to abductive reasoning and creative problem solving. To break that down a bit: early web design was a new profession and designers had to share information, inspiration, and learn a novel set of skills. There was a period of time—before a codification of practices (which arrives with early usability testing for web pages)—when designers had unprecedented creative control. The exploration of that early period shows how web design communities mirrored the production of other creative digital cultures such as the Demoscene—producers of coded motion graphics.Exploration and play when fused with creative technological tools can provide alternative modes of practice that often go unrealized. In the era of artificial intelligence, it is important that we explore all aspects of parallel practices that champion the role of human creativity and agency. Creative communities in the early web era, like their predecessors, were often about connectivity, community, and information sharing.Read more about parallel practices:Parallel Practices and the Dialectics of Open Creative Production (The Journal of Design History)

I have also written about:Medical Imaging, Modern Clinical Practice, and the Art of ExplorationAbductive Authorship of the New Media Artifact

My writing has been published in the Journal of Design History, Fibreculture, and by Routledge/American Film Institute.Visit my Researchgate profile to see all my recent publications.I am also a published children's author and illustrator.

TEACHING

I am a student-centered, constructivist instructor who has taught:• graphic design
• design history
• new media theory
• motion graphics
• digital storytelling
• drawing for design thinkingI am currently a Professor of Community-based Production at Washington State University.It is a privilege to teach and I am ardently dedicated to helping students become intrinsic learners. I constantly explore ways to engage students in higher-level design thinking and innovative practices while staying passionate about their interests.Exploration and experimentation are at the center of the courses I teach. Students are asked to take concepts discussed in class and to create something tangible and novel.

my students' work

Design Education
It is important that students have strong understanding of fundamental design principles. But equally important is the ability to explore, take risks, and learn from one's mistakes. In each course, students are encouraged to immediately begin experimentation. They are free to make mistakes so that they can craft better, stronger solutions. This entrepreneurial approach works equally well in design-focused, technology-centered, or theory-driven courses. Another important aspect of design education is trans- or inter-disciplinary dialogue.At the Washington State University, I have worked to create integrated programs that allow students from a variety of disciplines to come together to solve complex problems and explore big ideas. In the Department of Digital Technology and Culture, we bring together students from a variety of disciplines to work together. The result is often community-engaged problem-solving.Recent classes—such as Usability and Interaction Design—focus on UX/UI for real world clients. Students meet with clients, do needs-assessment, and develop solutions to unique problems.I also believe in the potential of design to be an expressive, independent production. One of my favorite classes to teach was Motion Graphics (in a Digital Imaging Course). Students were asked to develop a logline for a fictional movie. They wrote a synopsis and developed storyboards for title sequence. By the end of the semester they developed sophisticated motion graphics and storytelling.

BIO

I have always been interested in Storytelling and Design. I made movies, drew comics, and designed furniture. While still an undergraduate studying Industrial Design, I was hired as an animator and, subsequently, Art Director for a small video game start-up. I left to start a design consultancy in Seattle, Washington with a friend. The firm served several high-profile clients such as Jansport, Footzone, and Precor. We created retail interiors and tradeshow booths.After several years, I decided to study Architecture. I put myself through school working as a Graphic/Interface Designer. I designed web applications for Washington State University and the American Association for Higher Education. I co-edited, co-designed Skew, an in-house magazine about teaching in higher education, that won both Clarion and Apex awards in 2004. I started teaching at the University of Idaho the same year.I served as the Head of the Virtual Technology and Design program. After a sabbatical, I became the Head of the Art and Design program until 2023. I left to return to Washington State University where I am currently a Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Digital Technology and Culture.

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