Assistant professor, head of programme Arja Karhumaa

Research units & titles

Artistic and research interests

I am a graphic designer and a text artist, Assistant Professor, and the head of Visual Communication Design MA and BA programmes.

My ongoing practice based doctoral thesis examines the material aspects of language, the situated knowledge of a text designer, and the politics of legibility. The methodical part of the thesis is Epägenesis : Katalogi, a catalogue/publication of visual and conceptual writing.

At the heart of my interests in design practice & research & education is expanding the limits of established graphic and communication design. I search for a space for a contemporary academic and critical practice within that field. I am specifically interested in language and typography, publication as art/design practice, and positioning communication design in relation to new materiality, contemporaneity, public sociology, critical pedagogy, and intersectional feminism.