On November 4th, the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) posthumously honored Sylvia Harris at their annual conference in Philadelphia. Celebrating her legacy as a pioneer in design for the public good, she received the 2021 SEGD Fellow Award.
Accepting the award in her honor, Sylvia’s husband Gary Singer, spoke of Sylvia’s dynamism, generosity, warmth, and laughter. He described her work as informed by embracing those who were who were excluded, overlooked, or marginalized, and how she used design as a powerful tool to bring all people under the tent. See the full video, below, of the award presentation including an introduction by Lucy Holmes, SEGD Board Member, and commentary on Sylvia’s contributions to the design world by Juanita Dugdale, David Gibson and Katie Osborn.
Sylvia’s influence was immense – she was designing for social impact before the phrase was even coined. After obtaining her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, Sylvia relocated to Boston where she worked as a designer before pursuing an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University. Upon graduation in 1980, Sylvia co-founded Two Twelve Associates with Yale classmates Juanita Dugdale and David Gibson.
Sylvia remained at Two Twelve for almost 15 years, supporting the expansion of the company to include projects across both the private and public sectors. In 1994 Sylvia launched her own independent practice focused on design strategy and planning in the public interest. In this capacity, Sylvia took on large-scale social impact projects, including the overhaul of the information collection interface for the 2000 US Census, and a complete redesign of the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center wayfinding system.
In 2011, only a few months before her untimely passing, Sylvia rebranded her individual practice as Citizen Research & Design, a name that captured the spirit of her mission to use research and design to benefit the greatest number of people. She also co-founded the non-profit organization, Public Policy Lab, and served as its first board chair.
Via Collective is especially moved by this posthumous SEGD Fellow Award as Sylvia was Katie’s mentor, colleague, and friend. They met in 1997 at the AIGA MN Design Camp where Katie was immediately drawn to Sylvia’s compassion for all people involved in the design process. Sylvia’s vision impacted Katie’s own practice and working with Sylvia opened Katie’s eyes to the thoughtful, strategic, and comprehensive way that design could be approached. Katie keeps that legacy alive as she continues to grow Via Collective, grateful for Sylvia’s immense contributions to the design community, including her own life as a designer.