Amber Howard

Amber Howard is engaged in design education, research, and practice. She is currently a Lecturer in the Graphic Design and Industrial Design department at North Carolina State University. She received a Ph.D. in Design, a Master of Graphic Design, and a Certificate for Accomplishment in Teaching from North Carolina State University. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Arts from Otis College of Art and Design.

With ten years of teaching experience, she has developed curriculum for undergraduate and graduate design courses at private, for-profit, and public institutions. She has presented at national and international events, facilitated workshops for design educators, and served as an advisor for NC State’s Graduate School Preparing Future Leaders Program and the College of Design’s Design Inquiry Task Force. Additionally, she co-organized the AIGA New Contexts New Practices Educator’s Conference in 2010.

In 2004, she co-founded IBIS Information Design and Sciences Research Foundation. As a member of various research teams, she developed a proof of concept for AIGA’s International Design Research Database, a Design Research taxonomy for AIGA, and assessment tasks measuring design thinking in K-12 for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) within the United States Department of Education. She was also a senior investigator for an NSF grant examining design, technology, and sustainability. At New Kind, she's worked with Ashoka, Innovate Raleigh, Mix Management Project, NC New Schools Project, Progress Software, The Redwoods Group, Research Triangle Foundation, Research Triangle Regional Partnership, Tony Samuels Capital, and Truveon.

Additionally, She has worked as a freelance, contract, and in-house designer for twelve years. Her clients range from start-up companies to not-for-profit organizations to national cultural institutions. Her design work was featured in multiple traveling exhibits and received a medal in AIGA’s Los Angeles Design Exhibit “Merged.” She was also featured in Step Inside Design Magazine’s “Field Guide to Emerging Talent 2008.” In 2011, she received the Communication Arts Award of Excellence in Environmental Typography.