Book launch party to celebrate OU professor’s ‘essential how-to guide’ to finding success in the design industry

Cranbrook Art Museum is hosting an event to celebrate the release of Oakland University Art, Art History and Design Professor Meaghan Barry’s new book “Designing for Local Communities: A guide to freelancing and empowering groups in your neighborhood.” 

Presented in partnership with AIGA Detroit and Design Core Detroit, the book launch party will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7, at Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, and to RSVP, visit the event page.

Barry will be joined in conversation by Chioke McRae, president of AIGA Detroit and a lecturer in OU’s Department of Art, Art History and Design, and Lyla Catellier, curator of public programs at Cranbrook Art Museum. A book signing will be at 6 p.m., with conversation starting at 6:30 p.m.   

Described as “an essential how-to guide for designers,” “Designing For Local Communities” dispels the myth that you must live in a big city or work for prominent brand clients to be considered successful in the design industry.

Barry encourages readers to find their first clients locally, highlighting the benefits of working directly with small businesses and non-profits. By working with small businesses, Barry says, designers can build a freelancing portfolio, while simultaneously investing in their neighborhood.

“Celebrating my book launch on Cranbrook's campus, where I was a graduate student at Cranbrook Academy of Art feels like a mix of a homecoming and a full circle moment. All the presenting partners have played an important role in my career,” said Barry. “I was previously a board member of the AIGA Detroit, Cranbrook Art Museum has been a client of my design firm Unsold Studio for years, and I've worked in numerous capacities with Design Core Detroit. Having all of them come together to recognize ‘Designing for Local Communities’ embodies the ethos of the book, where I advocate for building your local network in order to have a successful design career.”

Barry is associate professor and chair of Oakland University’s Department of Art, Art History and Design, and a partner and creative director at Unsold Studio, an award-winning Detroit-based branding firm. She graduated from the Cranbrook Academy of Art with a Master of Fine Arts in 2D Design.

Barry’s creative scholarship focuses on design as an economic driver for communities, with an emphasis on branding for small businesses and nonprofits. Her design work has been recognized by Graphis Design Annual, Indigo Design Awards, Creative Communication Awards, and Detroit Commerce Design Awards.     

Barry was selected as a 2020 “Notable Woman in Design” by Crain’s Detroit Business, a member of the 2019 Oakland County Executive 40 under 40 class, and a UNESCO City of Design Delegate, representing the United States at Singapore Design Week 2019. 

She has presented about her teaching and research at conferences in Canada, Greece, Mexico, Singapore, and throughout the United States. Her writing has appeared in AIGA Eye on Design and Design & Culture.