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Design Identities
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Design Identities

Celebrating Black voices from the College of Design.

Design Identities celebrates five Black Design alumni who have been influencers in their fields. Students from each department conducted one on one interviews with an alumnus in their field to learn about their successes as designers and to encourage the next generation of students, especially BIPOC students, with an introduction to and an interest in design. 

Featured Designer: Tim Allen 
Our Lineup of Designers 
Our Student Interviewers 

Our Designer Lineup:

Breeze Outlaw

Breeze Outlaw

Breeze believes in the essential qualities of diverse narratives and the role of exploring and investigating to create spaces that reflect all experiences.
Renee Seward Headshot

Renee Seward

Renee has been teaching typography, exhibition design and graphic design in the Communication Design program at the University of Cincinnati for the past 14 years, and her research focuses on developing digital and physical tools that seek to address our society’s literacy problem.
Charles Harbison

Charles Harbison

Charles is the founder and creative director of HARBISON. Charles began his professional career as a textile designer before moving on to womenswear at Michael Kors. He continued with stints at Luca Luca and Billy Reid, producing both womenswear and accessories, before launching HARBISON in 2013.
Edwin Harris Headshot

Edwin Harris

Edwin designs spaces with a belief that remarkable architecture has the faculty to enhance the lives of those who occupy it. As a co-founder and Design Principal at EVOKE, Edwin is a role model for aspiring designers and encourages them through career lectures and design dialogues.
Tim Allen

Tim Allen

Tim leads the global product design team at Airbnb, centered on design and inclusivity. His focus on fueling human potential is key to building products and cultures that inspire people to do their best work.

Our Student Interviewers:

Our students from each department tackled interviews with these notable designers — asking them about their careers, how to navigate as a black designer, and what brought them to design.

Matt Blanding

Matt Blanding

Matthew Blanding is a second year student in industrial design. In his free time, he loves to design furniture, cook, and take road trips with his puppy. He aspires to design for a tooling and hardware company such as Lowe’s, Husqvarna, or Dewalt, and lives by the motto: “It’s okay if life gets hard because the best diamonds are made under the greatest amounts of pressure!”

Jasmyn Byrd

Jasmyn Byrd

Jasmyn Byrd is a third-year M.Arch. student. Her research interests are in the geopolitical economy of urbanization, urban-rural transformations, and intersections between race and architecture. After graduating, Jasmyn aspires to pursue a focus on public interest design by designing sustainable structures for underserved and at-risk populations.

jemima-liteli-portrait

Jemima Liteli

Jemima Liteli is a third year student in the Bachelor of Graphic Design program. Her passions include UX/UI design, logo design, and branding. Jemima also takes an active role in speaking out about social justice issues and uses the interpersonal skills she has learned in the program to do just that. Her goals for the future involve using her talents and influence as a woman of color to better her community.

William Stanton

William Stanton

William Stanton is a second year student in the Master of Landscape Architecture program. Through his undergraduate experience in Urban and Regional Planning, he developed an interest in learning how to empower communities through design. His interest in how Counterurbanization/Urbanization affects marginalized communities drives his career goals to provide designed spaces that act as assets to underserved communities.

RJ Washington

RJ Washington

RJ Washington is a Junior in Art & Design, studying animation and interactive design. He has a passion for writing, game design and graphic design, as well as an interest in coding. RJ hopes to use these skills to become a compelling storyteller. As a young Black creative, his goal is to amplify the voices of POC and tell their stories in innovative ways.

Let’s talk identity.

To be a designer is to be a storyteller. We want to tell the story of design through the BIPOC lens.

Help us keep the conversation going.

Share your unique experiences, ideas, thoughts and work when you post on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tag #DesignIdentitiesNCState and @ncstatedesign when you post.

Explore on Instagram

To first-year architecture student Ashtyn Thomas, design represents possibility and opportunity.

Inspired by her father who works in construction, she chose to pursue architecture in 11th grade. Now, she’s building her community at NC State with the help of the Native American Student Association (@ncsu_nasa) and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (@ncsumsa).

“My Lumbee identity impacts every aspect of who I am,” states Thomas. “Not just when I speak about it to others, but it also impacts my abilities as a designer.”

Right now, she’s designing a structure meant for the North Carolina Museum of Art that embraces native culture using the four directions – a significant symbol in many native cultures. “I want to use my culture to show that we’re still here, we’re prominent in the world, and we’re thriving.”

Thomas is also exploring how casino design can have a positive effect on indigenous communities, using the Catawba tribe’s casino as a case study for her aspirations. “I’ve seen how casinos can directly impact native communities, especially ones in very remote locations,” she says. “For the Catawba, they can provide housing, they can provide funding for schools and healthcare. They’re much better off.”

Thomas also stated she would love to design a casino for her tribe since the Lumbee don’t have one yet.

In 2023, Thomas was crowned Miss Lumbee – an honor that asks nominees to develop a platform for cultural advocacy. Ashtyn developed R.I.S.E., which stands for Resilient and Intelligent Young Women Supporting Empowerment. The initiative is designed to help advance the pursuit of STEM careers by young Indigenous women.

At the College of Design, she plans to continue her advocacy to create spaces that provide economic stability, cultural enrichment and resilience for indigenous communities throughout North Carolina.

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To first-year architecture student Ashtyn Thomas, design represents possibility and opportunity. Inspired by her father who works in construction, she chose to pursue architecture in 11th grade. Now, she’s building her community at NC State with the help of the Native American Student Association (@ncsu_nasa) and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (@ncsumsa). “My Lumbee identity impacts every aspect of who I am,” states Thomas. “Not just when I speak about it to others, but it also impacts my abilities as a designer.” Right now, she’s designing a structure meant for the North Carolina Museum of Art that embraces native culture using the four directions – a significant symbol in many native cultures. “I want to use my culture to show that we’re still here, we’re prominent in the world, and we’re thriving.” Thomas is also exploring how casino design can have a positive effect on indigenous communities, using the Catawba tribe’s casino as a case study for her aspirations. “I’ve seen how casinos can directly impact native communities, especially ones in very remote locations,” she says. “For the Catawba, they can provide housing, they can provide funding for schools and healthcare. They’re much better off.” Thomas also stated she would love to design a casino for her tribe since the Lumbee don’t have one yet. In 2023, Thomas was crowned Miss Lumbee – an honor that asks nominees to develop a platform for cultural advocacy. Ashtyn developed R.I.S.E., which stands for Resilient and Intelligent Young Women Supporting Empowerment. The initiative is designed to help advance the pursuit of STEM careers by young Indigenous women. At the College of Design, she plans to continue her advocacy to create spaces that provide economic stability, cultural enrichment and resilience for indigenous communities throughout North Carolina.

“I would not be who I am and where I am today, if not for the culture fostered by the College of Design."

When Demarcus Williams (’03) thought about the ways in which he could support NC State University’s College of Design following graduation, he thought back to his own experience.

When he enrolled, he was one of seven Black students in a class of 120 that year. He was the only Black student to graduate in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design.

The experience came with some challenges, but the college was there as an extended, supportive family for him.

For Williams, giving back is about helping current and future students have the same experience or one that’s even better. He’s kept up with the college since graduation, returning as a guest speaker and for alumni events. Williams also currently serves on the board of directors for NC State’s Alumni Association.

He’s seen the college work to enroll and support students from all races, ethnicities and life experiences.

Read the full story of how Williams is designing an inclusive college experience through philanthropy in our bio.

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“I would not be who I am and where I am today, if not for the culture fostered by the College of Design." When Demarcus Williams (’03) thought about the ways in which he could support NC State University’s College of Design following graduation, he thought back to his own experience. When he enrolled, he was one of seven Black students in a class of 120 that year. He was the only Black student to graduate in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design. The experience came with some challenges, but the college was there as an extended, supportive family for him. For Williams, giving back is about helping current and future students have the same experience or one that’s even better. He’s kept up with the college since graduation, returning as a guest speaker and for alumni events. Williams also currently serves on the board of directors for NC State’s Alumni Association. He’s seen the college work to enroll and support students from all races, ethnicities and life experiences. Read the full story of how Williams is designing an inclusive college experience through philanthropy in our bio.

It`s the last week of class and it is *crunch* time. ✍📐🏗

What lifted your spirits as a student when faced with a looming deadline?

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It's the last week of class and it is *crunch* time. ✍📐🏗 What lifted your spirits as a student when faced with a looming deadline?

Tim Allen

Design Identities: Tim Allen

Tim Allen was named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business for 2017. He leads the global product design team at Airbnb, centered on design and inclusivity. His focus on fueling human potential is key to building products and cultures that inspire people to do their best work. As an additional outlet for his passion around design thinking, Tim speaks and instructs at schools and events around the country.

Tim’s work has been recognized with several of the industry’s most esteemed awards, including multiple Cannes Cyber Lions, D&AD, ANDY, Webby and OneShow awards. Named in the Creativity 50, Creativity magazine’s 2013 list of the year’s most inspiring and influential creative figures, he also played a key role on the award-winning R/GA team who created Nike+, the platform named Campaign of the Decade by AdWeek magazine, Nike Training Club, Nike’s first ever iOS App, and Nike.com.

Prior to Airbnb, Tim led Microsoft’s Experiences & Devices design practice and Amazon’s Product Design Studio as Executive Creative Director leading the experience design for Echo, FireTV, and Kindle products. Tim also shaped the vision for one of the largest Experience Design teams in the United States at R/GA, whose Nike work established the future of connected experiences for brands. Through innovative work with Adobe, Red Hat, and IBM, Tim holds seven patents related to software design, ranging from chat interface modeling to mobile device synchronization.

Mentors change lives.

If you are interested in becoming a mentor to a design student, please reach out to Assistant Dean of Student and Academic Services for the College of Design, Tameka Whitaker. 

Make a gift to support our students today.

The College of Design relies on support from members of the design community to empower our students with critical resources, scholarships and opportunities. If you are interested in making a gift to a cause that fits your interests, please contact Associate Director of Development, Candice Murray. 

Our Designer Lineup:

Breeze Outlaw

Design Identities: Breeze Outlaw

ZIE/ZIR & THEY/THEM 

Breeze is a landscape designer interested in addressing the perceptual and physical interpretations of equitable and just access to public spaces. In zir work, zie explores frameworks of resilient sociocultural equity through futurism, cultural expressions, and natural systems. Zir approach is grounded in meaningful and intentional engagement that amplifies the voices of marginalized communities through the connectivity of natural and cultural systems, the preservation of community integrity, and challenging structures of oppression in design. 

Zir work includes collaborations with community stakeholders, artists, organizers, and municipalities on projects that address challenges ranging from food access disparities, gentrification, and affirming spaces for Black womxn, non-binary, and femmes. Breeze believes in the intersectionality of narratives and the role of exploring and investigating to create affirming spaces. 

Prior to joining Sasaki, Breeze worked as a food systems designer where zie worked with community members, food producers, and municipalities on small- and large- scale planning projects to strategically address food access disparities.

Breeze holds a BEDA, BArch and MLA from North Carolina State University. Zie is currently a member of Black Landscape Architecture Network (BlackLAN) and the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) Board of Directors. Zie is a 2016 LAF Olmsted Scholar and the co-founder of Blackscapes, an initiative that explores the intersection of the Black experience in the built environment.

Renee Seward

Design Identities: Renee Seward

Reneé is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of the Communication Design program at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. She is a graduate of the Graphic Design program at the University of Cincinnati in 2002 and received her Master’s from North Carolina State in 2008.

Reneé has been teaching typography, exhibition design, graphic design in the Communication Design program for the last fourteen years. Her students have won countless awards from Graphics, Graphic Design USA, and Creative Communication Awards Design competitions over the years.

Her research focuses on developing digital and physical tools that seek to address our society’s literacy problem. Currently, she has a company that sells her reading tool called See Words Reading®. Renee came up with See Words because a friend’s child who attributed his reading struggle to the letters’ layout on a page. Reneé, as a designer, felt that she could help with the problem. Renee is a Cincy Innovates winner and has been acknowledged as a Rising Tech star by ComSpark, awarded by the Business Courier Best Software of the Year, and the University of Cincinnati Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year. Recently, a font her team has designed called SeeType just won an STA award, and she has given a TEDx talk on Eradication Literacy Through the Power of a Font. Additionally, she is working in a collaborative research team awarded a grant from the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to develop a tool to help correct speech problems in children.

Renee has also been named a winner in the Graphic Design USA Design competition for the poster she developed for the AIGA to promote voting.

Featured Work

Charles Harbison

Design Identities: Charles Harbison

Born in Lincolnton, NC, Charles developed an early interest in fashion while observing the transformative impact that clothing had on his mother’s persona. Charles studied fine arts, painting, and textiles at North Carolina State University’s College of Design, where his curriculum was based largely on the modernist movement—an aesthetic code he continues to employ. Following graduation, Charles spent a year abroad studying Central Asian textiles. His next move brought him to New York, where he enrolled in the fashion program at Parsons School of Design.

Charles began his professional career as a textile designer before moving on to womenswear at Michael Kors. He continued with stints at Luca Luca and Billy Reid, producing both womenswear and accessories. Charles launched his collection, HARBISON, in NYC in 2013, with womenswear, menswear, and accessories exploring the designer’s central themes: ease, modernity, art, and gender.

Having dressed the likes of Beyoncé, Solange, & Ava Duvernay, and design-directed designer & contemporary brands alike (i.e. Ungaro in London, Cult Gaia & NICHOLAS in LA), Charles continues to build HARBISON in Los Angeles.

Edwin Harris

Design Identities: Edwin Harris

Co-founder of EVOKE Studio Architecture, Edwin Harris believes that remarkable architecture enhances the lives of its occupants. For over a decade, he has consistently generated exciting designs that are decisive, focused, and rooted in clear objectives and novel concepts. Edwin’s distinctive design talent has been recognized throughout his career. His design aptitude and competitive spirit have gained him winning recognition in several competitions including the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. These striking achievements complement the 26 design awards that Edwin’s projects have achieved. He was invited to serve as design award juror for AIA Detroit & AIA South Carolina. While at The Freelon Group and Perkins+Will, his visioning for projects like Emancipation Park garnered him recognition as an Emerging Designer for the global firm. Renowned architect and Edwin’s mentor, Phil Freelon, declared Edwin a supremely talented architect on the rise.

Edwin is a role model for aspiring designers and encourages them through career lectures and design dialogues. In 2020, Edwin was named to the Triangle Business Journal 40 under 40 for his professional achievements and community service initiatives. He also serves as a board member for non-profit, Diversify Architecture, which aims to reach grade school students to increase the diversity within the architecture profession. Edwin has lectured for the RTP 180 Lecture Series. He regularly mentors elementary, middle, and high school students at numerous schools throughout the Raleigh-Durham area. Edwin has also nurtured collegiate talent nationally as an invited juror at the National Organization of Minority Architects Conference and invited guest critic at both Lawrence Technical University and UNC Charlotte. Currently, he teaches and empowers the next generation of architects and designers as a Professor of Practice at North Carolina State University.