Assembly shares a curated collection of projects, critical essays, reflections and visual explorations. The inaugural publication features the work of 25 contributors, including numerous students who received project funding from KPU’s Student Research and Innovation Grant program.

“Research journals play a crucial role in capturing and distributing the intellectual work that often lives behind the scenes of design. Assembly is an opportunity to share not just what we make, but how and why we make it,” says Andhra Goundrey, Dean of the Wilson School of Design. 

Carley Hodgkinson and Erin Ashenhurst, faculty instructors in the Graphic Design for Marketing program, created the biennial journal with support from research assistants and students Julianna Mayan and Sofia Piercey. Ashenhurst says the goal is to inspire a broad audience through scholarly essays, practice-based research, visual storytelling and reflective writing.

The name emphasizes both the collaborative nature of research and the convergence of ideas that drives the design process.

“We chose the title both because it made us think of school assemblies where everyone gathers together and you get to see people from outside of your cohorts. But ultimately because it captures the nature of the design process — the gathering of research, the ideation, the building out of concepts, all that collaboration and convergence that are behind the projects you see featured in this first issue of this journal,” says Ashenhurst.

In Assembly, we share a curated collection of projects, critical essays, reflections, and visual explorations from the Wilson School of Design’s creative community. Featuring contributions from students and faculty working in technical apparel, product, fashion, graphic, and interior design, the journal takes its name to emphasize both the collaborative nature of research and the convergence of ideas that drive the design process.