Ellen Lupton & J. Abbott Miller

Ellen Lupton (b. 1963) and Abbott Miller (b. 1963) collaborate in their art and their design. The name of their studio, Design Writing Research, refers to their work as designers as well as writers, and points to their larger concern to approach design as a form of authorship. This interest is carried through in their editorial and curatorial work on the history and theory of design in typography, graphics, art and industry. They are graduates of the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City.

Lupton is director of the Graphic Design MFA Program at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, where Miller also teaches. In 1996 they published Design/Writing/Research: Writing on Design, a collection of essays on design theory and cultural history. They each received the 1996 New York Magazine Award, given to ten New Yorkers who have helped shape the cultural life of the city. 

Courtesy of Graphicstudio/USF