Marisa Watanabe

TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

Marisa Watanabe is an MFA student who will graduate in Spring 2021. She received her BS in Graphic Design from Drexel where she developed an interest in experimental publication and typography. Her professional experience is in UI/UX where she worked on creating analytics applications and gamification for training. She returned to school with the hope of becoming a design educator. Currently, she conducts research on design education, specifically on the relationship between teaching print vs digital design. In her spare time, she enjoys playing video games (poorly) and walking her dog. She is also a self-declared “emo-poser.”

WHERE WERE YOU BORN AND WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW?

I was born in Japan then moved to NJ when I was young. I still live in NJ and probably will stay here forever.

STUDYING ON CAMPUS OR ONLINE?

Online

MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?

Morning

FAVORITE MOVIE?

Only Yesterday

FAVORITE BINGE WATCH?

I don’t really enjoy watching shows, so not really anything.

FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM?

MySpace

FAVORITE PODCAST?

Stuff You Should Know, the head transplants episode is 10/10

FAVORITE FINE ARTIST?

Cézanne

FAVORITE BOOK?

Le Petit Prince

FAVORITE CHARITY/CAUSE?

Planned Parenthood

FAVORITE FREE TIME ACTIVITY DURING THE PANDEMIC?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I’m not good at video games so something that has very low stakes, like ACNH, is up my alley.

HAVE THE CHALLENGES OF 2020 CHANGED HOW YOU THINK ABOUT GRAPHIC DESIGN AND DESIGNERS?

It has further highlighted the importance of how our skill set should be used to help real information become accessible and/or easier to understand. It has also revealed how much influence UX and design has on society.

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