Dwayne Overmyer

Dwayne Overmyer has taught graphic design at the University of Michigan since 1978. Elsewhere within the University, he has co-taught courses in conjunction with the School of Information and with the Sweetland Writing Center in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. In 2005, he conducted a course on behalf of the U-M School of Education.

In 1996, Overmyer became the first School of Art & Design recipient of the Michigan Arts Award, presented by the University’s Office of the Vice-President for Research. During the 1998-99 academic year, he received an Academic Leadership Fellowship from the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). His primary research interest is the analysis and description of typography as a linguistic activity.

Overmyer has been a guest lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis, Indiana University and Michigan State University. For over 15 years, he has also been a regular visitor at the University of Reading (UK) Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, including extended periods as a visiting scholar.

Overmyer’s work has been recognized by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the University and College Designers Association, the Art Museum Association of America, the Society of Typographic Arts, and the New York Art Directors Club and has appeared in Print casebooks and Industrial Design’s Annual Review. His research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the University’s Rackham School of Graduate Studies and the U-M International Institute. From 1989 to 2004, he was on the editorial advisory board of Information Design Journal. He has also served as editorial consultant to Monotype Typography (UK) and the Danish Design Centre.

Throughout his career, Overmyer has maintained an independent design practice. His first consultancies were in Boston, Toronto and Detroit. Clients of his current Ann Arbor-based practice have included the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, the Toledo Regional Transportation Authority, the Commission on Professional and Hospital Activities, and various units of the University of Michigan including the Museum of Art, the University Library, the Institute for Social Research, the College of Architecture & Urban Planning, the University Press, the Institute for the Humanities, the Center for Western European Studies, and the Center for Russian and East European Studies.