hilary short

is a graphic designer and writer.

scholarship

Both of my theses—Pre-occupied and Design is the Evidence—are meditations on information and their expressed forms. Pre-occupied (MDes Graphic Design ’20) recontextualizes the traditional form of the obituary and challenges the assumed content of what makes a life. Design is the Evidence (MA Design Criticism ’22) is a series of essays analyzing the history of vital statistics and design’s role in shaping its form. Both of these inquiries have instilled in me a deep appreciation of how we consume information and has shaped my approach to designing it.
    The form of information is also the driving force behind my published work Bloodlines and Kinship (’19). Bloodlines is a large format piece created in excel. It depicts my family tree, albeit in a more macabre form; the cell sheet drips down the wall. Its partner piece, Kinship, is an abstracted blueprint and places me in relation to the familial objects amongst which I exist. This series has been published in Refract Journal.
    My path towards graphic design was winding. In 2009, I received my BA in sociology. I love thinking and learning about how the world shapes us as individuals. Eyebrow Archive (’18) is an apt example of this. What I didn’t realize was actually how relevant my background in sociology would be in my design work.