Research
Grounded in equity- and justice-centered frameworks, my research examines participatory approaches that bring together qualitative research, systems thinking, visual inquiry, and emerging technologies.
Through community-based practices, interactive experiences, and experimental making, I create installations, exhibitions, visualizations, and collaborative projects that engage people with information, place, and one another in meaningful ways.
Community-based practices
Community-based practices in design integrate collaborative and participatory methods to engage community members. These place-based initiatives center local and communal perspectives, where power and decision-making are shared. They prioritize community-led initiatives over institutional or external interests, ensuring that design solutions emerge from within, not from above.
I work with communities to co-create interventions that reflect and respond to people, places, and processes. I see design as a way to amplify local knowledge, support shared goals, and reflect the identities and experiences of the communities involved. I am particularly interested in how stories, lived experience, and community knowledge can be made visible and tangible through design. Grounded in feminist, equity-, and justice-oriented frameworks, my methodology incorporates collaboration, participation, and co-creation to support shared authorship and alternative forms of knowledge production.
I believe community-based practices are essential to building socially and environmentally just and equitable futures because they amplify community voices and prioritize community interests. I value the process of working with people—listening, learning, building trust, and creating conditions for collective learning and sensemaking. Through this work, design becomes a means of supporting dialogue, surfacing overlooked perspectives, and making community knowledge accessible, visible, and actionable.
Interactive Experiences
Interactive and immersive experiences are a key part of my research. I view these environments as expanded forms of visualization where information can be encountered through movement, space, sound, and interaction rather than static display. Creating sensory-based environments allows people to actively influence the outcome of an experience through input such as touch, gesture, voice, or sound.
I work with a range of 2D and 3D materials to create large-scale exhibitions and installations using analog, digital, and mixed approaches. By inviting people into an experience, I explore how design can support embodied ways of learning, spark critical reflection, and create space for shared understanding. I am especially interested in how qualitative information—including stories, interviews, observations, and lived experience—can be translated into interactive, spatial, and temporal forms of representation.
I’m inspired by creative technologies and materials and continually explore how interaction, participation, and scale can contribute to meaningful spaces and experiences. I’m particularly interested in how place and space shape how we gather, connect, and share, and how emerging technologies influence what we can make. My work spans printed materials, 3D digital fabrication, augmented reality, motion, mobile and web-based platforms, projection, and a range of other analog and digital processes, including sensors, creative coding, and interactive media.
Through these experiences, I investigate how people engage with information, one another, and their surroundings. By creating environments that invite participation, I explore how design can support collective learning, storytelling, and sensemaking through embodied engagement.
Experimental Making
Experimental systems is a core part of my practice. I use unconventional tools, materials, and processes to think through making and explore design possibilities. I experiment across analog and digital formats to challenge assumptions, test ideas, and uncover new possibilities. This process often functions as a form of inquiry, allowing making itself to become a method of research and discovery.
I invite audience interaction and incorporate randomness, chance, and variability into my work to produce surprising iterations and outcomes. This open-ended, sometimes rule-based approach supports spontaneity, creativity, and imagination. Rather than designing fixed outcomes, I am interested in designing conditions that allow form and meaning to emerge through process.
I’m particularly interested in generative systems, which may be computational but can also emerge through other processes, such as natural systems, participatory actions, or site-based experiences. These systems often function as forms of visualization, revealing patterns, variation, relationships, and emergence over time. By allowing multiple outcomes and interpretations to develop, they challenge predictability and create opportunities for shared authorship, uncertainty, and discovery.
I see experimental making as a way to integrate authenticity, participation, and co-authorship into the work while questioning conventional expectations of design. Through iterative experimentation with tools, technologies, materials, and systems, I explore how design can create new ways of seeing, understanding, and engaging with the world.
Community-based practices
How design and participatory approaches support collaboration, dialogue, and community knowledge production and co-creation?
Interactive Experiences
How can people engage and interact with information, data, stories, and communication systems through visual, spatial, and digital experiences?
Experimental Making
How can computational thinking, generative systems, rule-based visualization, and emerging technologies create new ways of making and learning?
Background & Experience
Publications
Normoyle, C. (2026). Community-based practices in action: relational labour, ethical boundaries, play, and long-term engagement in communication design. CoDesign. LINK
Normoyle, C., & Afanador-Llach, C. (2025). A decade of keywords in communication design research: Trends and topics. In Proceedings of the UCDA 2025 Design Education Summit: Mindful. University & College Designers Association.
Normoyle, C., & Irwin, M. (2025). Exploring the “physdigital” in design education: Interactive, immersive experiences with type, material, space, and augmented reality (AR). In Proceedings of the 40th National Conference for the Beginning Design Student (NCBDS40). North Carolina State University, College of Design. LINK
Normoyle, C. (2023). A personal teaching philosophy & guiding principles. In D. Jones, N. Borekci, V. Clemente, J. Corazzo, N. Lotz, L. M. Nielsen, & L.-A. Noel (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Conference for Design Education Researchers (29 Nov – 1 Dec, London, UK). LINK
Normoyle, C. (2023). Alternative teaching methods in design studio courses: Lessons learned during the pandemic. In L. Zahabi (Ed.), SHIFT{ED}: Dialogue – Proceedings of the AIGA Design Educators Community Conferences 2023. AIGA DEC. LINK
Normoyle, C., & Teague, J. (2022). Art CAST: A collaborative, interdisciplinary studio. Message Journal, (5), 39–43. University of Plymouth. [COVID-19 Special Issue]. LINK
Normoyle, C., & Teague, J. (Eds.). (2021, March 30). ART CAST: Episode 2 [Video]. In ART CAST, a collaborative, interdisciplinary online studio featuring Clark, K., Conger, B., Dashiell, C. V., Duggan, G., Ergenzinger, E., Normoyle, C., Shirley, D., Shoaf, M., & Teague, J. Link to Episode
Normoyle, C., & Teague, J. (Eds.). (2020, November 6). ART CAST: Episode 1 [Video]. In ART CAST, a collaborative, interdisciplinary online studio feat. Galaska, T., Gustafson, C., Kariko, D., Malmrose, C., Robinson, L., Teague, J., & Quinn, R. Link to Episode
Normoyle, C., and Tegtmeyer, R. (2020) Critical and Collaborative Making with Augmented Technical tools. In Boess, S., Cheung, M. and Cain, R. (eds.), Synergy: DRS International Conference 2020. Held online. Link to Article
Normoyle, C. (2019). A Blended Perspective: Social Impact Assessment in Graphic Design. Dialectic, 2(2): pp. 71-94. AIGA Design Educators Community (DEC) and Michigan Publishing. Link to Article
Normoyle, C., & Christian, C. (2018). Motion Design in the Context of Place. In R. B. Stone & L. Wahlin (eds.), The Theory and Practice of Motion Design: Critical Perspectives and Professional Practice (pp. 228-245). New York, NY: Routledge. Link to Book
Normoyle, C., & Tegtmeyer, R. (2017). Speculating the Possibilities for Remote Collaborative Design Research: The Experimentations of a Drawing Robot. The Design Journal, 20(1). Link to Article
Normoyle, C. (2017). Design as Process, Artistic Interventions and Civic-minded Improvements as Artifacts: Applying an Open Model of Community Engagement. In C. Kung, E. Lam & Y. Lee (eds.), Open Design for E-very-thing: Cumulus International Conference 2016 (pp. 304-311). China: Hong Kong Design Institute. Link to Proceedings
Christian, C., & Normoyle, C. (2016). A Catalyst for Change: Understanding Characteristics of Citizen-driven Placemaking Across Diverse Communities. Design Principles and Practices International Journal, 10(1), pp. 41-58. Link to Journal
Leadership: Design Incubation, Director of Peer Review
Normoyle, C., & Benbrahim, D. (2026, June). Chair & Moderator, Design Incubation Colloquium 12.3: Virtual Summer Conference, online.
Normoyle, C., & Snyder-Quinn, H. (2026, Feb). Chair & Moderator, Design Incubation Colloquium 12.2: CAA Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.
Normoyle, C. (2025, Nov 14). Chair & Moderator, Design Incubation Colloquium 12.1: Virtual Fall. Hosted online by Design Incubation.
Normoyle, C., & Deluna, L. (2025, June 20). Chair & Moderator, Design Incubation Colloquium 11.3: Virtual Summer. Hosted online by Design Incubation.
Normoyle, C., & Afanador‑Llach, C. (2025, Feb 14). Chair & Moderator, Design Incubation Colloquium 11.2: CAA Annual Conference, New York, NY.
Normoyle, C., & Lim, H. (2024, October 25). Chair & Moderator, Design & Performane Panel, Design Incubation Colloquium 11.1: Design Week Boston, Boston University.
Presentations & Workshops
Normoyle, C., & Irwin, M. (2025, August 7). Type in Space: Exploring interactive, immersive experiences with type, material, space, and augmented reality. [Conference presentation]. TypeCon 2025. Portland, OR.
Normoyle, C., & Afanador-Llach, C. (2025, May 21). A decade of keywords in communication design research: Trends and topics [Conference presentation and published abstract]. UCDA 2025 Design Education Summit: Mindful. University & College Designers Association.
Normoyle, C. (2025, March 31). Exploring the “physdigital” in design education [Conference presentation and published abstract]. NCBDS40: National Conference for the Beginning Design Student, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
Elliott, D., Irwin, M., & Normoyle, C. (2023, October 12). In Favor of Analog Making: Embracing Humanness, Expanding Outcomes, Avoiding Digital Predictability. AIGA Design Educators Conference: Lens. Sheridan Hotel Midtown, New York, NY.
Normoyle, C. (2023, October 4–5). The LGBTQ Archives Project: Engaging Community (Phase 2). Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) Conference, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
Lee, J., Lim, K., Normoyle, C., & Song, B. (2023, April 14). Toward Collaborative Creativity: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Virtual Art Classrooms. National Art Education Association (NAEA) Annual Convention. Henry B. González Convention Center, San Antonio, TX.
Normoyle, C. (2023, February 16). 6 Areas of Inquiry for Designing for Community Impact. CAA Annual Conference, Global Design Practices and their Socio-Political Impact (Committee on Design). Hilton Midtown, New York, NY.
Normoyle, C. (2022, September 22). The LGBTQ ARCHIVES Project: Uncovering Stories (Phase 1). Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) Conference, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
Normoyle, C. (2021, September 15). Uptown Greenville Design Intervention & Impact Analysis: Implementing a Citizen-Inclusive Model to Engage the Community. Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) Conference, hosted online by Penn State University.
Normoyle, C. (2021, April 9). Graphic Design and Visual Communication Can Be a Powerful Tool. RGD Design Educators Conference. Hosted online by the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD).
Normoyle, C. (2021, February 13). Mixed Realities as Design Intervention for Communities: Blending Digital and Physical Experiences. CAA (College Art Association) Conference, Both Here and Nowhere: Rethinking the Role of Place in Design. Hosted online.
Normoyle, C., & Teague, J. (2021, February 12). ART CAST: A Collaborative, Interdisciplinary Studio Space. CAA (College Art Association) Conference, Designed by Quarantine: Space and Place in the Current Global Crisis. Hosted online.
Normoyle, C. (2020, September 26). A Speculative Future in Design Education Realized. Digitally Engaged Learning Conference: Hybridity. Hosted online by Parsons School of Design, The New School.
Normoyle, C., & Tegtmeyer, R. (2020, August 14). Critical and Collaborative Making with Augmented Technical Tools. Design Research Society (DRS) International Conference: Synergy. Hosted online by Griffith University, Australia.
Normoyle, C. (2019, February 14). Design Activism & Impact: How Can Principles of Social Impact Assessment Improve Outcomes of Socially Conscious Design Efforts in Graphic Design Curriculum. CAA Conference, Design Incubation 5.2. New York Hilton Midtown, New York, NY.
Normoyle, C. (2018, September 21). Transparency in Technology & Making: Working from the Analog to the Digital and Back Again. Digitally Engaged Learning Conference: Edge Effects. York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Normoyle, C., & Tegtmeyer, R. (2017, April 14). Speculating the Possibilities for Remote Collaborative Design Research: The Experimentations of a Drawing Robot. 12th Annual European Academy of Design Conference: Design for Next. Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Normoyle, C. (2017, February 16). Design as Process, Artistic Interventions and Civic-minded Improvements as Artifacts. CAA (College Art Association) Conference, Design Incubation 3.2. Parsons, The New School, New York, NY.
Normoyle, C. (2016, November 22). Design as Process, Artistic Interventions and Civic-minded Improvements as Artifacts: Applying an Open Model of Community Engagement. Cumulus International Conference: Open Design for E-very-thing. Hong Kong Design Institute.
Normoyle, C., & Park, H. (2015, April 18). Critiquing Failure: A Social Design Assessment Toolkit. AIGA Design Educators Conference: Spaces of Learning. York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Christian, C., & Normoyle, C. (2015, March 13). A Catalyst for Change: Understanding Characteristics of Citizen-driven Placemaking Endeavors. 9th International Conference of Design Principles and Practices. University Center, Chicago, IL.
Normoyle, C. (2014, January 18). Recontextualizing Abandonment. 8th International Conference of Design Principles and Practices: Design as Collective Intelligence. Emily Carr University, Vancouver, Canada.
Residencies & Fellowships
Normoyle, C. (2022, June 1–3). Design Writing Fellowship Program, Writing Space, Book Track. Design writing fellow. Project: Book proposal, Design Impact.
Normoyle, C. (2018, May 16–28). Horn Island 44. Memphis College of Art, Horn Island, Pascagoula, Mississippi. Participating artist in 11-day immersive art-making experience (1 of 40 selected participants).
Normoyle, C. (2016, August 7–13). Design Inquiry: Wildness // Weirdness. West Bamfield, Vancouver Island, Canada. Selected participant in intensive 6-day design research residency (1 of 11 participants).
Normoyle, C. (2013, June 23–29). Design Inquiry: Stations. Vinalhaven, Maine. Selected participant in immersive 6-day interdisciplinary design research program (1 of 20 participants).
Funding & Awards
Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) Grant Recipient, (2023 – 2024). AWARDED ~5K. Principle Investigator: Funding support for one year of research support for the community engagement project development, The LGBTQ ARCHIVES Project.
Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) Grant Recipient, (2022 – 2023). AWARDED ~5K. Principle Investigator: Funding support for one year of research support for the community engagement project development, The LGBTQ ARCHIVES Project.
Artszone Grant Recipient, Autozone (2014 – 2016). AWARDED ~30K. Co-principal Investigator: Awarded 10K/year, 3-year recipient for numerous community development projects in Memphis, TN. Funding supported material costs and student scholarships.
STEM CoRE (Collaborative for Research in Education) Fund, ECU (2020-2021). AWARDED ~10K. Funding support for Exhibit Design: Water Wonders. Ground + Surface Water Exhibit for a Time For Science, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
REDE (Research, Economic Development and Engagement) Award, East Carolina University (2018 – 2021). AWARDED ~15K. Principle Investigator: funding support for 3 years of research development as tenure-track faculty.
Community Engagement Projects
Normoyle, C. (2023–present). The LGBTQ ARCHIVES Project. Community-based oral history and storytelling initiative documenting the lives and experiences of LGBTQ individuals in Eastern North Carolina through video interviews, written memoirs, and photographs. Partners: Joyner Libraries Special Collections, The Dr. Jesse R. Peel LGBTQ Center, and Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge. Funding: Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) Grant, 2023–2024, and SoAD (~$8,000).
Normoyle, C. (2022–2023). The ARCHIVES Project. A collaborative archival and curatorial project focused on the overlooked and marginalized histories of Greenville, NC. Partners: Joyner Libraries Special Collections and Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge. Funding: Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) Grant, 2022–2023. (~$5,000).
Normoyle, C. (2019–2022). A City of We. Public art and community engagement initiative in Uptown Greenville, culminating in a design and impact report. Partners: Engagement and Outreach Scholars Academy (EOSA), Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge, and ECU School of Art & Design. Funding: REDE (Research, Economic Development and Engagement), EOSA, and SoAD (~$15,000).
Normoyle, C. (2014 – 2016). Autozone Community Engagement. Public art and community placemaking initiatives in Memphis, TN, supporting mobility, safety, and neighborhood revitalization. Work supported by Memphis College of Art. Multiple projects with different partners. Funding: AutoZone Grant.
Normoyle, C. (2012). Make Memphis Campaign. Fight Blight Initiative. Partner: 25 SQ Public Art Initiative: Memphis, TN. Funded by Urban Art Commission, Supported by Memphis College of Art. Normoyle, C. (2012). Abandonment. Street Signage Campaign. Thesis. Partner: Kirkwood Neighborhood Association: Atlanta, GA.
Exhibitions & Installations
Normoyle, C. & Daugherty, J. (Oct 3 – Oct 31, 2025) Our Story: LGBTQ Stories of Eastern North Carolina. Series of video interviews and typographic panels showcasing a community engagement and oral history project. Greenville, NC: Emerge Gallery & Art Center. In partnership with Joyner Libraries Special Collections, School of Art & Design, & Pitt County Arts Council.
Abdalla, A., & Normoyle, C. (2024). Type, Interaction, and the body. Creative Code: Motion-activated, interactive type installation, part of a new series of work created with processing and arduinos. Greenville, NC: Jenkins Fine Arts Center at East Carolina University.
Normoyle, C. (2022). City of We: Community Voices in Public Space [Public art installation]. Uptown Greenville, NC. Created in partnership with the Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge and the School of Art & Design, East Carolina University. Funded by REDE, EOSA, and SoAD.
Normoyle, C., & Clark, K. (2020 – 2021). Water Wonders: Ground + Surface Water Exhibit. Partners: A Time for Science, NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Merchants Millpond State Park, and the Center for STEM Education (C-STEM) at East Carolina University: Greenville, NC. Funded by STEM CoRE (Collaborative for Research in Education) Fund, ECU (2020-2021). ~10k
Normoyle, C. (2014, Jan 10 – Mar 2). Mapping Moments, series of experimental maps exploring the places of Vinalhaven, Design Inquiry. Regional solo exhibition held at Playhouse on the Square, Memphis, Tennessee. Curated by Cat Pena.
Normoyle, C. (2012, Apr 14 – 21). There Isn’t Much We Can Do, Thesis work: series of signage, photographs, and video. Solo exhibition held at Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design gallery, Atlanta, Georgia. Curated by Liz Throop, Stan Anderson, Tim Nichols.
Group
Normoyle, C. (2019, Sep 20–Nov 4). Nature as Mediator for Making: Transformations and Interpretations, select prints, video, motion graphics. Design Inquiry Futurespective Exhibition. Portland, ME: Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art.
Normoyle, C., & Tegtmeyer, R. (2019, Sep 20–Nov 4). Remote Collaborative Design Research, collaborative robot drawing series, select prints. Design Inquiry Futurespective Exhibition. Portland, ME: Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art.
Normoyle, C. (2018, August 20–October 5). Nature as Mediator for Making: Wind Drawing Series, select resin cast drawings and video. Horn Island 34 Exhibition. Memphis, TN: Memphis College of Art, Rust Hall Main Gallery.
Normoyle, C., & Tegtmeyer, R. (2018, March 17 – May 13). Remote Collaborative Design Research: Text to Robot Drawing Experience. Department of Art, Art History, and Design Faculty Triennial. East Lansing, MI: Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University.
Normoyle, C., & Tegtmeyer, R. (2017, February 16 – March 30). Remote Collaborative Design Research: Experimentations of a Drawing Robot, Drawings and process. Inside/outside: Working our way out of the damaged now held at San Francisco State Design Gallery, San Francisco, California. Curated by Joshua Singer.
Normoyle, C. (2011, Dec 1 – 4). That Was My Idea, typographic window installation. Aqua 11 Art Miami, Art Basel: Miami Beach, FL. Project featured with Georgia State University M.F.A. candidates.
Christian, C., Gary, M., & Normoyle, C. (2011, March 24) Experimental Rider, video installation. Passione Italiana: Design of the Italian Motorcycle: Ducati Exhibition held at MODA (Museum of Design Atlanta): Atlanta, GA. Project art-directed by Stan Anderson.