Cat Normoyle

My teaching is centered on communication design, interaction design, typography, and the critical use of tools and technologies. I approach design as an iterative, systems-oriented practice in which form, content, context, and audience are deeply interconnected. I emphasize design as process, grounded in experimentation, critical reflection, and play. Projects span physical and digital artifacts, visual systems, and interactions and environments.

Community-based Practices

Design & Action: Students Create Campaigns about Social Justice, Diversity, Anti-racism, and Equity and Learn how to Measure the Societal Impacts of their Work

This project introduces students to graphic design as a tool for action and social impact. Students develop messaging campaigns that build awareness, educate and inform on overarching themes and topics with a shared intent to reach a broad audience and shift behaviors and attitudes among people.

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January 9, 2021 No Comments
Interactive-Immersive Experiences

Visual Expression & Motion Design: Music, Time, and Space

This semester, the graphic design seniors at ECU were introduced to graphic design principles in motion and storytelling. Students were challenged to consider the element of time in their work effectively to communicate a message or idea. We surveyed a lot of sample work on Vimeo from historical to contemporary

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November 30, 2019 No Comments
Community-based Practices

Design Activism and Impact in the Classroom: Presenting at CAA 2019 with Design Incubation Panel in New York

Last month, I presented work at the College Art Association (CAA) 2019 Conference in New York with the Design Incubation panel. My presentation reviewed a methodology, based on my research and design practice, called the ‘blended perspective’, that merges rigorous social impact assessment (SIA) guidelines from the social sciences with

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March 23, 2019 No Comments
Community-based Practices

Design for Good: Students Work with Shelby County Health Department to Raise Awareness around the Opioid Crisis

Students at the Memphis College of Art designed campaigns for Shelby County Health Department to build awareness around the opioid addiction crisis in our community and help shift attitudes and behaviors around the stigmas of this addiction. Three campaigns were designed with all the campaigns communicating the core message that

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August 1, 2018 No Comments

My teaching philosophy is grounded in collaborative and community-based learning models and positions making as a form of design inquiry. I emphasize shared authorship, reflection, and situated knowledge in the classroom, encouraging students to understand design not only as a set of skills but as a relational and cultural practice.

Principle 1: Embodied Knowledge

I view design as an embodied and situated practice rooted in lived experience, perception, and context. Students bring diverse cultural, technical, and disciplinary perspectives to the classroom, and I encourage them to draw on these differences in their learning and work. I also ask students to remain open-minded and reflective, considering how assumptions and biases shape our understanding of others’ needs, interests, and lived experiences in design projects.

Principle 2: Life-long Learning

Because design tools and media continue to evolve, I emphasize adaptability and learning through practice. Students learn how to explore tools critically to understand how they shape visual language and interaction. I model curiosity by sharing my own explorations with emerging design tools and creative technologies and invite students to learn alongside me. This mindset prepares students to move fluidly between media, platforms, and scales while maintaining a strong design voice.

Principle 3: Community-based Learning

I approach the classroom as a community-based learning environment grounded in collaboration and lateral, non-hierarchical structures. While I bring expertise and guidance, I am not the sole source of knowledge; students are invited to contribute their experiences, values, and perspectives as shared authors of the learning process. Through collaboration and co-creation of goals and outcomes, the classroom becomes a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable space for collective learning.

Principle 4: Redistribution & Sharing of Power

Design education can easily become hierarchical, particularly when working across multiple tools and media. I work intentionally to flatten these dynamics by inviting students into conversations about project framing, research questions, and evaluation criteria. I offer multiple ways for students to demonstrate learning drawing on universal design principles. Transparency in assessment and dialogue around goals and constraints help students take ownership of their learning and build confidence in their design decisions.