Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Myra Thiessen is Lecturer in Communication Design at Monash Art, Design, and Architecture. She has rounded experience as a design practitioner, educator, and researcher, with a particular interest in the social impact of design. Her research is focused on cultures of reading and learning, which includes an exploration of how people access and use information in social environments and the role of criticism in design education. Her typography research is driven by the impact of motivation, context, and environment on reading and cognition and how efficiently the brain can process typographic information.
Recent publications include the co-edited book, The Routledge Companion to Criticality in Art, Architecture, and Design, and the co-authored chapter therein, ‘But, it won an award: a look at communication design “excellence”’; and the co-authored journal articles, ‘Brainy type: a look at how the brain processes information’ (Visible Language) and ‘Investigating letter recognition in the brain by varying typeface: an even-related potential study’ (Brain and Cognition) as part of an ongoing multidisciplinary project across typography and cognitive neuroscience.
Education/Academic qualification
Typography and Graphic Communication, PhD, University of Reading
1 Oct 2007 → 31 Dec 2010
Award Date: 16 Mar 2011
Information Design, Master of Arts, University of Reading
1 Oct 2006 → 30 Sep 2007
Award Date: 15 Dec 2007
Communication Design, Bachelor of Design, University of Alberta
1 Sep 1996 → 30 Apr 2000
Award Date: 14 Jun 2000
Research area keywords
- Typography
- Functional readability
- Functional legibility
- Design criticism
- Design education
- Communication design
Network
Projects
- 1 Active
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HART: Improving the inpatient care of people living with dementia
Moran, C., Leavold, F., Ayton, D., Wright, B., Gardam, M., Srikanth, V., Thiessen, M., Flynn, D. & Goodwin, D.
1/10/21 → 30/09/22
Project: Research
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A Review of the Cognitive Effects of Disfluent Typography on Functional Reading
Thiessen, M., Beier, S. & Keage, H., 2 Sep 2020, In: Design Journal. 23, 5, p. 797-815 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Other › peer-review
Open Access -
But, it won an award: a look at communication design ‘excellence’
Thiessen, M. & Kelly, V., 2019, The Routledge Companion to Criticality in Art, Architecture, and Design. Brisbin, C. & Thiessen, M. (eds.). 1st ed. Oxon UK: Routledge, p. 369–385 17 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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Criticality; or woe is me, what is it good for!
Brisbin, C. & Thiessen, M., 2019, The Routledge Companion to Criticality in Art, Architecture, and Design. Brisbin, C. & Thiessen, M. (eds.). Oxon, UK: Routledge, p. 3–8 6 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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Don’t take this the wrong way, but ... The changing nature of media, medium, and message in art, architecture, and design criticism
Thiessen, M. & Brisbin, C., 2019, The Routledge Companion to Criticality in Art, Architecture, and Design. Brisbin, C. & Thiessen, M. (eds.). Oxon, UK: Routledge, p. 295–297 3 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Foreword / Postscript › Other
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Less woe, more wow! Shifting disciplinary viewpoints to make a critical cultural difference ...
Thiessen, M. & Brisbin, C., 2019, The Routledge Companion to Criticality in Art, Architecture, and Design. Brisbin, C. & Thiessen, M. (eds.). Oxon, UK: Routledge, p. 419–422 4 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Foreword / Postscript › Other
Activities
- 1 Editorial responsibility
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Critique International Research Conference 2013 (Event)
Myra Thiessen (Editor in chief) & Chris Brisbin (Editor in chief)
2013Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility