Faculty

Sharon Oiga

 

Sharon Oiga 
Professor + Chair, Graphic Design
Interim Director, School of Design   
oiga@uic.edu

MFA Graphic Design, Yale University  
BFA Graphic Design, University of Illinois Chicago 
BFA Photography, University of Illinois Chicago

Sharon Oiga is a designer and co-founder of Sharon and Guy, whose work questions and investigates the process of design—the ways in which ideas are expressed and disseminated, ranging from the micro level of experimental typographic form to the macro level of self-authoring and publishing. In her role at UIC, she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in design, typography, and thesis. 

Previously, Sharon has partnered with multidisciplinary design firms, including Studio/lab Chicago, where she specialized in identity, branding, publication design, and packaging with collaborators in the science, health, education, arts, and business sectors. Sharon’s work—and her students’ coursework—is consistently recognized through awards, publications, exhibitions, and funding. A two-time recipient of major funding by Sappi Ideas That Matter, Sharon was also honored to receive the student-voted UIC Silver Circle Award for Teaching Excellence. She has written about her teaching in Designer magazine, a publication of the University & College Designers Association. 

Sharon serves as Vice Chair of the Society of Typographic Aficionados, which holds the annual international TypeCon conference, as a Co-Chair of the Society of Typographic Arts’ (STA) annual Design Inspiration Weekend, and as a member of the Advisory Council for Diversify by Design.