Working with Design Clients: Tools and Advice for Successful Partnerships

Working with Design Clients: Tools and Advice for Successful Partnerships, a textbook I co-authored by Meaghan Dee, Associate Professor at Virginia Tech, was published by Bloomsbury Visual Arts in October 2024. The book is a practical guide for students on working on client/partner projects in the design studio classroom. This includes how to collaborate with and connect to communities, find and retain clients, and manage real-world design problems. Using tools and frameworks based on years of research and experience, students can develop their professional skills in a supportive environment.

In addition to guiding students, Working with Design Clients helps instructors implement actionable, tangible tools to create sustainable, robust experiential learning opportunities embedded with inclusive pedagogy. Our goal is to empower all design students in their transition to practice.

Our book received the 2024 Design Incubation Communication Design Educators Awards, Runner-up in the Scholarship: Publications category.