Gail Swanlund is a designer whose professional practice includes work for art and design institutions and collaborative projects with visual artists Paul McCarthy, Jennifer Steinkamp, Laura Owens and Benjamin Weissman. Swanlund’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally: “Deep Surface: Contemporary Ornament and Pattern” at the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh; The International Biennale of Graphic Design in Brno, Czech Republic; California Design Biennial; Atelier Cardenas Bellanger and Galerie de Multiples, Paris; SF MOMA, and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. Swanlund’s studio has been recognized by the American Center for Design, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Type Director’s Club, and The One Show. Her work is published in numerous design anthologies and is in the permanent collection at SFMOMA. Swanlund wrote for the experimental and influential typography journal Emigre, and presently writes for a variety of publications.

Swanlund is a Board member of DesignInquiry, a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to cultivate the interdisciplinary discourse of design. She joined the UCLA Design Media Arts program as a Arts Council Visiting Professor and is current faculty and former co-director of the CalArts Design Program. She received a Master of Fine Arts degree from CalArts.