Olivia S Verdugo

Design Lead

Cambridge, MA

Olivia is a graphic designer and bird-nerd passionate about mission-driven work, interdisciplinary cross-pollination, space exploration, and urban nature. She is currently the Design Lead at the MIT Media Lab, where her designs support both Lab-wide initiatives and individual research.

After initially studying dramaturgy, she gravitated towards design as a discipline that intersects with many others, offering endless opportunities for learning. Drawing on her interests outside of the field to inform her work, her multidisciplinary approach to design has led to a career that has spanned the fashion industry, the fine arts, and the sciences. Outside of her design work, she creates textile art as part of CRUSH studio, an ongoing materials collaboration between herself and artist Jenna Robb.

Olivia’s designs have been recognized by GD USA, the How In-House Design Awards, Graphis, the American Advertising ADDY Awards, Type Director’s Club TDC58, and Print Magazine’s Regional Design Annual. She received her MFA in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and her BA in Theater, Literature, and Studio Art from Oberlin College.

about

MIT Media Lab

For 40 years, the MIT Media Lab has been a dynamic interdisciplinary creative sandbox, firmly grounded in academic excellence, where innovation thrives through the collaboration of dozens of research groups, initiatives, programs, and centers on hundreds of transformative projects. We focus not only on creating and commercializing transformational future technologies, but also on their potential to impact society for good.

Every day, we imagine, design, and invent a future in which everyone has the opportunity to flourish.

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