J. Tanner Cusick

J. Tanner Cusick joins the Design Lab as a Designer-in-Residence

J. Tanner Cusick joins the Design Lab as a Designer-in-Residence

J. Tanner Cusick joins the Design Lab as a Designer-in-Residence

When J. Tanner Cusick took a class called Social Architectures, he never expected that the trajectory of his career would change forever. While pursuing his MFA at UC San Diego, Cusick explains that it was in this class that he and his classmates designed “interventions” around campus. “Basically, we would change the environment and see how it influenced human behavior,” says Cusick. “I did a piece under Geisel that challenged people to use the space differently by creating a game of human Candy Land. I colored all the blocks beneath the library, and everyone came in costumes.” He reflects that what he didn’t realize at the time was that they were really practicing experience design.

It was the combination of this event and Cusick’s experience as a teaching assistant (TA) that taught him what User Experience (UX) was. “While I was a TA, I taught a digital art class and students were assigned The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman. I’d never read the book before and I was amazed by it,” said Cusick. It was the ideas in the book that influenced Cusick to shift the context of his work. “I ended up teaching myself about the discipline and doing a lot of UX design and content design. And that’s what I have been doing since then.” 

After completing the graduate program, Cusick briefly worked in advertising at Publicis and McCann before moving on to product design at Apple, Amazon, and Caterpillar. He’s now a content designer at WhatsApp. In his spare time, the designer creates stunning, thought-provoking art pieces with his wife, Lilly. Their portfolio includes artwork such as Museum of Beautiful People, 52 Weddings, and Year of Being Awesome. What interests the artistic duo the most is the design of everyday life, and specifically the moments it contains. He explains, “A moment could be half an hour, a day, or even a year. It has a very flexible definition to us. The idea is that you can design a moment, step back, and be very intentional in how you approach that.”

Cusick says this perspective on design shapes the results of his art. By thinking about moments as a design challenge, he applies the same rigor and processes used with any design solution. “So that, to me, is kind of at a personal level where art uses the tools of design. The tools and the process of design play a huge role in how my wife and I see art.”

It was this unique take on design, and his experience discovering his passion at UC San Diego that made the Designer-in-Residence role one he could not resist. “Working with the Design Lab has been something that’s been on my wish list since the beginning,” he explains. “When I showed up in San Diego four years ago, I attended an awesome event hosted by the Design Lab and met the entire design community of San Diego all in one day. It was phenomenal. The combination of that and working with my friend Albert Lin, another Design Lab member, is what immediately put it on my radar.”

While Cusick says he is more interested in getting involved and helping on projects that already exist at the Design Lab, he remains inspired by the paper on the future of design education written by Don Norman and Michael Meyer.  “I definitely want to venture into design education one day,” says Cusick. “As the number of designers increases, our roles get bigger and bigger. I’d love to help ensure we are adequately prepared to take on that challenge.”

It is the diverse, fresh and motivating perspective of designer and artist, J. Tanner Cusick, that displays the scope of the Designer-in-Residence position and highlights the multidisciplinary approach of The Design Lab. “Being part of the Design Lab allows me to work with amazing people in the San Diego design community and explore fascinating projects,” says Cusick. “I’ve loved being involved in this.”

As a Designer in Residence, Tanner’s industry perspective supported the development and delivery of our first iteration of the Connected Learning Pathway program. We were fortunate to work with Tanner as a thought partner bringing a practitioner lens to our program, and above all as an approachable mentor inspiring our students.

When J. Tanner Cusick took a class called Social Architectures, he never expected that the trajectory of his career would change forever. While pursuing his MFA at UC San Diego, Cusick explains that it was in this class that he and his classmates designed “interventions” around campus. “Basically, we would change the environment and see how it influenced human behavior,” says Cusick. “I did a piece under Geisel that challenged people to use the space differently by creating a game of human Candy Land. I colored all the blocks beneath the library, and everyone came in costumes.” He reflects that what he didn’t realize at the time was that they were really practicing experience design.

It was the combination of this event and Cusick’s experience as a teaching assistant (TA) that taught him what User Experience (UX) was. “While I was a TA, I taught a digital art class and students were assigned The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman. I’d never read the book before and I was amazed by it,” said Cusick. It was the ideas in the book that influenced Cusick to shift the context of his work. “I ended up teaching myself about the discipline and doing a lot of UX design and content design. And that’s what I have been doing since then.” 

After completing the graduate program, Cusick briefly worked in advertising at Publicis and McCann before moving on to product design at Apple, Amazon, and Caterpillar. He’s now a content designer at WhatsApp. In his spare time, the designer creates stunning, thought-provoking art pieces with his wife, Lilly. Their portfolio includes artwork such as Museum of Beautiful People, 52 Weddings, and Year of Being Awesome. What interests the artistic duo the most is the design of everyday life, and specifically the moments it contains. He explains, “A moment could be half an hour, a day, or even a year. It has a very flexible definition to us. The idea is that you can design a moment, step back, and be very intentional in how you approach that.”

Cusick says this perspective on design shapes the results of his art. By thinking about moments as a design challenge, he applies the same rigor and processes used with any design solution. “So that, to me, is kind of at a personal level where art uses the tools of design. The tools and the process of design play a huge role in how my wife and I see art.”

It was this unique take on design, and his experience discovering his passion at UC San Diego that made the Designer-in-Residence role one he could not resist. “Working with the Design Lab has been something that’s been on my wish list since the beginning,” he explains. “When I showed up in San Diego four years ago, I attended an awesome event hosted by the Design Lab and met the entire design community of San Diego all in one day. It was phenomenal. The combination of that and working with my friend Albert Lin, another Design Lab member, is what immediately put it on my radar.”

While Cusick says he is more interested in getting involved and helping on projects that already exist at the Design Lab, he remains inspired by the paper on the future of design education written by Don Norman and Michael Meyer.  “I definitely want to venture into design education one day,” says Cusick. “As the number of designers increases, our roles get bigger and bigger. I’d love to help ensure we are adequately prepared to take on that challenge.”

It is the diverse, fresh and motivating perspective of designer and artist, J. Tanner Cusick, that displays the scope of the Designer-in-Residence position and highlights the multidisciplinary approach of The Design Lab. “Being part of the Design Lab allows me to work with amazing people in the San Diego design community and explore fascinating projects,” says Cusick. “I’ve loved being involved in this.”

As a Designer in Residence, Tanner’s industry perspective supported the development and delivery of our first iteration of the Connected Learning Pathway program. We were fortunate to work with Tanner as a thought partner bringing a practitioner lens to our program, and above all as an approachable mentor inspiring our students.

When J. Tanner Cusick took a class called Social Architectures, he never expected that the trajectory of his career would change forever. While pursuing his MFA at UC San Diego, Cusick explains that it was in this class that he and his classmates designed “interventions” around campus. “Basically, we would change the environment and see how it influenced human behavior,” says Cusick. “I did a piece under Geisel that challenged people to use the space differently by creating a game of human Candy Land. I colored all the blocks beneath the library, and everyone came in costumes.” He reflects that what he didn’t realize at the time was that they were really practicing experience design.

It was the combination of this event and Cusick’s experience as a teaching assistant (TA) that taught him what User Experience (UX) was. “While I was a TA, I taught a digital art class and students were assigned The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman. I’d never read the book before and I was amazed by it,” said Cusick. It was the ideas in the book that influenced Cusick to shift the context of his work. “I ended up teaching myself about the discipline and doing a lot of UX design and content design. And that’s what I have been doing since then.” 

After completing the graduate program, Cusick briefly worked in advertising at Publicis and McCann before moving on to product design at Apple, Amazon, and Caterpillar. He’s now a content designer at WhatsApp. In his spare time, the designer creates stunning, thought-provoking art pieces with his wife, Lilly. Their portfolio includes artwork such as Museum of Beautiful People, 52 Weddings, and Year of Being Awesome. What interests the artistic duo the most is the design of everyday life, and specifically the moments it contains. He explains, “A moment could be half an hour, a day, or even a year. It has a very flexible definition to us. The idea is that you can design a moment, step back, and be very intentional in how you approach that.”

Cusick says this perspective on design shapes the results of his art. By thinking about moments as a design challenge, he applies the same rigor and processes used with any design solution. “So that, to me, is kind of at a personal level where art uses the tools of design. The tools and the process of design play a huge role in how my wife and I see art.”

It was this unique take on design, and his experience discovering his passion at UC San Diego that made the Designer-in-Residence role one he could not resist. “Working with the Design Lab has been something that’s been on my wish list since the beginning,” he explains. “When I showed up in San Diego four years ago, I attended an awesome event hosted by the Design Lab and met the entire design community of San Diego all in one day. It was phenomenal. The combination of that and working with my friend Albert Lin, another Design Lab member, is what immediately put it on my radar.”

While Cusick says he is more interested in getting involved and helping on projects that already exist at the Design Lab, he remains inspired by the paper on the future of design education written by Don Norman and Michael Meyer.  “I definitely want to venture into design education one day,” says Cusick. “As the number of designers increases, our roles get bigger and bigger. I’d love to help ensure we are adequately prepared to take on that challenge.”

It is the diverse, fresh and motivating perspective of designer and artist, J. Tanner Cusick, that displays the scope of the Designer-in-Residence position and highlights the multidisciplinary approach of The Design Lab. “Being part of the Design Lab allows me to work with amazing people in the San Diego design community and explore fascinating projects,” says Cusick. “I’ve loved being involved in this.”

As a Designer in Residence, Tanner’s industry perspective supported the development and delivery of our first iteration of the Connected Learning Pathway program. We were fortunate to work with Tanner as a thought partner bringing a practitioner lens to our program, and above all as an approachable mentor inspiring our students.

Read Next

Earth2 Project Challenges Vaccines

Earth2 Project Challenges Vaccines, 10 to 100, Ten Days to Vaccinate Everyone

"In collaboration with the University of New Mexico, the Earth2 project is helping to present a 10 day series of seminars on Vaccines and Vaccine Hesitancy, covering topics that range from vaccine-myths to Native American implications and special aspects having to do with other minority and LGBTQ communities, to hearing trusted voices." - David Brin, Author, Futurist, Public Speaker

"Solving the most complex societal programs involves a whole community approach. That's why I'm so excited about the Earth 2 Challenge to reach 100% vaccination which will make our society healthier and safer. But to succeed, we need everyone to participate." - Mai Nguyen, Design Lab Director, UC San Diego
How To Reduce Obesity Among Latino Children

How to Reduce Obesity among Latino Children, with Precision

UC San Diego and community collaborators receive $3 million grant to develop more community-centered, precision approaches to reducing adverse childhood events that lead to obesity, a nationwide problem

“Working with the Latino community, we want to create a family-based approach to improve individual and community resilience to stress and address the obesity epidemic,” said lead principal investigator Gary S. Firestein, MD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine and ACTRI director.

Blanca Meléndrez, director of the Center for Community Health at UC San Diego and a co-principal investigator on the study with Eric Hekler, PhD, Design Lab member, professor and interim associate dean for community partnerships in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health, said that beyond determining which methods best promote resiliency and reduce obesity among children, researchers and community collaborators will seek to create interventions that can be delivered to different families that match a family’s unique circumstances and needs.

The Design Lab’s Srishti Palani Wins Google’s PhD Fellowship

In continuing excellence among UC San Diego Design Lab researchers, Srishti Palani, a PhD student and Department of Cognitive Science at the Design Lab, was named a 2021 Google PhD Fellow for her work in Human Computer Interaction focused on improving web search and intelligent guidance during creative work. The fellowship is open to researchers in computer science and related fields. Palani was one of 60 students throughout the world to be selected for a Google Fellowship–an award that supports outstanding and promising PhD candidates of all backgrounds who seek to influence the future of technology by providing funding, mentorship, collaboration and internship opportunities.

Palani’s research takes an interdisciplinary approach involving cognitive, computer, and learning sciences to better web search and intelligent scaffolding of complex creative information work. “We use web search almost every day to search things, and it affects how we learn and work and create and collaborate. I’m really passionate about researching this area and building novel computational techniques that integrate web search into people's larger work context. Google, of course, has the most state-of-the-art web search technology that has existed in my lifetime, so I’ve always wanted to collaborate with the researchers, software engineers, and data scientists there to understand how we can get a better web search when people want to search for more complex information needs.”
J. Tanner Cusick

J. Tanner Cusick joins the Design Lab as a Designer-in-Residence

When J. Tanner Cusick took a class called Social Architectures, he never expected that the trajectory of his career would change forever. While pursuing his MFA at UC San Diego, Cusick explains that it was in this class that he and his classmates designed “interventions” around campus. "Basically, we would change the environment and see how it influenced human behavior,” says Cusick. “I did a piece under Geisel that challenged people to use the space differently by creating a game of human Candy Land. I colored all the blocks beneath the library, and everyone came in costumes.” He reflects that what he didn’t realize at the time was that they were really practicing experience design.

It was the combination of this event and Cusick’s experience as a teaching assistant (TA) that taught him what User Experience (UX) was. “While I was a TA, I taught a digital art class and students were assigned The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman. I'd never read the book before and I was amazed by it," said Cusick. It was the ideas in the book that influenced Cusick to shift the context of his work. “I ended up teaching myself about the discipline and doing a lot of UX design and content design. And that's what I have been doing since then."
Productivity

Bringing Order to Chaos: How to Increase Productivity By Mastering Unstructured Time

Podcast with Design Lab member Amy Fox

In this episode we will talk to UCSD Cognitive Scientist, Amy Fox, about Structured and Unstructured time. Join us as we learn about the difference between the two, and tips and tricks that can help you organize and boost your productivity.

Triton Tools & Tidbits is a podcast that is focused on discussing topics that will engage and enrich student life and education. Brought to you by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.

Meet Member of Postdoctoral Fellowship Program’s Debut Cohort: Jane E

Jane E is part of UCSD’s Computer Science and Engineering’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and is currently a member of  The Design Lab under the guidance of mentor Scott Klemmer. E’s journey to The Design Lab started when she earned her B.S. in Computer Science in 2012 at Princeton, then studied as a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at Stanford University. Along the way, she has worked in the information technology sector for companies like Adobe and Microsoft, and her awards include the Microsoft Research Dissertation Grant. Jane’s research aims to expand the horizons of human creativity by searching for a balanced relationship between humans and computational assistance. 
Back To Top