Triton Talks 2025: Systematic Design and Experimental Typography with Qiuwen Li

As a designer, Qiuwen Li understands the need for legibility, but she is more concerned with communicating something visceral, expressive, and imaginative. The goal of her work is to engage viewers in a way that evokes the experience of playing games and solving puzzles; they simply can’t get enough of it, and that’s a good thing, because that’s the key to engagement.

Li has been an assistant professor of graphic design at Santa Clara University since 2019. Her teaching and research focus on typography, data visualization, and interactive design. Born in China, Li pursued her design education in the United States, earning a BFA in Graphic Design from St. Cloud State University and an MFA in Visual Studies with a concentration in Graphic Design from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Her design work has been exhibited in national and international venues, including the Boston University Art Galleries, CICA Museum in Korea, Tree Art Museum in China, A plus A Gallery in Italy, and MCSU Art Gallery in Poland. In addition to her academic practice, she has worked as a freelance designer for clients such as James Dayton Design, Reverie, and Medical Marketing Solutions.

Li’s creative work and scholarly writing have been recognized through numerous academic and professional awards, publications, and conferences, including Creative Quarterly, the Society of Typographic Arts, the College Art Association (CAA) Conference, the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), and Graphic Design in China (GDC).