Mike Weikert is the co-founder and co-executive director of the Center for Creative Impact at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). In 2014, he established the Center for Social Design at MICA, an interdisciplinary center aimed at demonstrating the value of design in promoting social change. In 2010, he founded the Master of Arts in Social Design, the first degree program of its kind in the United States, and he served as director of both entities for over a decade. In 2008, he launched the Center for Design Practice at MICA, a multidisciplinary studio that brings together students and external partners from government, nonprofit, and business sectors to collaborate on innovative ideas for positive social change. As a result, hundreds of MICA students and faculty have participated in projects with various partners, including the Baltimore City Health Department, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Maryland Energy Administration, National Wildlife Federation, University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Whole Foods Market, among others. 

Prior to these roles, Weikert served as co-chair of the graphic design department at MICA, as a partner and creative director at the Atlanta-based design and communications firm Iconologic, and as a design consultant for the International Olympic Committee. He has been nominated for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award and received the Ashoka U-Cordes Innovation Award in recognition of his innovative work in design education. Additionally, he served as a Network Representative to the Clinton Global Initiative University, launched by President Clinton in 2007 to engage leaders on college campuses worldwide. He is also a member of the Winterhouse Design Education & Social Change Founders Circle, a group of leading thinkers and practitioners in design, management, architecture, and engineering focused on promoting design education and social innovation.

Awards

He has received multiple awards recognizing his work, including the Core77 Design Awards, the Adobe Design Achievement Award, Print’s Best Invitation Design, and Print’s Best Logos & Symbols 6. His accolades also include recognition from Graphic Design USA, Graphis Logo Design, the How International Design Annual, the How Interactive Design Annual, Print’s Regional Design Annual, Show South, and Typography 24. Additionally, he has been awarded various grants to support his work from organizations such as Sappi Ideas That Matter, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), among others.

Publications

His work in both graphic and social design has been featured in various books, including: 

• CLOUDFACTORY: A Social Design ABC

• CO LAB: Collaborative Design Survey

• Design Alliance

• Designing for Social Change: Strategies for Community-Based Graphic Design

• D.I.Y. Design It Yourself 

• Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design

• Graphic Design: The New Basics

• Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond Brainstorming

• Just Design: Socially Conscious Design for Critical Causes 

• LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways in Design for Social Innovation

• The Nature of Design

Additionally, his work has been published in numerous leading design magazines and online publications, including Communication Arts, Core77, Design Observer, Fast Company, GOOD, Graphic Design USA, Graphis, How, Impact Design Hub, Metropolis, and Print.

Education

• MFA, Graphic Design, 2005, Maryland Institute College of Art

• BFA, Graphic Design, 1993, Miami University