Mike Weikert is founding director of the Center for Social Design and Master of Arts in Social Design at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). In 2008, he established the Center for Design Practice at MICA, a multi-disciplinary studio bringing together students and outside partners from government, nonprofit and business sectors to collaborate on innovative ideas for positive social change. More than 250 MICA students and faculty have participated in projects with partners as diverse as 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.

Previously, he served as co-chair of the graphic design department at MICA, partner/creative director at Atlanta-based Iconologic, and as a design consultant to the International Olympic Committee. In 2011, he was nominated for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award and in 2014, received the Ashoka U-Cordes Innovation Award recognizing his innovative work in design education. He serves as a Network Representative to the Clinton Global Initiative University, launched by President Clinton in 2007 to engage leaders on college campuses around the world. He’s also a member of the Winterhouse Design Education & Social Change Symposium, a group of leading thinkers and practitioners in design, management, architecture, and engineering gathered to address issues central to promoting design education and social innovation.

He has received multiple grants and awards recognizing his work: Core 77 Design Awards, Print’s Best Invitation Design; Print’s Best Logos & Symbols 6; Graphic Design USA; Graphis Logo Design; How International Design Annual; How Interactive Design Annual; Print’s Regional Design Annual; Show South; and Typography 24, and with grants from: Sappi Ideas That Matter; the National Science Foundation (NSF); National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Publications

His pioneering work in social design has also appeared in various books: 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, as well as in numerous leading design magazines and online publications: Communication Arts, Core 77, Design Observer, Fast Company, GOOD, Graphic Design USA, Graphis, How, Impact Design Hub, Metropolis, Print, etc.

Education

• MFA, Graphic Design, 2005, Maryland Institute College of Art
• BFA, Graphic Design, 1993, Miami University