Lecture: "Design at the Crossroads of Media, Markets, and Meaning"
Monday, February 3, 2025
6pm - 7pm
Freeman Auditorium in the Woldenburg Art Center,
Tulane's Uptown Campus
This lecture is open to the public.
This lecture "Design at the Crossroads of Media, Markets, and Meaning" is presented by Natasha Jen, award-winning designer, educator, and partner at Pentagram design firm. The lecture is supported by the Azby Fund Endowed Lectureship.
About the lecture:
Once upon a time, design was merely about objects. Today, it is about systems, interfaces, and the invisible forces that dictate how we experience the world. As technology accelerates, design finds itself trapped between the urge to innovate and the constraints of its own realities. In this talk, Natasha Jen, partner at Pentagram, examines how design navigates an era where meaning is fragmented, media is fluid, and "form follows function" has been replaced by "form follows budget—and branding follows marketing."
Through projects spanning branding, exhibitions, and publications, she explores how marketing imperatives shape design narratives, often dictating aesthetics and language in pursuit of commercial viability. Is design still a critical practice, or has it become an instrument of optimization? This talk questions whether design retains its agency—or if it is merely adapting to forces beyond its control.
About the speaker:
Natasha Jen, is an award-winning designer, educator, and partner at Pentagram. A six-time National Design Award nominee, her work is known for its innovative approach to graphic, verbal, digital, and spatial design, challenging conventional notions of media and cultural contexts.
By operating at the intersection of technology and culture, she explores how design shapes perception, experience, and critical discourse.
Natasha has led design and strategy projects for leading tech companies, consumer brands, and cultural institutions, working with emerging technologies and evolving visual languages. Her work bridges disciplines, integrating brand identity, environmental and exhibition design, and digital interfaces.
A member of AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale), she is recognized among the leading figures in contemporary design. In 2023, the Royal College of Art awarded her an honorary fellowship in recognition of her contributions to the field.
Questions? Please reach out to Ben Neal, TuSA Executive Administrative Assistant, at bneal1@tulane.edu.
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