Biography
Hello! Hola! I am a Professor in the
BFA Graphic Design & MFA Design & Visual Communications majors
we refer to ourselves as designers who design (and many other things)
Situated in the School of Art + Art History, College of the Arts
I have faculty affiliations at two brilliant UF centers Center for Latin American Studies and Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship
These days, my research interests include codesign, pluriversal, horizontal, and Indigenous paradigms, frameworks, and methodologies; neurodivergent belonging; systems; complexity; tourism economies and cultures; heritage; cultural representation; autonomy; and grassroots development. That is not all — the beauty of design is that we learn all the time. I have primarily worked in México (Yucatán, Quintana Roo, CD México, Jalisco) and Florida (Gainesville, Alachua County). I will likely work anywhere I can communicate and codesign with people, and I have to be invited.
Design with and for respect. As an educator, researcher, and designer, I aim to support pluriversality, inclusivity, and multivocality. I value multiple perspectives and experiences. Having lived on four continents and traveled to six shaped my worldview. As a result of my experiences then and now, I view knowledges, frameworks, and perspectives which exist in and constitute the world in the plural sense. I strive to include this worldview in my teaching, research, and service. My current project focuses on framing a methodology for designers to work responsibly and authentically with people in context, particularly people on the periphery or who are systemically marginalized.
Biography
My trans-cultural background and perspective influence my work, in which I explore the potential of design and visual communication to shape the human experience positively. I founded Design for Development (D4D) to co-design with indigenous entrepreneurs in rural Mexico and subject matter experts on grassroots economic development projects. By co-designing with clients as partners, I can develop products and strategies relevant to the context and constituents. To this end, I intend to orient the design discipline toward methods and socially conscious outcomes that are sustainable and responsible. Most recently, I co-founded Codesigning Equitable Futures with Dori Griffin and Laura Gonzales.
With Raúl Sánchez, I co-authored the chapter “CoDesigning for Development” in The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Design, edited by RB Egenhoffer. London: Routledge Press, published in 2024 — selected publications are listed below. I received several grants to support my work, including three Fulbright grants, a Sappi “Ideas That Matter” grant, and the inaugural American Institute of Graphic Arts Design Research Grant. I share my work on design methods and pedagogy at conferences, including Design Research Society, AIGA, and SECAC. If you're interested in my work on tourism and representation, check out one of my favorite articles, “Identity and Representation: (Yucatec) Maya in the Visual Culture of Tourism,” which was published in the Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies Journal. I value design pedagogy and was one of 24 international educators contributing to the Icograda Design Education Manifesto Update.
My creative design work has appeared in national and international juried exhibitions in the UK, Hungary, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, and the US. In the past, I have worked as a senior designer for Sapient (Atlanta) on the design of large-scale websites for international clients, including the Dutch bank ING, and worked at other design agencies as well as with the US Government. I served on design juries, including Design Incubation’s Communication Design Educators Awards program from 2016–2022, and chaired the program in 2018 and 2019.
I earned my MFA in Design (Visual Communications) at Virginia Commonwealth University, studied Advertising Design at the University of Maryland under Foon Sham, international development at American University when I worked at the Inter-American Foundation, and double-majored in Political Science and History at Villanova University, where I earned my BA. You will undoubtedly see the influences of a liberal arts education, early work in economic and social development, and an interest in equity in my work. Most recently, I earned my UX certification (UXC) from the Nielsen/Normal Group.
Selected Publications
- Rogal, M. and Sánchez, R. “Codesigning for Development” in The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Design, 2nd Edition, edited by RB Egenhoffer. London: Routledge Press. pp 299–312.
- Rogal, M. “Contextualizing Your Design Practice: Two Exercises for Design Students,” in The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Design, 2nd Edition, edited by RB Egenhoffer. London: Routledge Press. pp 625-629.
- Rogal, M. “Hacia una planeta pluriversal” in Diseño y territorios (Ed: Mariana Salgado), Buenos Aires, Argentina. pp 45–52. ISBN 978-987-88-5065-8
- Rogal, M. "El Calendario del Mundo Wixárika [Calendar of the Wixárika]" in the editors of Amatullo, Mariana, et al.. Design for Social Innovation: Case Studies from around the World. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2022. pp 62–65.
- Rogal, M. Design Thinking for Social Innovation — Hello from the Pluriverse Podcast: Maria Rogal. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking at Tulane University. With Pluriverse Publication Chapter: Maria Rogal, Written by Ruby Murfield and edited by Natalie Hudanick. https://taylor.tulane.edu/design-thinking/hellopluriverse/maria-rogal/ & https://tulane.box.com/s/yaqkeoe8d7oejx1l5ckon6eu1dhp8fei