Dave Pabellon
Assistant Professor, Design
Area: Design
Education
MFA, University of Illinois Chicago
B.A., California State University, Hayward (now CSU East Bay)
Research Interests
Collective Activism, Publication Design, Identity Design, Participatory Action Research, Semiotics, Alternative Studio Practices
Biography
Dave Pabellon is a design educator, researcher, and practitioner under the moniker It Is Just Dave LLC, with over 25 years of experience.
As a practitioner, Pabellon's studio work consists primarily of identity, publication, and exhibition design, focusing on partnerships with cultural institutions, contemporary artists, and activist organizations. His work has been recognized by Sappi's Ideas That Matter, the STA 100, the Chicago Design Archive, the Typeforce Annual, and Communication Arts, and he has exhibited globally.
As an academic, Pabellon's research centers on the history and practice of graphic design labor as a means of building solidarity among communities of color and activist spaces. Specifically, he studies and researches how Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) designers have worked with and alongside liberation movements in the past and explores/experiments with contemporary models. He has lectured and published papers through numerous conferences, summits, peer-reviewed journals, and publications.
Before his appointment at Notre Dame University, Pabellon was a senior designer at the award-winning studio Faust Associates. In addition to his professional and academic practice, Pabellon is a Core Organizer for the Design As Protest (DAP) Collective, a Mobile Makers Chicago board member, and is an active member of the Dark Matter U. roster.
