Lauren Smedley
lecturer
Klein Family School of Communications Design
Contact Information:
E-mail: lsmedley@ubalt.edu
Phone: 410.837.6259
M.F.A., The University of Texas at Austin
B.F.A., The University of the Arts
Lauren Smedley's website
Lauren is a multidisciplinary designer with over 10 years of professional experience. Alongside teaching at The University of Baltimore, Lauren works as the senior content and design strategist for CultureConnect where she designs digital interactives and visitor-centered interpretation for museums.
Prior to CultureConnect, Lauren worked as designer and design manager at the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia. At the Franklin, Lauren had the opportunity to design exhibit graphics, large scale signage, hands-on interactives as well as marketing and print materials.
She received an M.F.A. in Design from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin in May 2019. Her thesis, Six Principles for Redesigning Museum Interpretation, sought to discover interactive ways museums can provide content to visitors beyond the traditional label and content panel. During her time at UT, she was awarded a design fellowship at the Design Institute for Health at the Dell Medical School. She received her B.F.A. with honors in Graphic Design from the University of the Arts in 2010.
In 2020, she founded Creative Blocks Studio with her partner (and fellow UBalt lecturer), Jacob DeGeal. They were awarded a Public Artist Residency in 2020 for the city of Salem, MA. Their work focused on ways local business can creatively and effectively communicate COVID safety messaging to visitors.