Rene Payne is a designer, teacher and the director of multidisciplinary design agency included. She uses her design strategy and life experience to break down antiquated social and cultural barriers. Her work spans the marketplace from community organizations to Fortune 500 companies. In addition to receiving numerous design awards over the years, she earned a Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the DesignxRI Hall of Fame in 2012. Rene is the first African American designer to receive this prestigious award, which honored her unique contributions to design on local, national and international levels.
Rene has served as a diversity fellow at RISD and supported internal social equity initiatives connected to the RISD SEI plan, the MLK Series and the RISDiversity poster series. She currently teaches and advises in the Graphic Design department, where she continues to pay it forward by supporting the next generation of creative talent.
Courses
Fall 2024 Courses
GRAPH 3210-03 - DESIGN STUDIO 1
LevelUndergraduate
UnitGraphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Fall 2024
Credits 3
FormatStudio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
GRAPH 3210-03
DESIGN STUDIO 1
LevelUndergraduate
UnitGraphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
PeriodFall 2024
Credits3
FormatStudio
ModeIn-Person
Start and End2024-09-04 to 2024-12-11
Times: T | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PMInstructor(s): Rene PayneLocation(s): Design Center, Room 211Enrolled / Capacity: 14Status: Open
SECTION DESCRIPTION
In the first two semesters of a two-year studio track, students will come into contact with issues and questions that face the contemporary designer. Students will engage with and develop methods to take on these questions: search (formal and intellectual), research, analysis, ideation, and prototyping. Projects will increase in complexity over time, sequenced to evolve from guided inquiry to more open, self-generated methodologies. Some examples of the questions students might work with are: What is graphic? or How are tools shaped by contemporary culture, technology, and convention? or How is a spatial or dimensional experience plotted and communicated? These questions will be accompanied by a mix of precedents, theoretical contexts, readings and presentations, technical and/or formal exercises and working methods.
Please contact the department for permission to register.
Major Requirement | BFA Graphic Design
Spring 2025 Courses
GRAPH 3220-04 - DESIGN STUDIO 2
LevelUndergraduate
UnitGraphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
Period Spring 2025
Credits 3
FormatStudio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
GRAPH 3220-04
DESIGN STUDIO 2
LevelUndergraduate
UnitGraphic Design
Subject Graphic Design
PeriodSpring 2025
Credits3
FormatStudio
ModeIn-Person
Start and End2025-02-13 to 2025-05-23
Times: TH | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PMInstructor(s): Rene PayneLocation(s): Design Center, Room 208Enrolled / Capacity: 14Status: Open
SECTION DESCRIPTION
In the first two semesters of a two-year studio track, students will come into contact with issues and questions that face the contemporary designer. Students will engage with and develop methods to take on these questions: search (formal and intellectual), research, analysis, ideation, and prototyping. Projects will increase in complexity over time, sequenced to evolve from guided inquiry to more open, self-generated methodologies. Some examples of the questions students might work with are: What is graphic? or How are tools shaped by contemporary culture, technology, and convention? or How is a spatial or dimensional experience plotted and communicated? These questions will be accompanied by a mix of precedents, theoretical contexts, readings and presentations, technical and/or formal exercises and working methods.
Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Sophomore Graphic Design Students.
