Courtney Windham

EDUCATION
Master of Fine Art, The Savannah College of Art and Design
Bachelor of Fine Art, The Rhode Island School of Design

Courtney Windham is a designer, maker, and educator serving as an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Auburn University’s School of Industrial + Graphic Design. She leads courses in kinetic typography, publication design, interactive media, and branding. Including hands-on design processes with analog and digital mediums through in-class exercises and workshops encourages creativity and professional growth among her students. Her work has been featured in prominent publications, including Graphis Design Annual, Creative Quarterly Journal, GDUSA Magazine, Print Magazine, HOW Magazine, and LogoLounge Vol. 9. Windham’s work in branding will also be featured in the second edition of Mastering Type from Bloomsbury Publishing in 2025.

Windham earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design and a Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Her professional experience spans roles as a designer with Vista Branding, LLC, in Atlanta, Georgia, and as a package designer for Taylor Box Company in Warren, Rhode Island. She also continues to serve local clients and, alongside her husband Jerrod Windham, conducts custom kinetic mobile workshops through their venture, Counter Balance Mobiles, based in Auburn, Alabama.

Widely recognized for her contributions to design, Windham was named an Educator-to-Watch by GDUSA Magazine in 2017 and awarded the Alabama State Council on the Arts Design Fellowship in 2018-19. Her work has received Gold, Silver, and Merit awards from Graphis Design Awards, IDA Awards, Creative Quarterly Awards, GDUSA Awards, PRINT Regional Design Awards, and the University & College Designers Association Annual Awards.

In addition to her teaching and design practice, Windham is an active researcher. She is co-authoring Discovering the Design Process: Into the Beautiful Mess with Professor Margaret Fletcher, an exploration of interdisciplinary design methods funded by Auburn University’s SEED grant program. Windham’s collaborative efforts with Auburn’s Rural Studio, including a rebranding initiative, have also won awards and received extensive recognition. She continues to collaborate annually with Rural Studio and the Front Porch Initiative to develop communication tools, illustrations, brochures, social media, and more.

RESEARCH INTERESTS
Design Process
Publication Design
Kinetic Typography
Motion Design
Interactive Media / AR
Branding and Identity Design
Illustration
Collage
Printmaking
Kinetic Sculpture / Mobiles

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
Member of UCDA