Travis Masingale.
Designer, educator, and applied-AI researcher. Full Professor of Visual Communication Design at Eastern Washington University. I work where code, design, and emergent practice meet — building tools, teaching the next class of designers, and helping institutions move from talking about AI to actually using it.
Areas of focus
Practice · Teaching · ResearchTwelve years of full-time teaching at EWU, an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, and two decades of design practice in the Inland Northwest. The work moves between studio, classroom, and code — usually all three at once.
What I'm doing now
2025 — currentRecent and active projects across teaching, research, and applied work. The throughline: design practice as a way of thinking with AI, not just about it.
Full Professor, Visual Communication Design
Eastern Washington University. Promoted to Full Professor in 2024. Faculty Co-Chair, Course & Programming Approval Committee (CAHSS Team Excellence Award, 2025).
See what I'm building
Six active projects across agent marketplaces, personal AI briefings, academic program planning, design pedagogy, and Canvas corpus research. The working set is the deeper view of what's in this section.
| Year | Project |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Keynote — The Generative Workplace. AI as a cognitive co-pilot. EWU Staff In-Service, Division of People & Culture. |
| 2025 | Invited lecture — Harbin Normal University. "The Process is the Product," International Summer Camp on Digital Transformation in Education, Harbin, China. |
| 2025 | Washington State AI Task Force. Invited contributor on draft policy proposals (with Sen. Matt Boehnke); presented to the WA Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee. |
| 2025 | Cybersecurity Department wall graphic. Designed and coordinated production of a 23′ × 8′ installation at EWU. Installed Aug 2025. |
| 2025 | Itron donor recognition sign. Faculty lead with EWU Foundation; directed student design team through concept, prototyping, and fabrication of a 7′ × 5′ sign. |
| 2024–25 | Spokane Scholars Foundation rebrand. Faculty lead on website enhancement and rebranding roadmap; UI work, donor strategy, and student-coursework integration. |
| In dev | "Who Does It Think We Are?" Interdisciplinary research with Charlie Potter, Justin Young, and Marielle Leijten on the future of user persona and story development in GenAI contexts. |
Selected talks & panels
2014 — 2025| Year | Talk |
|---|---|
| 2025 | The Generative Workplace: AI as Your Cognitive Co-pilot. Keynote & panel moderator, EWU Staff In-Service, Cheney, WA. |
| 2025 | The Process is the Product. Invited lecture, Harbin Normal University Intl. Summer Camp, Harbin, China. |
| 2025 | AI in the Workforce. Panelist, Employer Relations WA/OR — Washington State Career Services Directors. |
| 2025 | Exploring the Potential of AI. Panelist, Innovator Connect, EWU Catalyst Building, Spokane, WA. |
| 2023 | Opening Computational Frontiers: Empowering First-Generation Designers. AIGA Design Educators Conference, New York, NY. |
| 2023 | Say Hello to Your New Robot Overlords. Demonstrations of cutting-edge AI, Spokane Public Library. |
| 2019 | Utopian Idealism: 100 Years of Bauhaus. Panel, German Campus Week, EWU. |
| 2014 | LIGHTBEAMS — 10 Rules for Being Creative. Cultivate Spokane Salon, Big Dipper, Spokane, WA. |
Selected exhibitions
Solo · Invited · JuriedSolo
Invited & juried
Education & recognition
Degrees · AwardsEducation
M.F.A., Photographic and Electronic Media
Maryland Institute College of Art — Baltimore, MD
B.A., Visual Communication Design
Eastern Washington University — Cheney, WA
B.A., Fine Art (Studio)
Eastern Washington University — Cheney, WA
A.F.A., Fine Art
Spokane Falls Community College — Spokane, WA
Awards & recognition
Board service: NewTech (2018–21), Spokane Art School (2017). Exhibition juror — Terrain 6, 9, & 13.
Get in touch
Form · Email · SocialThe form below lands directly in my inbox. For talks, panels, or collaboration on AI-in-design work, mention the date and the audience and I'll respond within a few days.