Allison Shaw is a designer with a passion for making beautiful, usable things. Introduced to the web as an awkward teenager, she taught herself HTML by designing and coding Star Wars fan websites from scratch. While she won’t share those sites with the general public anymore, she’ll be happy to show you the body of work she’s put together over the past five years as an award-winning designer, by turns working in exhibition/environmental design, traditional print, and the web, for clients as diverse as American Express, Planned Parenthood, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Allison is also an urban environmentalist who rides bikes, buses, and trains, and thinks our cities need to do a better job of accommodating and promoting all those activities. She has a healthy obsessive-compulsive streak that she uses only for good, and hopes that her learning at SVA will provide her with the tools to surprise and delight the people who use her work.

In her spare time, Allison climbs rocks and rock walls, is a practicing black belt, and aspires to be a better, healthier cook. She still loves Star Wars, Snoopy, and Stevie Nicks.

Past Life

BA, Graphic Design, American University

Selected Projects

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  Cybernetics Final

  Students were required to critique a pre-existing interactive system of their own choosing by applying the models learned in class.

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  Fish Slaps A Baby

  Students designed a custom website for Fish Slaps A Baby and 15 unique blog templates inspired by the stories of 826NYC students.

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  Physical Computing Final

  Students were asked to devise a project that would allow them to use a semester’s knowledge about physical computing.

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  Information Visualization

  Students were asked to visualize a section within the permanent collection at MoMA or the Met. Or, they may visualize a single sporting event or season. Or, a personal collection of their choosing.

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  MoMA Smartphone App

  Students developed a set of prototype smartphone apps for the Museum of Modern Art.

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  Physical Computing Midterm

  Students were asked to design a new solution for an existing problem.

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  Prototyping User Experiences: Semester Review

  The students were asked to produce a video to reflect upon the use of prototypes in the design process.

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  Starbucks Strategy Project

  Students were asked to design a new strategy for Starbucks to improve their retail store experience.