Design Lab will present the work of designers Deborah Littlejohn and Santiago Piedrafita in the first of a two part exhibition series of graphic design's multiple applications, methods, and strategies. The exhibition will focus on Littlejohn and Piedrafita's work with font and typeface design, their work with the Design Institute, and with their design studio TWO. One component of the exhibition will comprise a monumental wall mural/installation that will be, in the artist's words, "typographic as well as image-based in nature." Other works in the exhibition will include art books designed by the artists. One of the overriding themes of the exhibition will be the concepts of public and private, as the artists demonstrate the dualities of working in both realms and how those seemingly separate ideologies can cross over in their work. Littlejohn has been a Design Fellow at the prestigious Design Institute at the University of Minnesota since February 2002. She also co-runs TWO, a Minneapolis design studio with partner Santiago Piedrafita. TWO produces print and digital design for clients primarily in the cultural sector.

Littlejohn's work has been featured in many publications, including I.D. Magazine, Typography Now, Digital Type, Metropolis, Graphis, and Affiche. She has received awards from the American Center for Design, the American Institute for Graphic Arts, the American Association of Museums, and I.D. Magazine, to name a few. Littlejohn also has taught interactive media, motion graphics and graphic design for several years at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minnesota. She received her M.F.A. from CalArts (the California Institute of the Arts), Valencia, California.

Santiago Piedrafita is chair of the Design Department at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Most recently, he was included in I.D Magazine's "I.D. Forty," a prestigious list of forty leading designers. Previously, he was the Senior Designer at the Walker Art Center's design department. He received his M.F.A. from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York.