Dan Boyarski

Dan Boyarski is Professor Emeritus in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. During his 35-year tenure, he taught courses in typography, information and interaction design, and time-based communication at the graduate and undergraduate levels. His interests were primarily in dynamic information, interface and interaction design, and how type, image, sound, and movement may be combined for effective communication. This led to an exploration of kinetic typography—time-based communication design—in all his courses, especially in Time, Motion & Communication. 

Boyarski’s long tenure at Carnegie Mellon (1982–2017) enabled him to collaborate on a wide variety of projects. He conducted research for organizations like Samsung Electronics, IBM, Nortel Networks, Carnegie Museum of Art, and Microsoft. He was involved in early interface design work at the Information Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon, where a campus-wide computer network was developed with IBM in the mid- to late-1980s. In the spring of 1999, the Design Management Institute awarded Boyarski the Muriel Cooper Prize for “outstanding achievement in advancing design, technology, and communications in the digital environment.” 

Prior to coming to Carnegie Mellon, Boyarski taught Graphic Design at Indiana University and the University of Louisville. At Carnegie Mellon, he was previously Head of School, Director of Graduate Studies, and Chair of the Graphic Design Program. 

Boyarski holds an MFA in Graphic Design from Indiana University and a BA in Art/Design from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN. He completed post-graduate studies in graphic design and film animation at the School of Design (Kunstgewerbeschule) in Basel, Switzerland. 

In retirement, Boyarski remains busy with his own photo montage work, the archiving of kinetic typography student work, occasional conference talks, traveling, cooking, reading, and gardening. Retirement agrees with him, he says.