Adrienne Hooker is a partner at Studio Wan-ker, LLC, a design services and consultation company. A recent relocation and switch in full-time employment has opened opportunities to start anew. Hooker, an educator at heart, focuses on the basics and hand skills in foundation courses and works on real-world experience and theoretical issues with upper level students.
As a tenure-track assistant professor in communication design at Louisiana Tech University, Hooker co-wrote and implemented a Louisiana Board of Regents Grant for more than $82,000 to advance classroom technologies in the School of Art. She has presented papers and workshops at national educators conferences hosted by American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and University and Colleges Designers Association (UCDA). She also worked to increase student awareness of contemporary art and design by bringing visiting artists to campus and national exhibitions to the School of Art Galleries.
Adrienne’s dedication to teaching continued as director of inProgress: student design center. Her students worked with numerous community and university members producing identity systems and promotional campaigns. They also toured a variety of area advertising, design, and printing companies to learn first-hand the nature of the industry.
Prior to her teaching career, Hooker worked as an art director in Des Moines Iowa from 1997 to 2002. She worked directly with clients ranging from non-profits to large corporations. During her tenure at Drake University, she was responsible for the creation of a national award-winning university recruitment campaign along with various projects for other university departments and offices.
In 2002 Hooker moved to Bloomington Indiana after receiving a $10,000 Margaret Knote Fellowship and teaching assistantship to pursue a MFA in graphic design at Indiana University Bloomington. Adrienne focused on book arts and printmaking during her master’s studies in graphic design and traveled to Venice Italy in June 2003. She continued her work in the design industry creating annual reports for the Indiana University Libraries and multiple projects for the Henry Radford Hope School of Art. Hooker also began her teaching career as an adjunct lecturer and an associate instructor in graphic design concentrating on visual systems and advanced print production.