Workshops at the Cville Design Week

Taught by Emily Patterson and Greg Ochsenschlager at Vault Virginia

Join the creators of Cville Puzzle Hunt to learn about puzzle design and create your own unique brain teasers. Puzzle design requires an understanding of how people think, the ability to anticipate user behavior, and the creativity to design a fun, satisfying outcome. In this hands-on session, you’ll explore different puzzle types, learn design principles, and create your own puzzles. Whether you're in UX, product design, or creative strategy, this workshop will bring a new perspective to how you think about user behavior and design.

Taught by Drew Seskunas at Vault Virginia

Discover how to bring motion into your design process, turning static concepts into living, responsive systems. Guided by an architect who creates kinetic spaces that react and move, you will explore kinetic systems in design and how they can be driven through automation and interaction.

Taught by Thomas Dean at Infinite Repeats

Experience the lo-fi magic of risograph printing as you layer vibrant colors and textures to create one-of-a-kind prints. In this hands-on session at the Infinite Repeats community print studio​, you’ll learn how to design for Riso and walk away with tangible art that merges old-school technique with modern creativity.

Taught by Sophie Tahran at Vault Virginia

UX writing communicates what visuals cannot, adding clarity, credibility, and consistency. In this workshop, we’ll introduce ways to think strategically about the words in your designs, from onboarding flows to field labels. You’ll learn what makes great writing great—and ultimately, how to design words that create a seamless user experience.

Taught by Seohyo at Vault Virginia

In this hands-on workshop, we will explore generative design using NodeBox, a powerful tool for creative coding. You'll learn how to create dynamic visuals by combining mathematical patterns, structured rules, and controlled randomness. Through step-by-step exercises, we will experiment with movement, transformation, and composition to build visually engaging animations.

Taught by Zack Bryant at Journey Group

In this workshop, we’ll explore the psychological concept of archetypes—popularized a century ago by Carl Jung—as a design tool, enabling us to better understand the role brands play in the lives of their customers and which words, symbols, images, and narratives align within our collective subconscious. Together, we’ll develop brand identities that enact each of the twelve core archetypes and evaluate how our shared human stories may impact the work of design.

Taught by Loïc Marleix at Vault Virginia

Step beyond conventional design and immerse yourself in the Lovers Communication System (LoCoS), a pictogram-based visual language that blends graphic design and semiotics into a whole new way of communicating​. In this exploratory workshop, you’ll construct visual sentences in LoCoS’s symbol language and even walk away with your own printed LoCoS mini-dictionary as a keepsake.

Taught by Jordan Bruner at Vault Virginia

Learn to bring your illustrations and ideas to life through motion in a fast-paced introduction to animation principles. With guidance from an Emmy-nominated animator, you’ll experiment with timing, rhythm, and visual storytelling—transforming static graphics into engaging animated narratives.

Taught by Garrett Queen at the Virginia Center for the Book

Step into the print shop and discover the tactile art of letterpress printing in the digital age. Guided by a master printer who has kept this centuries-old craft thriving​, you’ll get hands-on with moveable type and a proofing press to create your own beautifully imprinted piece—experiencing the slow, satisfying process of design by hand.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Downtown Mall, 300 E Main St, Charlottesville, United States