Katherine and Michael McCoy Talk Cranbrook Design on Scratching the Surface Podcast
In Episodes 225 and 226 of the Scratching the Surface podcast, host Jarrett Fuller interviews Michael and Katherine McCoy, the former co-heads of the pioneering design department at Cranbrook Academy of Art (1971 to 1995). Katherine and Michael McCoy mentored a generation of ‘dangerous’ designers at Cranbrook who went on to create influential design firms, found design programs at other schools, and lead innovation across design fields.
In the interviews, the McCoys detail their individual journeys to professional design and how they evolved their ethos as educators while at Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Michael and Katherine met at Michigan State University (MSU) where they pursued industrial design. Michael recounted how MSU’s program, one of the few industrial design programs at the time, was a path to uniting his interest in both art and engineering. Katherine noted that she appreciated the conceptual guidance in the industrial design program, but she really fell in love with graphic design, typography, and cross-disciplinary implications for design during her studies and personal exploration.
Coming to Cranbrook
Just a few years after receiving their degrees, former Academy Director Glen Paulson invited them to co-chair the Design department. Michael recalled sitting at a campfire with Kathy at an Aspen Design Conference, discussing the opportunity to create a new vision for the Design department, and felt the opportunity to ‘start from scratch’ made sense for them even though they had not taught before. The McCoys join Cranbrook in 1971, the same year they founded McCoy & McCoy, Inc.
Katherine discussed how their industrial design experience at MSU, with “one good professor,” spurred them to create a different experience for their students at Cranbrook, rather than falling into the teaching habits of their instructors. She details one of her first projects at Cranbrook was to create a new catalog, and the writing of that piece helped drive the development of the Design department.
Katherine and Michael McCoy at Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1971. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
Their first few years at Cranbrook saw the program continue as an assignment-based approach to industrial design education, but gradually they became more interested in the meaning of design. Michael says they felt strongly that helping students with “knowing how to know” and growing their critical practice was the best preparation for their professional future.
Quote from Michael McCoy on Scratching the Surface Podcast with Jarrett Fuller. Courtesy Scratching the Surface on Instagram.
Michael notes another significant shift in design culture at Cranbrook when Daniel Libeskind became the Head of Architecture. They agreed to create a project together – a room designed by Libeskind and furniture designed by McCoy. Libeskind’s room never materialized, but Michael created his first conceptual design piece, his Door chair which helped spark the movement of art furniture that could be produced in limited editions. You can see one of Michael’s Door Chair prototypes in the Cranbrook Art Museum permanent collection. Cranbrook’s connection to the design of chairs is well-known and dissected (see the PBS segment on Cranbrook and the Chair here); Michael explained the importance of chair design due to their interaction with the human body.
© Michael McCoy. Photograph by R. H. Hensleigh and Tim Thayer.
Michael McCoy (Designer), Door Chair Prototype, 1981. Maker: John Guse for McCoy & McCoy, Inc., Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Manufacturer: Arkitektura, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey. Lacquered wood with metal hardware
30 ⅞ x 21 ⅝ x 17 inches. Gift of the Designer. Collection Cranbrook Art Museum.
Cranbrook Artists-in-Residence, More than Mentors
Michael marked the importance of regular readings within the department, many recommended by the students, which allowed conversations to grow organically and specifically based on the current students’ interests. He viewed the department as a bridge between theory and practice. Early influences were Robert Venturi’s book Learning from Las Vegas and both McCoys’ interest in social design and design vernacular.
Michael discusses the Artist-in-Residence’s role in the department was not only to run the program, but also to maintain a personal practice, and be embedded in making alongside their students. Katherine described that she viewed the Designer-in-Residence role as a ‘coach,’ where rules became much less important as the department developed during their tenure.
Katherine McCoy (Designer), The Graduate Program in Design, 1989. Printer: Signet Printing, Detroit, Michigan. Offset lithograph poster (two-sided), perforated with postcards on the reverse. 28 x 22 inches. Gift of Katherine and Michael McCoy. Collection Cranbrook Art Museum.
Katherine worked on many projects for Cranbrook, including the creation of the current Cranbrook Educational Community visual identity, along with many posters for the Academy’s programs, exhibition materials for the Art Museum, and more. Students were always able to work alongside her, gaining exposure to her methods as they were applied to a client’s project.
The 1991 book Cranbrook: The New Design Discourse was designed with current students of the time. In it, the McCoys wrote, “much of the work done at Cranbrook has been dedicated to changing the status quo; it is polemical, calculated to ruffle designers’ feathers, and it has done just that.”
The McCoys left Cranbrook in 1995, as Roy Slade retired as President of the Academy, desiring a different challenge and locale after 24 years. Some 200 students graduated from the Design department under the McCoys including Lorraine Wild, Edward Fella, Nancy Skolos and Tom Wedell, P. Scott Makela, Andrew Satake Blauvelt, Lucille Tenazas, Meredith Davis, Terence Main, Patrick Whitney, Masamichi Udagawa, Richard Kriegler, Jack Keely, Constance Birdsall, Elizabeth Youngblood, Elliott Earls, Martin Venezky, and many others.
Cranbrook alumni and Designers-in-Residence have also been featured on the Scratching the Surface Podcast including Cranbrook Art Museum Director Andrew Satake Blauvelt (MFA Design 1988), Current Head of 2D Design Elliott Earls (MFA Design 1993), Nicole Killian (MFA 2D Design 2011), Nancy Skolos (BFA Design 1977) with Tom Wedell (MFA Photography 1976), Lorraine Wild (MFA Design 1975), Martin Venezky (MFA Design 1993, Photography 2024).
The Cranbrook Archives, Center for Collections and Research holds the Katherine and Michael McCoy Papers in its collection, which includes correspondence, design samples, and ephemera from their time at the Academy.
Learn More:
Episode 225. Michael McCoy – Scratching the Surface Podcast
Episode 226. Katherine McCoy – Scratching the Surface Podcast
Cranbrook Design: The New Discourse
2D Design at Cranbrook Academy of Art
3D Design at Cranbrook Academy of Art
