Blum Design Research Laboratory (BDRL)

The studio/laboratory of Designer, Shayna T. Blum.

Shayna T. Blum Biography

Shayna T. Blum, is an Assistant Professor of Design at the Xavier University of Louisiana, UX/UI Design Expert at Chegg Thinkful, and Founder of BDRL Llc, a design laboratory located in Miami, Fl. Blum received her Master of Fine Art (MFA) in Design and Technology (D&T) at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2009 and her Post Baccalaureate in Text and Image Design at Tufts University, School of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston in 2006. Blum graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA) degree from the Lyme Academy of Fine Art in 2001 and studied foundation at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY from 1996-1998.

Having 20 years of experience working within the visual communication and design industry, Blum has expertise in design research and design thinking processes. Prior to her faculty position at Xavier, Blum held academic titles as a Lecturer of Visual Communication at Dar Al Hekma University in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Adjunct Professor of Design at Monmouth University, Briarcliffe College, Union County College, and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.  

Blum’s scholarship focuses on the study of design and technology within global urban environments. Her articles include User Experience Design: A Case Study in Human Experience and Design Thinking; The pedagogy of design and technology at Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans; Design Research Typography within the Israeli Linguistic Landscape; and Multilingual Typography Study of the Linguistic Landscape of Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Influenced by her research, in 2018 Blum introduced two new courses to the Xavier University of Louisiana core curriculum: XCOR 3020 Design & Technology in Global Culture and XCOR 1012 New Orleans Innovation Bootcamp.

Blum has received certificates in User Experience and Interface (UX/UI) Design from the American Graphics Institute and Modern Hebrew at Tel Aviv University. She has published and presented research nationally and internationally. In 2017, Blum received the Andrew W. Mellon Grant for her work in Hebrew script and modern Hebrew typography. She received the Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) Center for Undergraduate Research (CURGO) Mellon Grant in 2016 to support collaborative research in cross-cultural branding and multilingual typography. In 2019, Blum was awarded a grant from the Confucius Institute to support her study into the Israeli design and technology industry.