Profile:
Born in Wellington, New Zealand. Aaron Fry is an Associate Professor of Design Strategies at Parsons School of Design (Associate Chair, Foundation, 2005-2008, Associate Director, Bachelor of Business Administration, Strategic Design and Management 2016-2017). Aaron is an artist and design educator with twenty-two years full-time university teaching experience. An active practicing artist (1995-2006) working in painting, installation and digital media, Aaron’s current research interests are expressed through his writing; at the intersection of design, business and the social sciences, with an emphasis on social justice. His research interests include fashion, strategy, entrepreneurship and visual and behavioral tools and approaches. Aaron's teaching and research also engage with information visualization (both quantitative and behavioral) in which he explores the role of metaphor to enhance comprehension and influence behavior. Since 2009 Aaron has been co-director of the Visualizing Finance Lab, a Parsons research initiative that explores the capacity of emotionally, culturally and metaphorically rich ‘narrative visualization’ in supporting financial literacy education. The lab hopes, in future, to test the relationship between narrative visualization and financial behavior change. He is the lead author of numerous articles, speaks regularly at conferences and workshops internationally on visualization, business education and on the role of design in financial literacy.
Degrees Held:
MFA, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA
Graduate Diploma in Art, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney University, Australia
BFA, Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland
Aaron’s writing and projects can be found on academia.edu, researchgate.net and on visualizingfinancelab.com
Recent Publications:
Visual strategies for co-design with a community partner, second author, with Carol Overby and Jennifer Wilson.
FORMakademisk, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway, 2017
Design entrepreneurship in the Post-Recession Economy: Parsons’ ELab, a Design School Incubator, with Rhea Alexander and Samar Ladhib. Cuaderno 64, Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios en Diseño y Comunicación [Ensayos], 2017, Centro de Estudios en Diseño y Comunicación, Facultad de Diseño y Comunicación. Universidad de Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“Advanced Craft” Integrated with Saper Fare; the Role of Intangible Value and the Centrality of the Artisan in High Quality
21st Century Craftsmanship, with Gabriele Goretti, Samar Ladhib, Elisabetta Cianfanelli and Carol Overby. Cuaderno 64,
Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios en Diseño y Comunicación [Ensayos], 2017
Co-Designing Financial Literacy Materials, with Jennifer Wilson, Priscilla Soberanes. Carol Overby. Proceedings from 10th International Conference on Design Principles and Practice, Pontifical Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2016
Post-Recession Consumerism in the U.S.: The Influence of Cheap and Chic Consumer Products on Perceptions of Income Inequality, with Steven Faerm. Cuaderno 53, Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios en Diseño y Comunicación [Ensayos], 2016
Teaching the design of narrative visualization: behavioral economics and financial literacy, with Carol Overby and Jennifer Wilson, Re/materialising Design Education Futures, Studies in Material Thinking Vol 11, 2016
Research Interests:
financial literacy, financial behavior, design and business, design strategy, metaphor and visualization, information visualization