Loretta Staples, a U.I. designer in the 1980s and ’90s, had a front-row seat to the rise of personal computing. - The New York Times
I’m a former interface designer, cultural critic, psychotherapist, and painter. My career has spanned museum work, early digital media design, academia, and clinical practice.
I’ve played many roles in many places. That vantage illuminates creative possibilities bridging people, places, and things. I am available for guest lectures, speaking engagements, and advisory roles.
I worked in graphical user interface design during the formative period when personal computing was first becoming accessible to the general public. This experience shaped my lifelong interest in perception, meaning, value, and the relationship between human beings and symbolic systems.
My professional life has included work in museums, graphic design, and teaching at institutions including the University of Michigan and Parsons School of Design. In a later chapter of my career, I trained and practiced as a clinical social worker and psychotherapist for nearly twenty years, deepening my understanding of human experience and the psychological dimensions of creativity and culture.
I am currently a practicing painter. My speaking and consulting focus on the intersection of art, design, technology, and human experience, including the historical and psychological foundations of interface design and digital visual culture.
I was part of the generation that helped shape the visual language through which human beings would come to encounter digital technology.
Selected Background
Interface designer during the formative years of personal computing
Faculty, Parsons School of Design
Faculty, University of Michigan
Museum professional and graphic designer
Clinical social worker and psychotherapist
Practicing painter
Signature Lecture
There When It Happened
When the Interface Became the Place to Be
A firsthand reflection on the formative years of graphical interface design, when computers evolved from remote machines into visual environments where people and technology met. Drawing on my experience as a designer during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the lecture explores the cultural, historical, and psychological dimensions of interface design, examining how visual elements shaped perception, interaction, and the human experience of technology.
The talk situates the graphical interface within a broader history of visual culture and design, highlighting how artistic principles and human-centered thinking influenced early digital environments. Attendees will gain insight into the creative, technical, and cultural decisions that defined this pivotal moment, and consider its continuing impact on how we engage with digital systems today.
Additional discussions can address creativity, perception, and the psychological dimensions of technological experience, bridging art, design, and human understanding.
Current Work
In addition to speaking and consulting, I am a practicing painter. See my work at lorettastaplesART.com
Lectures and advisory work explore the historical, cultural, and psychological dimensions of design and technological space.
Contact
lorettawasthere@protonmail.com
Based in Connecticut and available for in-person lectures, conversations, and advisory engagements. Please inquire for availability and terms.
Contact Loretta →
Design pioneer | Cultural critic | Therapist | Painter | Speaker & Consultant on art, design, technology, & human experience