Episode Description

Tanner Woodford is a Chicago-based designer, artist, and founder of Iterative Work, a studio that helps people tell meaningful stories through brands, exhibitions, websites, books, murals, and environmental graphics. He previously spent fourteen years as founding executive director of the Design Museum of Chicago, growing it from a pop-up project into a free cultural institution that commissioned more than 74,000 square feet of public art and exhibited over 10,000 student artworks. Known for his optimistic typographic murals, Tanner also taught Design Thinking for Social Change at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, served as art director of Newcity, and was appointed to Chicago’s Cultural Advisory Council in 2020.

Tanner’s creative story begins with photography, where early on, he developed a connection to the medium and its ability to document people, places, and culture. Photographing bands later led him toward graphic design, where he discovered a lasting love for typography. While in college, Tanner worked on a pop-up project that became an early iteration of a pop-up art museum. After graduating, he moved to Chicago to be closer to family and continued that idea into the Design Museum of Chicago with pop-ups and exhibitions throughout the city. 

“We just want to tell people a story so they wake up and realize they can change the world.”

In this conversation, Tanner shares how design can become a form of public expression, where people are able to be seen. “We just want to tell people a story so they wake up and realize they can change the world.” His work asks an essential question: whose stories are being told, and how can design make those stories more visible?

Tanner also reflects on the challenge of translating someone else’s vision into an authentic visual language. “The challenging part is knowing what’s important. And the answer to finding what’s important is to ask the person telling you.” Tanner emphasizes the importance of understanding the people behind the story before determining how that story should be communicated.

“The challenging part is knowing what’s important. And the answer to finding what’s important is to ask the person telling you.”

Tanner discusses the transition from founding the Design Museum of Chicago to stepping away to form Iterative Work, a new chapter that allows him to work more personally with people and organizations who want to share meaningful ideas. While his role has changed, his mission remains rooted in creating platforms for others. His story is a reminder that creative work is rarely a single finished moment. As Tanner reminds us, “Remember you’re always in a process, and there’s always a next step in the process. Your job is to get to that next step.” His journey highlights the power of design as a tool for giving people a voice and for helping communities see that they can shape the world around them.