Rate My Professor Zachary Frazier

Zachary Frazier is an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design in the Department of Media, Art and Design at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, a position he assumed in Fall 2022. He earned a Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Iowa State University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Oklahoma State University. Raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Frazier is a graphic designer, educator, and small-press publisher who founded Astringent Press. This publishing initiative operates on a low-to-no-cost, small-volume model to produce physical and digital texts featuring visual and textual narratives from historically minoritized and underserved communities. His creative output is featured in bookshops and galleries across the United States. Frazier's research and creative practice focus on uplifting and celebrating these narratives through interests in bookmaking, motion and new media, community art and design, and interdisciplinary art and design.

At UMKC, Frazier heads the Student Design Lab, a course dedicated to experiential experimentation in design practice, and teaches Design Thinking, which emphasizes ethical and responsible research in art and design. He also offers Graphic Design and Typography 01 and 02. His academic specializations include self-publishing, zines, zine-making, graphic design, and visual culture. Frazier has received the Haskell Research Development Grant for the 2022-2023 academic year from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences to support the completion of a scholarly project or creative work. In 2024, he was awarded the Bernardin Research Development Grant from the Department of Media, Art and Design, facilitating participation in the New York Art Book Fair. These honors recognize his contributions to faculty research and creative projects.