hughes design | communications
About
Donna Hughes
Donna founded Hughes design|communications in 1985. In 1983 she earned the equivalent of an MA degree in graphic design from the Algemeinegewerbeschule, Kunstgewerbeschule, Basel, Switzerland. Prior to that she spent 7 years studying a combination of design, fine arts, printmaking and sciences at the Art Institute of Chicago, Loretto Heights College in Denver, the University of Colorado in Boulder, Glassell School of Art in Houston, and the University of Houston. Donna has been teaching graphic design in the Biomedical Visualization Department in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois, Chicago, since 1996. Her expertise and area of focus is communicating science and health care information through design.
Accolades:
In 2005, Donna received the Award for Teaching Excellence from the University of Illinois.
Courtney Owens Zielinski
Courtney has been practicing graphic design in various ways, shapes and forms since birth (Courtney is Donna's daughter). Her earliest memories are of playing at Donna's drawing board with colored pencils, t-squares, and Lettraset rub-off type. Courtney received her BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago's School of Art & Architecture in 1998. She moved to San Francisco in the Spring of 1999 to pursue her burgeoning love of web design, which at that time was in it's infancy. Courtney honed her web design skills during the dot com boom, working as a designer for the design studio Cogneo and for Zelerate.com, an ecommerce startup. After the dot com crash in 2001, Courtney hung out her shingle and started Courtney Owens Design, specializing in website design and development and also in print work for fashion, beauty, and lifestyle clients. In 2004, Courtney moved back to Chicago and joined forces with Donna to become a partner at Hughes design|communications. Courtney loves doing print work, but her true passion is designing and building websites. She is also an enthusiastic supporter of the web standards movement.
Accolades:
Courtney and her work have been written about in 944 Magazine, Gift Shop Magazine, and in the German book Design Ecology!.