NEWPORT, R.I. – April Greiman, who in the 1980s was recognized as one of the first designers to embrace computer technology as a design tool, will present an illustrated lecture, "think about what you think about," in conjunction with an exhibition of her work, "Objects in Space," at the University Gallery.

Greiman's lecture will be presented at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25 in the Bazarsky Lecture Hall. The world-renowned artist will then attend an artist's reception in her honor from 5:30-7 p.m. at the University Gallery, where "Objects in Space" is on display through Sunday, Nov. 11.

In her lecture, Greiman will talk about color in architecture, transmedia/identity, the new Wilshire/Vermont wall art project and her photography exhibition (drive by shooting). She will also discuss "design in real time," taking the audience on a tour through Joshua Tree National Park while she talks about how nature influences her. Overall, her presentation will show examples of work she has done over the years and the ideas that shaped it.

"April Greiman is known as a pioneer in digital design for being one of the first designers to use the computer as a design tool," said Jennifer Dech, professional lecturer in graphic design at Salve Regina. "She has influenced the design community for 25 years with her New Wave typography and experimental approach to design."

Greiman is currently the head of the Los Angeles-based design studio Made in Space. Her unique combination of typography, image, space and technology has set her apart from other designers. She has received numerous awards for her design achievements, including the American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal for lifetime achievement.

Her work evolved from her graduate education at Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland. As a student of Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart in the early 1970s, Greiman was not only influenced by the International Style, but also by Weingart's introduction to the style later to become known as New Wave, an aesthetic less reliant on the Modernist heritage.

Prior to the mid-80s, designers shunned computers, viewing them as challenges to the crispness of the International Style. However, Greiman did not feel that this should be a limitation; rather, she exploited pixilation and other "errors" in digitization as part of digital art.

In 1986, she used Macintosh computers to create a noted issue of Design Quarterly, titled "Does it make sense?" The magazine unfolded accordion-style into a single page that measured two feet by six feet. The central image was a life-size, digitized, nude self-portrait of Greiman. Her eyes were shut, her hair was loose, and floating around her were random images ranging from dinosaurs to weather symbols.

A timetable ran the length of the poster, marking the dates of such events as the first man on the moon, Greiman's birthday and the invention of electricity. The issue was the first of its kind to be composed and assembled as a single document on MacDraw. It was no conventional collage; many of the technological advances that followed in the graphic design community can be directly traced back to this daring issue.

Having pioneered a computerized blend of photography, airbrushing and typesetting, Greiman is pushing design to the edge of computer technology. Considered the queen of techno-color, she combines every visual and electronic medium and is, according to New York designer Massimo Vignelli, by far the most daring and meaningfully experimental graphic designer in the world.

Working with technology developed for advanced video production, Greiman mixes still photography with video imagery, artwork, calligraphy and animation. The technique provides Greiman with an entirely different palette of patterns, colors and forms including diagonals, lowercase type and color bars.

When assembled by Greiman, these graphemes often resemble a woven fabric or a Pointillist painting. Interestingly, her move from New York to Los Angeles saw her abandon the corporate grays and blues that had been prevalent in her work in favor of Japanese plums and maroons, Mexican peach and salmon and brilliant turquoise.