Aggie Toppins

Aggie Toppins is a graphic designer and writer who explores where graphics come from, what they do, and how they change over time.

Her first book, “Thinking Through Graphic Design History: Challenging the Canon,” (Bloomsbury, 2025) surveys the terrain where historical research and visual communication meet. The project challenges traditional understandings of graphic design history, offering ways for designers to shape socially engaged, critical practices. Toppins has written for leading design journals including Design and Culture, Design Issues, AIGA Dialogue, Slanted, Eye, and AIGA Eye on Design. She has contributed to two recent books, “Feminist Designer,” edited by Alison Place (2023), and “Baseline Shift: Untold Stories of Women in Graphic Design History,” edited by Briar Levit (2021).

Toppins’ studio work has been recognized with numerous national and international design awards, as well as solo and group exhibitions. She designs publications and exhibitions, while maintaining a collage practice based on a personal archive of found graphics. Toppins collaborates with Shreyas R Krishnan to curate and maintain the TL;DR Zine Archive, a collection of zines that make critical inquiries in graphic design and illustration held in WashU Special Collections.

An award-winning educator, Toppins teaches courses in communication design. Since 2020, she has served as chair of undergraduate design at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Toppins earned a Bachelor of Science in graphic design from the University of Cincinnati in 2003 and a Master of Fine Arts in graphic design from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2012.