Designing with Purpose: Michael Reed on Public Space, Human Dignity, and “Doing the Right Thing”

August 13, 2025

Kristin Bennani

Episode 7: Voices of Experience with Michael Reed, Founding Partner Emeritus of Mayer/Reed

Over more than four decades, SEGD Fellow Michael Reed has left an indelible mark on the public realm—shaping the way people navigate, understand, and experience airports, courthouses, urban bike trails, libraries, and social service facilities through environmental graphic design that prioritizes community connection, dignity, and sustainability.

As founding principal of Portland-based Mayer/Reed, Michael built a practice where form is never divorced from purpose, and where design is as much about stewardship as it is about beauty. “Our concerns now are not about where design’s gonna be, but where the earth is gonna be in 50 years,” he says in his Voices of Experience film. “There’s going to be a lot of the traditional problems, but also plenty of new ones we can’t even imagine. We need to be light on our feet and flexible for what that might mean.”

Shaping Places that Shape Communities

From its inception, Mayer/Reed has had a clear mission to create environments that tell the story of place and invite people to participate in it. Drawing on his industrial design background and systems thinking, Michael Reed brings this mission to life through environmental graphic design that is both purposeful and deeply integrated within its architectural context. His approach merges form, function, and information into seamless experiences that help people navigate, understand, and connect with place. 

The Eastbank Esplanade became an early defining project for the landscape architecture and visual communications firm. The project revitalized a neglected stretch of Portland’s waterfront into a 1.5-mile promenade for pedestrians and cyclists. Signature 20-foot-tall “urban markers” reconnected the city’s historic street grid to the Willamette River and embodied the firm’s belief that design can foster civic dialogue.

This same ethos has guided other pivotal environmental graphic design projects, including:

• Vancouver Community Library – Wayfinding | Infusing moments of discovery and joy into a community hub through accessible and architecturally integrated typography.
• Wayne Lyman Morse U.S. Courthouse – Wayfinding | Bringing dignity and accessibility to the justice system through wayfinding and placemaking that is both formal and welcoming.
• San Francisco International Airport, International Terminal – Concessions Wayfinding | Connecting global travelers to the Bay Area’s celebrated food scene with a clear place-based wayfinding system.. 

Together, these works form a legacy of public projects that not only solve functional challenges but also deepen connections to the communities they serve.

Leadership that Extends Beyond Design

Michael’s influence has never been limited to the studio. He served on the SEGD board from 2004 to 2009 and was named an SEGD Fellow in 2016. He has played a vital role in shaping the program’s future—helping establish the SEGD Fellows Committee with CEO Cybelle Jones to ensure each year’s Fellow Class reflects the profession’s legacy and future potential.

That commitment to mentorship and leadership is mirrored in the way he structured Mayer/Reed. In 2014, the firm transitioned from a partnership into a corporation—deliberately designed to enable future generations of staff ownership and leadership. This move ensured that Mayer/Reed’s values and influence would continue long after its founders stepped back.

Today, that vision is being carried forward by Kathy Fry, Past President of SEGD, who now leads the firm with the same commitment to public space, environmental responsibility, and design excellence that Michael championed.

An Enduring Philosophy

Across his career, Michael has adhered to one guiding principle: the privilege of designing information systems for the public comes with the responsibility to “do the right thing.” His work demonstrates that great design is not an act of personal expression but of public service.

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Episode 7: SEGD’s Voices of Experience with Michael Reed

Filmed and produced by Abigail Honor of Lorem Ipsum, this episode captures the reflections of Michael Reed, founding partner emeritus of Mayer/Reed, on a career dedicated to visual communications for the public realm where people engage and interact with design daily. He describes an approach that melds message, symbol and object to become an expression of place while serving the greater good.

Watch the seventh episode of Voices of Experience featuring Michael Reed, FSEGD.

Join us every two weeks as we continue honoring SEGD Fellows whose work has shaped the environments—and experiences—that define our world.

Because great design isn’t just what we make—it’s the difference we make in people’s lives and the future we leave behind.