I’m Madeleine Morley (she/her), a writer, researcher, and editor based between Iowa City and Berlin and originally from London. My work focuses primarily on the intersection of design and culture.
As an editor and researcher, my practice spans all areas of book publishing, including editorial, art direction, image research, and production management. I’m currently working with A24’s books imprint on a range of publishing projects; most recently, I edited a book about Anthony Bourdain’s early years in Provincetown, Happier, Stupider Times.
As a writer, I’m completing a book on histories of women in design for Phaidon. I also write features, essays, profiles, and reviews; my words have appeared in The New York Times, Fast Company, The Observer, Dazed and Confused Magazine, AnOther, Elephant Magazine, and many more. Essays of mine have also been published by Princeton Architectural Press, niggli, The Wellcome Collection, Onomatopee, Maria Editions, and Chateau International.
Previously, I was senior editor for AIGA (the professional association for design) and Head of Publishing for the type foundry Dinamo. In 2020, I was a recipient of Switzerland’s Pro Helvetia cultural fund, with which I co-founded the hybrid learning community and publishing platform, Futuress.org. I have degrees in English Literature from Cambridge University and an M.A. in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute.
If you’d like to get in touch for commissions or other opportunities, you can reach me at madeleineam[at]gmail.com
Select Clients + Publications
The New York Times
A24 Films
Phaidon
The Observer
Princeton Architectural Press
The Wellcome Collection
Dazed & Confused Magazine
VICE Media
It’s Nice That
Fast Company
Quartz
WePresent
AnOther Magazine
Adobe
Airbnb
Amazon
Spotify
magCulture
Sleek Magazine
Riposte
Elephant
Onomatopee
Port Magazine
Computer Arts
Creative Review
Monotype
Eye Magazine
ReadyMag
AIGA, the professional association for design
Swiss Design Awards
Lectures, Exhibitions + Teaching
Instructor, “Design and its Many Questions,” MA course at FH Bielefeld, Germany, Autumn/Winter semester, 2022
Moderation of “Ever since the days of Mrs. Gutenberg …” for A—Z’s Counter Sessions, Berlin, Germany, August 2022
“Writing Around Design” for the Feminist Designer Social Club’s HAKDANG lecture series, Seoul, South Korea, August 2021
Moderation of Occasional Paper’s “Messy Histories of Graphic Design & Typography” digital panel at Printed Matter Virtual Art Book Fair, February 2021
“On Writing About (and Around) Design History” for Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig, Germany, January 2021
“Troubling Design Histories” for Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, Germany, January 2021
“Diversity Issues” with Futuress and depatriarchise design for DAE Lecture Series, Design Academy Eindhoven, the Netherlands, December 2020
“Troubling Design Histories” for David Chipperfield Architects Symposium, London, UK, November 2020
“The Troublemakers Class of 2020” remote workshop, co-run for Futuress, October 2020 - January 2021
“Feminist Findings” co-curated with Nina Paim and Eliot Gisel as Futuress, A—Z, Berlin, Germany, June-September 2020
“The Liberation in Print Collective” workshop, co-run with common interest and hosted by le Signe, Charmont, France, April-May 2020
“On Writing About (and Around) Design History” for Teaching Design lectures, A—Z, Berlin, Germany, January 2020
“The Women Poster Designs of Haigh-Ashbury Swinging 60s” for Show and Tell at Fukt Magazine’s Handsiebdruckerei, Berlin, Germany, January 2020
Instructor and Guest Lecturer, University of the Arts Berlin, Visual Systems, Berlin, Germany, 2018–2019
An Introduction to Eye on Design magazine’s ‘Gossip’ issue, Athenaeum Nieuwscentrum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, March 2019
“Gender at Design Conferences” at IAM Weekend, Barcelona, Spain, March 2019
Live Q&A with Studio Pandan for Eye on Design’s “Distraction” issue launch party, The Boys Club, Berlin, Germany, October 2019
“Print Design in Digital Times” at The Obama Institute, The University of Mainz, Germany, October 2019
“Print Design in Digital Times” at TYPO at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany, May 2018
“The Flesh Made Word—An A-Z of Femininity” at Ultrafett Festival, The Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, Germany, October 2017
“Political Print: Form as Resistance” at The University of the Arts Berlin, Germany, November 2016