Talia Cotton is a designer, coder, and educator,
and is a leading specialist in the intersection of branding and technology.

She is the founder and creative director of Cotton,
a new technology-driven creative agency.

Previously she led the design and development
of algorithmic and data-driven brand identities and websites at Pentagram.

Talia teaches Advanced Coding & Interaction Design
at Parsons School of Design.

Work Inquiries

info@cotton.design

Press Inquiries & Coffees

talia.cotton@gmail.com

Instagram

@taliasaccount
@cottondesigninc

LinkedIn

/taliacotton

Are.na

/talia-cotton

Cotton

www.cotton.design

Full Bio (as of May 2023)

Talia Cotton is a designer, coder, and educator, and is recognized as a leading specialist in the intersection of design and technology. In 2023 she founded Cotton, a creative agency pursuing purposeful design work with code. Talia also teaches intro and advanced coding at Parsons School of Design. Before Cotton, Talia led data-driven and algorithmic design on two teams at Pentagram, while running an independent design and code practice. Her clients include Google Arts & Culture, the New York Times, the Gates Foundation, and MIT. Talia was named a "Responsible Designer to Watch" by GDUSA and was awarded the Young Guns Award for creative professionals under 30. She has been recognized by The One Club, TDC, Fast Company, and It's Nice That, and has inspired audiences at the international Google Visual Design Summit, OFFF Tel Aviv, and Future London Academy, among others.

Awards & Nominations

Distinguished Teaching Award
2023 Nominee, The New School
March 2023
Young Guns 20
Recognized as one of a vanguard of 31 creative professionals under 30
November 2022
TDC Awards
Communication Design Winner (x2)
March 2022
D&AD Awards
Pencil Winner
May 2020
AIGA Command X
Semifinalist
April 2019

Interviews & Features

Envato Blog
Meet the Experts: Pushing Design Possibilities Through Coding with Talia Cotton
June 2023
Page Magazine
Interview mit Talia Cotton: »Code can solve the problem of design bias«
May 2023
The One Club for Creativity
Morning Buzz with Adam Izen: Season 2 Episode 2
April 2023
TYPEONE Magazine Issue 06
Designer's List Feature
March 2023
The Brand Identity
Talia Cotton on working at Pentagram, inspiring students and creating meaningful design with code
November 2022
GDUSA
Responsible Designer to Watch
November 2022
The One Club
Young Guns 20: Talia Cotton Interview
November 2022
Ladies, Wine & Design
Talia Cotton, graphic designer and coder
November 2019
The Design Kids
Why designers are turned-off by coding, coding course, and the impact automation and algorithms could have on design
July 2019
GDUSA
Students to Watch Feature
February 2018
Parsons School of Design
Alumni Spotlight Feature
February 2018

Project Press

It's Nice That
Talia Cotton departs Pentagram to launch Cotton, an agency specifically for coding and design
February 2023
Cotton
The New York Times
The Year in Illustration: The most memorable New York Times illustrations of 2022
December 2022
NYT Illustration
Fast Company
This unreal website embraces the most notorious UX design trend
October 2022
The Last Agency
The Brand Identity
The Edit: five projects including Talia Cotton’s generative identity for Guilty by Association
May 2022
Guilty By Association
Fonts In Use
Wyth (Feature)
May 2022
Wyth
Fast Company
This logo constantly redraws itself
April 2022
Guilty By Association
It's Nice That
Can design be unbiased? Possibly, with Talia Cotton’s infinite logo identity made using code
April 2022
Guilty By Association
GDUSA
Infinitely Generative ‘Unbiased’ Logo
April 2022
Guilty By Association
Logo Lounge
In Search of Non-Biased Design
April 2022
Guilty by Association
Creative Bloq
This awesome hand-drawn logo changes every time you see it
April 2022
Guilty By Association
CommArts
Pentagram updated this iconic New York cultural center with a new identity that eliminates confusion and opens possibilities.
June 2022
92NY
Grafik
An Interactive, Audio-Centric Website And Updated Brand For Vig Bar
September 2022
Vig Bar
Mindsparkle Mag
Vig Bar (Feature)
May 2022
Vig Bar
Admire The Web
Vig Bar (Feature)
May 2022
Vig Bar
Hover Stat.es
Although visually charming, this interactive project highlights the serious problem of airborne microplastics
December 2021
Plastic Air
Print Mag
‘Plastic Air’ is an Interactive Experience Showing Just How Prevalent Airborne Microplastics Are
April 2021
Plastic Air
Fast Company
Drink lattes? Order takeout? You're breathing in invisible toxins
April 2021
Plastic Air
It's Nice That
This website visualises the tiny, invisible bits of plastic floating in the air around us
April 2021
Plastic Air
What Design Can Do
New interactive website visualises the microplastics in the air we breathe
April 2021
Plastic Air
EditorX
2020 in review: A year in web design
December 2020
Dear New York
The New York Times
The T List: Five Things We Recommend This Week
July 2020
Dear New York
SiteInspire
Intro to Coding for Designers (Feature)
2020
Intro to Coding for Designers
The Next Web
10 web design trends that will dominate your screen in 2020
December 2019
Intro to Coding for Designers
Google Design
Google Design’s Best of 2019
December 2019
Recursive Minisite
TypeWolf
Site of the Day
2019
Portfolio Site 2019
TypeWolf
Top 40 Favorite Designer Portfolio Sites
2019
Portfolio Site 2019

Speaking

OFFF Barcelona 2024
TBD
April 2024
Barcelona
MIT Media Lab
Lunch Lecture (TBD)
September 2023
Virtual
Carnegie Mellon University School of Design
Brick Walls
March 2023
Pittsburgh, PA
UIC School of Art & Design
"Embrace the Impossible", and Other Lessons in Coding
March 2023
Chicago, IL
Mason Gross School of Design (Rutgers University)
A Love Story
February 2023
New Brunswick, NJ
Lightricks
Digital Interface as Brand Expression
January 2023
Virtual
The New York Times
Talia Times Three (Start/End/In-between)
December 2022
New York, NY
Mother Design
Motherloving Code!
December 2022
New York, NY
University of Pennsylvania
Design Senior Seminar: Meet a Designer
December 2022
Virtual
UH Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts
I Hate Technology: A Talk
November 2022
Houston, TX
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
Talia Cotton and the Incessant Quest for Meaning in Technology
October 2022
Provdence, RI
InScript Experimental Type Festival (TDC)
Coding Typography: A Taxonomy
October 2022
Virtual
Brillo Festival (for illo.tv)
Dearest, Darlingest, Most Wonderful Technology: My Evolving Relationship
October 2022
Turin, Italy
Buzzfeed News
Why I Code
October 2022
New York, NY
OFFF Festival
Designing With Code
September 2022
Tel Aviv, Israel
F+F School of Art and Design Zurich: Jan Steinbach’s ‘Design for Screens’ class
Why I Code (Abridged)
September 2022
Zurich, Switzerland (Virtual)
Wix Playground Academy (Tel Aviv Outpost)
What Coding Can Do/What Coding Can’t Do
July 2022
Tel Aviv, Israel (Virtual)
EditorX / Dribbble Webinar "Digital design in 2022: How to grow as a creator"
How I became a designer/coder & other common questions I wish I knew the answers to not so very long ago but instead had to figure them out myself because desiging with code literally wasn’t a thing: A Quick Talk
July 2022
Virtual
AIGA Porfolio Development Studio
My Portfolio, What I Do, How I Got Here
July 2022
Virtual
Future London Academy: Future of Branding Week
What Coding Can Do/What Coding Can’t Do
June 2022
London, UK
Wix Playground Academy (NYC Outpost)
What Code Can Do / What Code Can't Do
June 2022
New York, NY
Design Museum Week
The most important coding lesson I’ve ever learned (and the runners up)
April 2022
Virtual
Pentagram Off-Duty Talk Series
A talk on algorithmic music visualization
April 2022
New York, NY
Prophet Visiting Designer Talks
The 8 Methodologies of Algorithmic Design (Abridged)
April 2022
Virtual
Google Visual Design Summit
Why We Do What We Do
November 2021
Virtual
Parsons Communication Design Lecture Series
Why We Do What We Do
October 2021
Virtual
Verizon Adfellows Internal Introduction
Hello
June 2021
Virtual
ModMag Conference
The Print/Digital Crossover
June 2018
New York, NY

Workshops

Wix Playground
Creative Coding/Interactive Posters
Summer 2023
New York, NY
UIC School of Art & Design
Interactive Posters
March 2023
Chicago, IL
Wix Playground
Interactive Letterforms
February 2023
New York, NY
Mason Gross School of the Arts (Rutgers University)
Constructing an Interactive Valentine's Card
February 2022
New Brunswick, NJ
UH Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts
Coding Typography/Interactive Letterforms
November 2022
Houston, TX
Buzzfeed News
Interactive Headlines
October 2022
New York, NY
Google Visual Design Summit
Making the Generative Form
November 2021
Virtual

Critic & Judging

University of Pennsylvania
Senior Thesis Visiting Critic
Spring 2023
Philadelphia, PA
Latin American Design Awards
Jury Member - Digital
March 2023
Virtual
Society for Publication Designers - SPD 58
Digital Jury
February 2023
Virtual
Wix Playground Academy (Tel Aviv Outpost)
Portfolio Review
Summer 2022
Virtual
Wix Playground Academy (New York Outpost)
Portfolio Review
Summer 2022
Virtual
Mason Gross School of the Arts (at Rutgers University)
Thesis Critic
May 2022
New Brunswick, NJ

Courses

Next Level Coding
Advanced coding class with a focus in designing with meaning.
Fall 2022–present
Parsons School of Design
Core Interaction: Coding
Required intro to coding course that usually converts students from fear to fierce.
Fall 2019–present
Parsons School of Design
Algorithmic Print Design
Portfolio-focused class for various print projects made with code.
Fall 2021
Parsons School of Design
Intro to Coding for Designers
Founded six week workshop for designers to learn coding basics.
Summer 2019
at index.space

Appreciation

Alon Krausz
My high school math teacher who cultivated my love for math, and made it possible to pass it on to others.
Math Department Head
S.A.R. High School
Brendan Griffiths
A former coding teacher who taught me good design is more important than good coding.
Professor
Parsons School of Design
Camila Perez
One of the most organized and reliable people I've ever met, and a true delight to work with.
Project Manager
Pentagram
E. Roon Kang
One of the most brilliant designers I've ever met, and so, so humble.
Principal
Math Practice
Gabe Smoller
Just an upbeat genuine dude. Former student, and my go-to for help in making kick-ass animations.
Designer
Pentagram
Justin Bakse
The best teacher at Parsons and an absolute gem. Has undoubtedly changed hundreds of students' lives and still going.
Professor
Parsons School of Design
Kevin Brainard
Former teacher and always an advocate. Designs with wit, brilliance and chutzpa.
Principal
Area of Practice
Melanie Martinez
A bright designer who assisted me on a few projects at Pentagram, and a delight to work with.
Designer
Pentagram
Michael McCaughley
One of the best designers I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Everything he touches turns to gold.
Design Director
Champions Design
Mohamed Elhawary
Lol. He's my ex! It didn't work out, but we spent many late nights designing side-by-side. Love him.
Designer
Independent
Nikki Makagnasar
Bright designer and coder and genuinely a lovely human.
Designer
Pentagram
Phil Cox
Brilliant strategist & more. The real mastermind behind most of the work you see on the team. Would recommend for every role everywhere.
Strategist+
Pentagram
Tamara McKenna
The patience and grace of this woman is unparalleled and inspiring.
Project Manager
Pentagram

Selected Projects

Portfolio Website Archive

2022 2021 2020 2018 2018