Originally from La Paz, Bolivia, Carla Viviana Cordova (Viviana) is a graphic designer, educator, and interdisciplinary researcher based in Maryland, USA. With nearly two decades of experience, her work explores how art, typography, design, digital media, and storytelling connect across different forms of media, bringing together traditional practices and contemporary technologies.

Viviana holds both a BFA in Graphic Design a minor in Interactive Media and an MFA in Graphic Design from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Her practice bridges visual storytelling, typography, and interactive systems, focusing on how visual language functions as a dialogue between form, material, and meaning.

She currently teaches graphic design at Towson University’s College of Fine Arts and Communication and has previously taught at MICA, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), York College of Pennsylvania, and other institutions. At UMBC, she served as a tenured Associate Professor, contributing to curriculum development and interdisciplinary research awardee. Across her teaching, she emphasizes curiosity, experimentation, and critical thinking, encouraging students to develop both technical skills and a deeper understanding of visual communication.

Viviana is the author of several books on design and visual communication, including Shaping Visual Structures: The Art of Composition, Movement, and Space in Graphic Design (BIS Publishers, 2025), Visual Experiences: A Concise Guide to Interface Design (2017), and Rapidly Prototyping with InDesign (2018). She is also co-author of Type + Code: Processing for Designers (2008), a project that reflects her long-standing interest in combining design and computation.

Her work has been presented internationally at conferences and institutions in the United States, Korea, China, and Bolivia, and exhibited in venues including SIGGRAPH, MICA, and galleries in Seoul, South Korea. Her interdisciplinary collaborations extend into fields such as science, technology, and education, where she has contributed to research projects and mentored students across disciplines.

She has received numerous awards and grants supporting her teaching and research, including the UMBC Hrabowski Innovation Fellowship, CIRCA Fellowship, and collaborative funding with the Army Research Lab.

In addition to her academic and creative work, Viviana is actively engaged in the design community. She serves as DEIA Director on the Board of AIGA Baltimore contributing to national and local initiatives supporting design education, equity, and professional development.