Jessie McGuire: National Design Award-winning studio leader on design as a civic tool

About this episode

Jessie McGuire discusses her studio's innovative approach to redesigning the Constitution and its impact on design as a civic tool.

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the Constitution remains the most consequential document in American life — and more people are reading it than ever. But pick up almost any commercial edition and you’ll find the same thing: small type, no imagery, nothing that invites you in. Jessie McGuire noticed this too. Find bonus content and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/jessie-mcguire Every copy her studio ordered looked identical — dense, utilitarian, forgettable. So they redesigned it. They printed thousands of copies, donated them to New York City schools, and invited designers like Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast to create posters for each amendment in the Bill of Rights. That project became a turning point — not just for the studio, but for how they think about what design is actually for. Jessie is Managing Partner of Thought Matter, the independent design and creative studio that just won the 2026 National Design Award for Communication Design from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum — the field’s highest national honor. It’s an award that recognizes not a single project but a decade of practice, and Thought Matter’s…

People in this episode

Guest: Jessie McGuire

Topics covered

• design
• civic engagement
• education
• entrepreneurship
• communication design

Keywords

• design
• Constitution
• National Design Award
• Thought Matter
• civic tool
• education
• entrepreneurship

Sponsors

Wix Studio

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Thought Matter, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Books & works: Bill of Rights

Places: New York City

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