Antwon Key

Antwon Key is an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Maryland. He holds an MFA in Graphic Design from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a BA in Advertising from the University of Alabama. His creative research explores design for social change, with a focus on how visual communication, information design, and emerging technologies can make complex civic, political, and cultural issues more accessible to broader publics.

Key’s work examines the designer’s role as a public-facing interpreter of information. Through data visualization, typography, interaction design, and digital storytelling, his projects encourage critical engagement with democratic systems, civic participation, and contemporary social issues.

His recent project Ballotics is a nonpartisan civic information platform that translates election, government, and political data into accessible visual experiences. The project brings together interactive electoral maps, polling data, congressional voting records, campaign finance information, and civic explainers to help users better understand the structures and patterns shaping American democracy. Ballotics has received national recognition, including a Third Place award in the 2025 PRINT Awards Professional Website & App Design category, recognition in the 2025 GDUSA Digital Design Awards, and inclusion in the 2024 GDUSA American Graphic Design Awards.