Michael Worthington

Michael Worthington is the founding partner of Counterspace (Los Angeles), a graphic design studio specializing in editorial and identity work for cultural clients. 

His book designs include Cyberpunk, Problems and Provocations, Drawing Ambience, Made in L.A., and More Real, as well as catalogues for Paul Pfeiffer, Mark Bradford, William Leavitt, Amanda Ross-Ho, Dan Graham, Mona Hatoum and Allora & Calzadilla. His work has been published widely and exhibited in Belgium, Italy, England, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, Japan, France, China and the US, and he has lectured in Korea, Belgium, Holland, Australia, England, France, Mexico and across America. 

He has been a judge for the California Design Biennial, Output, the AIGA and the ADC and curated the design show Two Lines Align at REDCAT. His writing has been published in Eye, Print, Slanted, and Threaded magazines, and various design books, including Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires and Riots: California and Graphic Design 1936-86. He curated and designed the exhibition Torn Apart: Punk + New Wave Graphics, Fashion & Culture, 1976–86 at PDC Los Angeles, SMU Dallas, and Orlando Museum of Art, and designed, edited, and published the accompanying catalogue.

Michael runs the Graphic Design Poster Archive at CalArts, he designed, edited and published the book Inside Out & Upside Down: Posters from CalArts 1980–2019, and curated the accompanying exhibition at REDCAT. His online graphic design and UI/UX courses on Coursera have over a million learners from around the world. He has taught at the California Institute of the Arts since 1995.