Headshot of Shannon Zenner

Shannon Zenner

Assistant Professor of Communication Design

Department: Communication Design

Office and address: Steers Pavilion, Office 106A 2850 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244

Professional Expertise

Political design and branding; typography; generative AI in visual communication; design pedagogy.

Brief Biography

Shannon Zenner is an assistant professor of Communication Design at Elon University. She brings a professional background in advertising, having worked on campaigns across industries ranging from consumer goods to financial services.

Her research examines visual communication with a focus on political design, typography, and the credibility implications of AI-generated imagery. She studies how visual cues, attribution, and design quality shape trust, persuasion, and audience interpretation in political advertising and visual journalism.

Shannon is deeply involved in mentoring student designers and frequently presents nationally on design education and emerging technologies. Visitors to her office will find KidRobot toys, family photos, two cats, one dog, and strong opinions about movies, food, travel, and politics.

Links

News & Notes

Education

2020, Ph.D., Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

2016, Master of Arts, Communication, University of Texas at Arlington

1998, Bachelor of Arts, Radio, Television, and Film, University of North Texas

Employment History

2019-present, Assistant Professor of Communication Design, Elon University

2016-2019, Instructor and Graduate Research Assistant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

2014-2016, Lecturer and Graduate Research Assistant, University of Texas at Arlington

2014-2019, Instructor, Netcom Learning

2017, Associate in Research, Duke University

2003-2011, Advertising, Career and Technical Education Department Chair and Instructor, Jack E. Singley Academy

2001-2002, Account Executive, Blanchard Schaefer Advertising

1999-2001, Account Executive, Grey Worldwide Advertising

1998-1999, Media Planner, TM Advertising

Courses Taught

CDE 2580 Visual Communication

CDE 2600 Fundamentals of Typography

STC 2600 Brand Identity

CDE 3580 Design of Visual Images

CDE 3220 Corporate Publishing

COR 1100 The Global Experience

COM 3810 Internships

COM 4999 Research and Creative Activity

HNR 4998 Honor's Thesis

 

Leadership Positions

Shannon Zenner holds national and university leadership roles related to design education, visual communication, and emerging technologies. She is a Steering Committee Member of the AIGA Design Educators Community (2024–present), serving as Communications Co-Chair (2025–present) and K–12 Education Co-Chair (2024–present). Within AEJMC, she previously served as Division Head of the Visual Communication Division (2023–2024) and Vice Head & Program Chair (2021–2023). She is also the Founder and Chair of the AEJMC Festival of Visual & Interactive Media (VIM Fest) (2021–present).
At Elon University, she serves as Co-Chair of the Artificial Intelligence Working Group (2025–present) and previously served as Faculty Creative Advisor for Live Oak Communications.

Research

Shannon Zenner researches visual communication, focusing on political design, typography, and the credibility of AI-generated imagery. Her work uses experiments and content analysis to study how design cues and disclosure labels influence trust, persuasion, and audience interpretation in political advertising and visual journalism.

Publications

Selected Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

  • Zenner, S. (2025). You’re Just Not My Type: The Relationship Between Fonts, Political Ideology, and Affective Polarization. Visual Communication Quarterly.

  • Zenner, S. (2019). It Costs a Lot of Money to Look This Cheap: Audience Preferences for Design Quality in Advertising. Visual Communication Quarterly, 26(1), 22–31.

  • Kreiss, D., Barker, J. O., & Zenner, S. (2017). Trump Gave Them Hope: Studying the Strangers in Their Own Land. Political Communication, 34(3), 470–478.

Book Chapters

  • Zenner, S. (2025). Teaching advertising creative. In Teaching Communication, Vol. III. Cognella.

Presentations

Peer-Reviewed Conference Presentations

Shannon Zenner regularly presents peer-reviewed research on political design, typography, AI-generated imagery, and design pedagogy at national and international conferences.

Selected refereed presentations include:

  • Augmenting or Automating? The Impact of Human–AI Collaboration on Creativity and Persuasion in Advertising, American Academy of Advertising Conference, Austin, TX, March, 2026 (accepted).

  • You’re Just Not My Type: The Relationship Between Fonts, Political Ideology, and Affective Polarization
    AEJMC Conference, Detroit, MI, 2022.
    Winner: First Place Faculty Paper, Visual Communication Division

  • Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign: The Typography and Design of Local Political Yard Signs
    AIGA SURFACE Conference for Design Education, Seattle, WA, 2022.

  • That’s a Good Sign: The Typography and Design of Political Yard Signs, AEJMC Conference (Virtual), 2021.

  • It Costs a Lot of Money to Look This Cheap: Audience Preferences for Design Quality in Advertising
    AEJMC Conference, Washington, DC, 2018.
    Winner: First Place Student Paper, Visual Communication Division
    AEJMC Southeast Conference, Tuscaloosa, AL, 2018.
    Winner: First Place Student Paper

Peer-Reviewed Panels & Teaching Competitions

  • Yes, And AI: Using Improv Techniques and AI to Boost Creative Thinking, Interactive Workshop, UX Y’All Conference, Raleigh, NC, 2025.

  • Artificial Imagery, Real Consequences: How AI Disclosure Shapes News Credibility
    AEJMC Conference, San Francisco, CA, 2025; AEJMC Southeast Colloquium, Chapel Hill, NC, 2025.

  • Augmenting Creativity with Artificial Intelligence, Innovation in Teaching Competition, AEJMC Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2024.

  • Crafting Equitable and Transparent Assessment with AI-Generated Labor-Based Rubrics
    Innovation in Teaching Competition, AEJMC Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2024.

  • Using Text-to-Image Generative AI in the Classroom: Generating Political Communication
    Innovation in Teaching Competition, AEJMC Conference, Washington, DC, 2023.
    Winner: Second Place

  • An Ungrading Technique to Increase Risk Taking and Creativity, Innovation in Teaching Competition, AEJMC Conference, Detroit, MI, 2022.

Invited Talks, Panels, Interviews & Workshops

Shannon Zenner is a frequent invited speaker and media commentator on visual communication, political design, AI, and design pedagogy. Selected engagements include invited talks and panels at AEJMC, AIGA, UX Y’All, Duke University, UNC–Chapel Hill, the University of South Carolina, and James Madison University, as well as interviews with Fast Company, Dezeen, and Yello Politics.

Book Chapters

  • Zenner, S. (2025). Teaching advertising creative. In Teaching Communication, Vol. III. Cognella.

Service Activities

National & Professional Service

  • Steering Committee Member, AIGA Design Educators Community, 2024–present

    • Communications Co-Chair, 2025–present

    • K–12 Education Co-Chair, 2024–present

  • Division Head, AEJMC Visual Communication Division, 2023–2024

  • Vice Head & Program Chair, AEJMC Visual Communication Division, 2021–2023

  • Founder & Chair, AEJMC Festival of Visual & Interactive Media (VIM Fest), 2021–present

  • Co-chair & Creator, AEJMC Southeast Colloquium Creative Contest, 2021–present

  • Journal Reviewer: Visual Communication Quarterly, Health Communication

  • Conference Reviewer and Judge for AEJMC, ICA, and national creative competitions

University & Community Service

  • Co-Chair, Elon University Artificial Intelligence Working Group, 2025–present

  • Member, Elon Disabilities Advisory Committee, 2024–present

  • Faculty Creative Advisor, Live Oak Communications, 2020–2022

  • Member, Elon Media Board, 2021–2024

  • Member, Elon Core Curriculum Committee, 2021–2024

  • Co-founder, Elon Student AIGA Chapter, 2020

  • Advisory Board Member, Alamance Community College Advertising & Graphic Design Program, 2021–present

Skills

Design & Prototyping

Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, After Effects); Figma; Final Cut Pro; HTML5/CSS; print production and file preparation.

AI & Emerging Technologies

ChatGPT; Adobe Firefly; Midjourney; DALL·E; Stable Diffusion; Runway; Elicit; Consensus; AI-assisted assessment and rubric design.

Research & Analytics

SPSS; Qualtrics; survey and experimental design; content analysis; Excel; Airtable; Google Analytics; Google Ads.

Teaching & Collaboration

Moodle; Blackboard; Sakai; Zoom; Kaltura; H5P; Padlet; Hypothes.is; Adobe Express; VoiceThread; Slack; Trello.

Awards

  • Innovation in Teaching Award, AEJMC Visual Communication & Magazine Divisions, 2023

  • Second Place, Teaching Ideas Competition, AEJMC Political Communication & Scholastic Journalism Divisions, 2023

  • First Place Faculty Paper Award, AEJMC Visual Communication Division, 2022

  • Innovation in Teaching Award, AEJMC Visual Communication & Magazine Divisions, 2022

  • Outstanding Reviewer Award, AEJMC Political Communication Division, 2022

  • Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication Fellow, 2021

  • Elon Center for Teaching and Learning Summer Writing Residency, 2021

  • First Place Student Paper Award, AEJMC Visual Communication Division, 2018

  • First Place Student Paper Award, AEJMC Southeast Visual Communication Division, 2018

  • Roy H. Park Ph.D. Fellowship, 2016–2018

  • Outstanding Master’s Student, University of Texas at Arlington, 2016