Bio
I use radical and unconventional techniques in participatory design, spatial design, and form research to understand societal complexities, designing progressive interventions and methods using a variety of physical and digital mediums for exhibition or real-world deployment. 

I have worked with small nonprofits, local governments, and massive corporations. My work spans digital and physical, with my physical skills being 3D printing, CNC laser cutting, and general woodworking, and my digital skills in Qualtrics, Figma, UserTesting, and the CreativeCloud.
       
Email, Instagram ↗

Education
MA Sustainability & Development
Lyle School of Engineering, 2026
Southern Methodist University

MA Design & Innovation
Meadows School of the Arts, 2023
Southern Methodist University

BS Economics
AddRan School of Liberal Arts, 2020
Texas Christian University

Living Futures Accreditation (LFA)
International Living Futures Institute, 2026

Employment
RAPP / Omnicom
2025 - Present

7-Eleven / R&D Contract
2024 - 2025

Saatchi & Saatchi / Publicis
2022 - 2024

CoAct North Texas
2019 - 2022
Skills
Physical Skills
3D Printing
Laser Cutting
Woodworking
Dye Mixing
ASTM Material Testing
ASTM Soil Testing
Hazardous Agents (working with)
Staining Agents (working with)


Digital Skills
Figma
Qualtrics
User Testing
Illustrator
Photoshop
Touchdesigner
Rhino
Projection Mapping


Soft Skills
Omni-channel Selling
Strategic War Gaming
Long-Term Visioning
Design Workshopping
Executive Presenting
Exhibitions
Lift, Drag, and Material Agency 
(On Display at the Hunt Institute for Humanity)
2026rnare Porta Libero
2023

                  

Tanner Williams
Critical  Designer



Using radical and unconventional techniques in participatory design, spatial design, and form research to understand societal complexities.





Lift, Drag, and Material Agency, 2026


Lift, Drag

In this project, I demonstrate economic concepts of Lift and Drag (Poliks, 2025) by using the biomechanics of dance to create unique architectural material probes that are intentionally resistant to abstract financialization and arbitrage in the architecture industry.
Material Agency

This project builds on the existing literature of material agency, coined by Manuel DeLanda, Jane Bennett, and Richard Sennett. 

If dance can be segmented into its individual parts through randomized interruption, how might that be quantified to create stabilized building materials, and what agency might those new materials take on?
Dance

To explore this, the project utilized a professional dancer from Texas Ballet Theatre to perform 14 improvised dances to a playlist of their choosing. 

Stopping them at random intervals, compressed earth blocks and earthen plaster samples were then created by using a scoring mechanism to analyze the dancer’s movements one second before, right at, and one second after the stop, with material adjustments of color, additives, and layers expressing scores.

3.1
3.2
3.3
The result was a collection of:

  • Six compressed earth blocks
  • Four earthen plaster examples
  • Four uniquely analyzed spreads

The compressed earth blocks are structural, with soil identification performed using the ASTM D2488 standard to define a clay-heavy mix, resulting in a base 5% lime-binding mixture that was varied based on the dance results. The scoring mechanism created can be viewed here.

By literally using the body as a method, these materials showcase a speculative, future-based resistance where the abstraction and financialization of materials are blocked by the subjectivity of the viewer, and the incessant, natural bureaucracy of slowness and pace contained in earthen materials. 

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