She mounted her first exhibition at Cooper Hewitt, "Mechanical Brides: Women and Machines from Home to Office," in 1992. Since then she has organized numerous exhibitions, publications, and public programs at the museum, including "Beauty-National Design Triennial" (2016), "How Posters Work" (2015), "Beautiful Users" and "Process Lab" (2014), and "Graphic Design-Now in Production," co-organized by Cooper-Hewitt and the Walker Art Center (2012-2014). Lupton serves as director of the Graphic Design MFA Program at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) in Baltimore, where she has authored numerous books on design processes, including "Thinking with Type," "Type on Screen," "Graphic Design Thinking," and "Graphic Design: The New Basics." She holds a BFA from The Cooper Union (1985) and a Doctorate in Communication Design from University of Baltimore (2008). She received the AIGA Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement in 2007.