Monthly Archives: March 2010

San Marino League Art Walk Friday and Saturday

Take advantage of this warm spring weather and tour outstanding area homes, their art collections and gardens as part of the San Marino League’s Art Walk XXVI. Held Friday and Saturday in Pasadena, tickets to the event are $35, with proceeds going to Art Center scholarships as well as the Japanese Garden at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. You will not want to miss this special opportunity to view these private homes and their exquisite art collections and gardens.

San Marino League Art Walk XXVI
Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20, 10 am-4 pm
Ticket Information

Mapping the Growth of the Web

Remember those days before the Internet? We hardly can.

GOOD points us to a super-cool interactive map by the BBC that shows how Web use has expanded across the globe in the last 12 years.

From GOOD: “In the beginning, it was just the States, Canada, Australia, and (what?) Scandinavia with lots of people online. Today, Africa stands out as the one continent that isn’t wired.”

Check out the graphic: SuperPower: Visualising the internet

Big Picture Lecture Series: Sonali Kolhatkar

Don’t miss Monday’s Big Picture Lecture Series featuring Sonali Kolhatkar.

Kolhatkar is the host and producer of Uprising, a daily drive-time program on KPFK 90.7 FM, and co-director of the Afghan Women’s Mission, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that works with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). She is coauthor of Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords and the Propaganda of Silence.

Big Picture Lecture Series: Sonali Kolhatkar
Monday, March 15, 1 pm
Ahmanson Auditorium

Together at Last: Design Thinking and Comedy

Bet you haven’t heard of this one before. Professor Peter Robbie’s design thinking class at Dartmouth is using a novel approach to teaching design thinking: improv comedy.

Robbie tells the Dartmouth Engineer: “This class on improv is a tool for brainstorming. I’ve always thought that the quickest and smartest folks at the brainstorming phase of design have been those who do standup and improv. They never say no. They never miss a beat. Improv requires players to accept what they are given, build on the ideas of others, and encourage wild ideas.”

Check out the entire article, it’s a great read.

[Via Core 77]

Visit Art Center Archives on Facebook

This year marks the 80th anniversary of Art Center. What was Art Center like in the 1930s? Art Center’s Archives gives us a glimpse into the past with images from a 1931 College catalog.

Check out the photos at the Archives Facebook page, and become a fan while you’re there. There’s already a ton of interesting information there—you don’t want to miss any of it! (And of course, if you haven’t found us on Facebook already, be sure to become a fan of our page as well.)

And the Winner for Best Film About Design Is…

Can great design films educate as they entertain? Writer Alissa Walker highlights five films from the last year that she thinks told the best design story in 2009.

Walker writes: “The last few years have seen the issues of winning documentaries tie directly into the issues of the day: When An Inconvenient Truth won in 2006 or The Fog of War won in 2003, it almost seemed like the Academy was voting against climate change or yet another Middle Eastern military engagement. This year, it seems that our gastronomical zeitgeist is behind Food, Inc., which is nominated for best documentary. It’s a pretty compelling and well-executed film that I think should probably win. But it makes me think about what an issues-oriented design film would look like—how could a documentary help convey the value and meaning of great design (designing!) to a wider audience?”

Read more, and see clips, at GOOD.

In Case You Missed It…

As you know, there’s always something going on when it comes to Art Center alumni, students and faculty. Some of the latest:

  • Photography alum Lara Rossignol talks about her time at Art Center. Steve Huff Photo
  • Check out Product Design student Jaewoo Kim’s handmade case for the Samsung P3. Anything But Ipod
  • Will alum Henrik Fisker’s new automotive designs be a success? Delaware Online
  • Bronze sculptor and Advertising alum Malcolm Alexander talks about his life’s journey. Arizona Daily Star
  • Former faculty member Buzz Spector recently joined the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts as dean of the College and Graduate School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis. Washington University in St. Louis Newroom
  • Who would Advertising alum David Arnold invite to a dinner party? Del Mar Times
  • Illustration alumnus Mike Shinoda to be honored by Asian American group East West Players at their April gala. BroadwayWorld.com

(Photo by Lara Rossignol)