Monthly Archives: October 2010

Car Classic ’10 Is Almost Here!

It’s almost time for the ninth annual Car Classic! This year’s theme, Freedom of Motion, celebrates the powerful combination of technology and passion that allows humans to move well beyond our physical abilities. Whether it’s hurtling down the road in a vintage Bugatti, pulling 5G around a corner in a Formula One racecar, hitting 50 mph on a 15-pound Tour de France bike, or winning the 100 meter dash on a pair of prosthetic legs, we continually seek the freedom of moving beyond our physical limitations. This year’s event will focus on the design and technology being used to break free from these limitations.

Keynote speaker will be Transportation Design alumnus Frank Stephenson, design director for McLaren Automotive, who will unveil the new McLaren MP4-12C. Also speaking will be Jeff Zwart, an award-winning automotive photographer and videographer who recently set a new record racing up Pike’s Peak in a Porsche 911 GT3.

An incredible array of more than 100 rare and exotic automobiles, motorcycles, aircraft, watercraft and other vehicles will be on display in Art Center’s panoramic Sculpture Garden. Some of the spectacular vehicles already confirmed are a 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, the world’s first production Cobra and an ICON A5 sport aircraft.

Attendees will have the opportunity to tour Art Center’s studio classrooms and rapid prototyping facilities to view the work of tomorrow’s top designers. KABC automotive reporter Dave Kunz and host of Speed Channel’s Car Crazy Barry Meguiar will again emcee the event and awards ceremony. Twelve honors will be presented to vehicles of exceptional design, as judged by a team of design experts.

Car Classic ’10 tickets are $60 at the door, or $50 when purchased online. Check out the Car Classic website for more information.

For a peek into what to expect, check out the Car Crazy video below:

Art Center Car Classic ’10: Freedom of Motion
Sunday, October 17, 10 am-4 pm
Hillside Campus

ENERGY Opening Friday

This Friday, October 8, ENERGY, a new exhibition at the College’s Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery, will open as part of the annual ArtNight Pasadena. The exhibit’s opening reception will be from 6 to 10 p.m.

ENERGY investigates how natural forces shape not only material things, but affect our emotions and intellect.

As part of the Williamson Gallery’s mission, students in Art Center’s Design for Sustainability 2 class will use a section of the gallery as their studio, studying and displaying their exploration of the question, “Where do energy and design intersect?”

ArtNight Pasadena kicks off Pasadena ArtWeekend, a three-day, citywide arts festival.

The Stories Behind the Logos

Here’s a fun story for a rainy afternoon: the incredibly true stories behind automotive logos.

We know that the galloping horse logo was created by Art Center alum Phil Clark, but why do Chevys wear bowties, and does the blue-and-white BMW roundel really symbolize a propeller and sky?

Road & Track gets to the bottom of things: “From Ferrari’s Prancing Horse to Cadillac’s crest, automobile logos appear on everything from steering wheel hubs to giant billboards, and even the lapel pins on the suits of company executives. This kind of flexibility is one of the design elements needed for an effective and strong logo, says Jack Gernsheimer, Creative Director of Partners Design Inc. and author of Designing Logos: The Process of Creating Symbols that Endure.”

Read more: True Stories Behind Car Company Logos

Acclaimed Production Designer to Speak Today

Art Center is honored to welcome to campus production designer Scott Chambliss to discuss his craft and more as part of the Art Center Film Department Distinguished Filmmakers Series. Film Department student Matthew Epstein will host a Q&A discussion with Chambliss, who has done production design on hit films including Salt; Mission Impossible III; the TV series Alias, Gideon’s Crossing, Felicity and the upcoming feature Cowboys and Aliens, directed by Jon Favreau and produced by Steven Spielberg.

The event starts at 10 a.m. at the L.A. Times Media Center and is open to Art Center students, faculty, alumni and staff.

Scott Chambliss
Wednesday, October 6, 10 am
Hillside Campus, L.A. Times Media Center

Design Education and Designing for Change

Vice President and Director of Designmatters Mariana Amatullo has a wonderful piece up at Core 77 about design education and designing for positive social change.

Amatullo writes: “Historically, designers have always strived to create positive social change, and many celebrated efforts—think back to the Bauhaus—started in schools.

Design intervention by Gavin Alaoen as part of a Graphic Design studio, Graduate Media Design

Both of those things remain true today. In fact, design education has a larger role than ever to play in challenging the status quo around the wicked problems of a crowded planet. Despite, and perhaps because of, the world being in such turmoil, this is a very exciting time for design and designers. I firmly believe that with an expanded tool kit, designers can be instrumental contributors to a conversation about the future that it is getting increasingly layered and multidisciplinary. If we are ever to reduce or curtail dire societal ills and achieve sustainable development—by definition, prosperity that is globally shared and environmentally sustainable—responsible design needs to be front and center as part of the equation.”

Check out the article, and view some student-made PSAs, at Core 77: Deserve Your Dream: Design Education and Advocacy

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:

  • Alumna and painter Theresa Paden is on a mission to save horses: Ventura County Star

    Theresa Paden

  • Visual effects supervisor and Art Center alum Eric Barba talks about the upcoming sci-fi extravaganza Tron: Legacy: Cnet
  • Francis Pollara is producer, founder and chief executive of Ladeson Productions—and also still a student at Art Center. La Canada Valley Sun
  • Broadcast Cinema alum Hilton Carter talks about his new short, Moth, and music video for Baltimore musicians including Blaqstarr:  Baltimore Sun
  • Pasadena Federal Credit Union unveils new 90-square-foot mural, “Building Pasadena,” painted by alumnus Jerry Ortega: Pasadena Star-News
  • Art Center alumna Denise Assad has done it all: industrial design, transportation design, public relations, advertising and now, baking: Brand X
  • An electric concept car created by Clemson University students and dubbed “Deep Orange” will be making an appearance at Art Center’s Car Classic (Art Center students collaborated on the design and styling): Fast Company
  • And speaking of Car Classic, it’s coming up Oct. 17: Car Classic ’10

Big Picture Lecture Series: Hershel Parker

Don’t miss Monday’s Big Picture Lecture Series featuring Hershel Parker.

Parker is the author of Herman Melville, A Biography; Flawed Texts and Verbal Icons and Reading Billy Budd, among others.

Professor emeritus of English at the University of Delaware, Parker co-edited the Norton Critical Edition of Moby Dick and served as editor of the Norton Critical Edition of The Confidence Man. He is associate general editor of the Northwestern-Newberry edition of The Writings of Herman Melville.

And don’t forget—podcasts of the lectures are up at Art Center’s iTunes U site.

Big Picture Lecture Series: Hershel Parker
Monday, October 4, 1 pm
Ahmanson Auditorium