Monthly Archives: September 2011

Williamson Gallery Presents: WORLDS

The latest exhibition at the Williamson Gallery, WORLDS, continues the theme of superimposing two domains traditionally imagined to be distant and estranged—art and science. WORLDS is a medley of objects, images, sounds, and videos exploring celestial phenomena by examining the products of art and science.

The opening reception and program for WORLDS will be Thursday, Oct. 13, featuring a presentation by Caltech astronomer and author Mike Brown titled Worlds of Fire, Worlds of Water.

The event is free and open to the public. A wine reception will follow the program at 9 p.m. RSVP to events@artcenter.edu. Don’t miss it!

WORLDS Opening Reception and Program
Thursday, Oct. 13, 8 p.m.
Ahmanson Auditorium, Hillside Campus

Pancake Creator Contest Deadline Extended

Product Design alumna Bryce Butcher, an industrial designer at Bradshaw International, visited Hillside Campus last week with Graphic Design alumna Grace Karabachian to hand out Pancake Creators.

Wendee Lee's Pooh Pancake

Did you pick one up? Well, you’re in luck—the deadline to submit your pancake designs to the Pancake Creator contest has been extended to Oct. 7.

Get to work on whipping up some original designs, and you could win a $200 gift card to Swain’s.

Just email your designs to pancakecreator@goodcook.com or visit pancakecreator.com for more information.

This super-cool product was designed by Bryce along with Graphic Design alums Karabachian and Annie Gonzalez, so this product is a real Art Center success story. Bryce tells us that the product is just beginning to hit store shelves.

“The Pancake Creator scores a perfect trifecta for me: it’s a kitchen gadget, it made me laugh, and it was designed by a former student of mine,” says Product Design faculty member and alumna Wendee Lee, who tipped us off about last week’s giveaway.

Check out the video of the Pancake Creator below:

Inspired Designs: Meet Saturday High Instructor Jeffrey Jones

Jones at Angkor Wat in Cambodia

Jeffrey Jones, a senior designer for Samsung Design America’s mobile unit, spends his days designing smartphones like the Galaxy Mini and the Corby II, but on Saturdays he teaches Introduction to Product Design at Saturday High, Art Center College of Design’s program for high school students (grades 9 through 12).

Jones—who studied at Art Center at Night and went on to earn a B.S. in Product Design at the College in 2007—was first turned on to the field of Product Design at Pasadena City College, where he took a class taught by Art Center instructor and alumnus Stan Kong PROD ‘83. While at Art Center, Jones interned at Vans, where he designed skateboarding equipment for the Vans Equipment Group, under the leadership of Art Center alumnus, Safir Bellali TRANS ‘01.

Before being hired by Samsung, Jones freelanced for Boombang, a creative think tank led by another Art Center alumnus, Tylor Garland PROD ‘94, where he worked on the design of two video game accessories—a fishing rod for The Strike and a rifle for The Hunt—for outdoor retailer Bass Pro Shops.

We recently caught up with Jones to learn more about his Saturday High class.

Dotted Line: Tell me about Introduction to Product Design.
Jeffrey Jones: Last term was the first time I taught the class, so I’m still fine-tuning it, but essentially it’s a 10-week course that I’ve broken up into three phases: the research phase, where students figure out what kind of product to design and for whom they’re designing; the ideation phase, where students develop their ideas, push the envelope, and select their very best concepts; and the refinement phase, where they further develop their best idea and present to the class exactly what their product is and how it works. I invited Joonsuh “Justin” Kim, the director of Samsung Design America to attend the final, and he sat in as a guest crit.

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POSTPONED: Distinguished Filmmakers Series: Bill Duke

NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED.

Film Department instructors Dan Perri and David Kellogg will host featuring actor, director, producer and writer Bill Duke at the first Distinguished Filmmakers Series event of the term on Tuesday, Oct. 4.

Duke became a familiar face to moviegoers in the hit comedy Car Wash, following up with intense, unforgettable performances in films such as American Gigolo, Commando, Predator, X-Men: Last Stand and many more. Duke made the transition to successful feature director with a string of well-received films, including A Rage in Harlem, Deep Cover, Hoodlum, The Cemetery Club and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.

Concurrently, Perri helmed dozens of TV series episodes for hit shows including Knots Landing, Miami Vice, Crime Story, Matlock, and PBS’s American Playhouse. Duke continues to act and direct for film and TV while generously serving as mentor for young African Americans aspiring to work in the performing arts.

This event is open to all Art Center students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Distinguished Filmmakers Series: Bill Duke
Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2 p.m.
L.A. Times Media Center

Adobe Achievement Award Winners Announced

We’re pleased to announce that Art Center students were named finalists and semifinalists in the 2011 Adobe Achievement Awards. This is one of the most prestigious award programs for graphic design students worldwide. Congrats to all on these well-deserved honors!


FINALIST:
Paul Hoppe for Exploratorium – Generative Identity
(Application Development category)
Instructor: Brad Bartlett
Class: Type 4: Transmedia


SEMIFINALISTS:
Joseph Won and Lamson To for Abominable

(Motion category)
Class: Digital Motion Compositing
Instructors: Ming Tai, Charles Rose, Paul Saskas

Betsy Tsai for Xacto
(Print Communications category)

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3×3: Get Physical, New Media in Space

Don’t miss the latest 3×3 event: Get Physical, New Media in Space, Thursday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. in the Ahmanson Auditorium at Hillside Campus.

The event is hosted by the Graphic Design Department in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut of Los Angeles.

Get Physical, New Media in Space will explore the fusion of digital media with our built environment, providing post-virtual experiences.

The exciting panel will be made up of leading artists of the field: Joachim Sauter, Art Center alumna Rebeca Méndez and Christian Moeller. Graphic Design Chair Nik Hafermaas will moderate the panel.

3×3: Get Physical, New Media in Space
Thursday, Sept. 29, 7 p.m.
Ahmanson Auditorium
Hillside Campus

Remembering Kevyn

Wallace

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of beloved Art Center Illustration alumnus and Broadcast Cinema student Kevyn Wallace. Wallace passed away last week due to injuries suffered from a car accident several weeks ago.

Wallace graduated from Art Center’s Illustration Department in 1990. Professionally, he worked as a layout artist on such films as The Simpsons Movie, Home on the Range, Tarzan and The Land Before Time franchise. In recent years, Wallace returned to Art Center to study entertainment design concepts in the College’s Transportation Design Department. Soon afterward, he decided to focus on the narrative aspects of storytelling, and joined the graduate Broadcast Cinema program. As a graduate Broadcast Cinema student, and with the approval of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Wallace had been working on a documentary about the history of Disney’s African American animators.

Please join the Wallace family, and members of the Art Center community, at a memorial service for him this Friday evening in the Ahmanson Auditorium at Hillside Campus. A light reception will take place in the Faculty Dining Room immediately following. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the L.A. County Burn Center. Send a check (payable to “CARES” with “L.A. County Burn Center” noted in the memo field) to: CARES, 1200 N. State Street, Room 1900, Los Angeles, CA 90033.

If you have any questions about the memorial service, please contact India Dunnington at 626.396.2408 or india.dunnington@artcenter.edu.

Forward Motion is Almost Here!

Forward Motion: Advancing Mobility in California & Québec is tomorrow! It’s not too late to register for this one-of-a-kind event examining the impact on vehicle and infrastructure design in California and Québec.

Jean J. Labbé, world-renowned transportation designer and Art Center alumnus, will present the keynote presentation, How Design Is Shaping Public Transportation. A leading authority in public transportation design, Labbé has a solid track record of more than 40 projects in the public transportation sector including the U.S.’s first high-speed train, the ACELA Express; New York’s high-tech subway cars; Vancouver’s Skytrain; China’s CRH1 high-speed train and Montreal‘s new generation subway cars.

Exciting panel discussions will examine new technologies and advanced materials driving North America forward, and the future of electric vehicles, urban transit systems and the infrastructure required. Panelists include:

  • Sylvain Castonguay, general director for Quebec’s Centre National du Transport Avancé (CNTA)
  • Renaud Cloutier, vice president of business development at TM4
  • Ed Kjaer , director of Southern California Edison’s Plug-In Electric Vehicle Readiness program
  • Catherine Morency, civil engineer and associate professor at the Department of Civil Engineering and Mining at Montreal’s École Polytechnique
  • Simon Pastucha, principal designer for the City of Los Angeles Urban Design Studio
  • Pierre Rondeau, director of product design for Advanced Concepts and Design Services at Bombardier Recreational Products
  • Chelsea Sexton, clean transportation and energy advocate; consulting producer, Revenge of the Electric Car

A networking reception and keynote luncheon will also be part of the event. Don’t be left out—secure your spot today.

Forward Motion: Advancing Mobility in California & Québec
Wednesday, September 21
Art Center College of Design Hillside Campus

Please, Play With Your Food

Product Design alumna Bryce Butcher, an industrial designer at Bradshaw International, is returning to Hillside Campus today to hand out Pancake Creators at the south entrance (off the student parking lot). Students can submit their own pancake designs to the Pancake Creator website for view in their gallery—and one lucky designer will win $200 to Swain’s!

This super-cool product was designed by Bryce along with Graphic Design alums Grace Karabachian and Annie Gonzalez, so this product is a real Art Center success story. Bryce tells us that the product is just beginning to hit store shelves.

“The Pancake Creator scores a perfect trifecta for me: it’s a kitchen gadget, it made me laugh, and it was designed by a former student of mine,” says Product Design faculty member and alumna Wendee Lee, who tipped us off about today’s giveaway.

Stop by, pick one up, and have some fun playing with your food! Bryce and friends will be there between noon and 2:30 p.m.

Check out the video of the Pancake Creator below: