Perhaps more than graduation itself, Graduation Show Preview marks the culmination of a student’s years of hard work at Art Center. Each term, on the Thursday before Saturday’s commencement ceremony, the College’s classroom studios, hallways and exhibition spaces come alive with 2D, 3D, digital and other work renowned for both its conceptual rigor and its professional finish. It’s like one giant gallery opening — the Summer 2014 edition brimming with more than 450 invited guests — showcasing some of today’s most innovative and most driven emerging artists and designers.
In contrast to the sometimes solitary focus of their creative efforts or their sustained collaborations in tight-knit teams, students pivot decisively outward during Grad Show Preview, presenting their work to industry representatives, Art Center alumni and others who can help open doors to jobs and opportunities following graduation. The August 14 turnout included reps from some 175 different companies — many of which have ongoing relationships with Art Center — including Boeing, GM, Ford, Honda, Nissan, Peugeot, Tesla, Disney, NBC/Universal, Warner Brothers, Sony, Riot Games, Hasbro, Gensler, Sothebys, TOTO, Boston Consulting Group, NASA/JPL, American Apparel, Asics, IDEO and the American Cancer Society.
Alumni make up a significant proportion of Grad Show Preview attendees, some returning to campus on behalf of the companies where they now work to tap into their alma mater’s deep talent pool.
Product Design alum Darren Wong (BS 08), a UX architect at Sony, has both worked with and hired fellow graduates over the years. “What sets them apart is their innate passion for design and problem solving,” he says. “The portfolios they show are more than just a hobby — they’re a professional obsession, and that’s extremely valuable.”
Wong says his own Art Center training prepared him well for the kinds of challenges he faces in a highly competitive industry. “It gave me the ability to present my ideas in various ways, backed up by a work ethic that allows me to stay nimble and creative even when approaching new or unknown problems.”
This year Wong is back on campus part-time, co-teaching the Visual Communications 5 course with fellow Product Design alumnus Kurtis Schureman (BS 09), a lead interaction designer at Disney Interactive Labs. For Wong, even though he’s been part of Grad Show Preview in the past — as a graduating student, as a recruiter and now as an instructor — the excitement never wears off. “First and foremost,” he says, “it keeps me current with what the students are producing nowadays, the trends they see as important to design towards, and what’s important to them. Second, it’s great reconnecting with other alumni who are coming back to recruit, and to keep my pulse on the Art Center network.”
That growing and dynamic network is attractive to employers across the country and around the world. The The Los Angeles Times, for example, has enthusiastically hired recent Illustration graduates Bijou Karman, Loris Lora and Ellen Surrey for freelance projects; and Ariel Lee has seen similar success as an illustrator on the East Coast, with a client list that includes The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and The New Republic.
The ink on their diplomas barely dry, many Summer 2014 graduates have already secured job offers and consultancies — with major automotive, footwear and toy manufacturers, in furniture, consumer electronics and swimwear design, with startups as well as nonprofits, in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
For Wong, witnessing the success of fellow alumni always makes him proud. It shows, he says, “we still got it!”
