Student Leadership Award winner Hugo Pilate. Photo: Chuck Spangler

Who ya’ gonna call? Hugo Pilate, apparently.

This past Saturday, as Product Design graduate Hugo Pilate made his way to the stage to accept Art Center’s Student Leadership Award for the Summer 2014 term, Ray Quirolgico, the College’s Associate Provost for Student Affairs, offered the following caveat: “Hugo has asked me to affirm that he is known for run-on declamations so you may need to brace yourself,” said Quirolgico. “I was also informed to give you his number in case you get lost in what he has to say at any point.”

He then read off Pilate’s phone number not once, but twice.

Lest you think the French-born graduate was just having a laugh, Pilate gave out his number again as he capped off a speech that focused on the importance of being heard and, even more importantly, listening to others.

Jean Log, part of the Goodwill Upcycle LIfestyle Designmatters project, on which Pilate worked.

“Speaking is a weird thing. It’s a thing of wonder in a parent’s life when their child utters its first words. It’s a struggle in school when you’re learning grammar and spelling,” said Pilate. He then switched to a thick French accent to add, ”It’s a dead giveaway when you’re trying to learn new languages and your accent just sticks to your throat.”

“It’s also a commodity when a company pays to have ads that speak of their services,” said Pilate, highlighting how communication is at the core of what students learn at Art Center. “We quickly realize that speaking is one thing, but being heard is a whole other ballgame.”

“By studying at a school like Art Center, our respective crafts and skills become languages made of forms, colors, hues, moods and atmosphere,” said Pilate. “Soon in our professional careers, we’ll have to speak louder, better than our neighbors. Show our skills, show our potential. Show, speak, shove, shout, and shake through, and above, hurdles.”

“In the future, I ask you to please, please try to hear,” continued Pilate. “In exchange for all the speaking you’ve done in the past week, the past year, the past career, listen to what is around you and get a feel for it. Turn off your computers and listen, then in return I promise you it will be easier to be heard.”

Pilate at Maker Faire Bay Area 2014.

Each term, the College presents the Student Leadership Award to a deserving Art Center student. The award is a distinguished honor granted to a graduating student who exemplifies leadership qualities and accomplishments that stand out above their peers. Recipients must have represented student interests by providing leadership through participation in campus life, community outreach, student organizations and department initiatives.

As a peer mentor, Pilate spent several terms preparing new students for their Art Center experience. While working at his internship in his native France, he took a weekend job in a fabrication laboratory and discovered he loved helping people by organizing community-building activities. He brought this mentality back with him to Art Center, where he helped run the DIY Club, bringing to the campus a series of “quirky weird activities,” including student-built furniture, swings, and flower planting on the bridge.

While at the College, Pilate also served as Art Center Student Government’s Product Design Representative; investigated the future of traditional Japanese craft at Tama University in Tokyo through Pacific Rim; and worked with Goodwill of Orange County on an upcycling initiative through Designmatters.

To learn more about Pilate visit his page on Behance.