Instructor Brad Bartlett stands inside student Ka Kit Cheong’s “Plaception” installation. Photo: Chris Hatcher

“I went for a long hike on Sunday morning to think about what I would say to you today,” said instructor Brad Bartlett this past Saturday at the top of his commencement address to Art Center College of Design’s graduating class of Summer 2014. “During that hike I remembered something one of my college professors, Dr. Michael Pause, once said: ‘May I always remain a pebble in your shoe.’”

Immediately prior to delivering his speech, Bartlett became a twice recipient of College’s Great Teacher Award for full-time faculty; he previously won the award in 2003. Also at Saturday’s ceremony, Humanities & Sciences instructor Rocio Carlos won this year’s part-time faculty Great Teacher Award.

A multidisciplinary designer whose firm won a 2012 prize for Excellence in Publication Design from the American Association of Museums, Bartlett teaches a number of courses in the College’s Graphic Design Department, including Type 5: Transmedia and Advanced Graphic Studio, and he has cultivated its transmedia curriculum since it first launched.

During his speech, Bartlett shared some thoughts he hoped would lodge themselves in the memories (if not the shoes) of Art Center’s Summer 2014 graduates. Here are some highlights.

• Meaning is not found in the objects we create or the artifacts we design, but in the relationships we share with each other as humans.
• A career is not something out there that you find. It’s not hidden under a rock in the sculpture garden. It’s not pinned to a bulletin board on Hillside Campus. It’s not posted on a website somewhere. It’s something you actively construct over time.
• Your intellectual curiosity is contagious. Spread it widely. It’s the antidote to conformity and groupthink.
• Work ethic is always more valuable than talent. What is talent? You can’t measure talent. You can’t define talent. You can’t teach talent. Work ethic is something you can control. Your diligence and determination will always pay off in the end.
• The creative process is iterative. Always explore many, many possibilities. The poet Allen Ginsberg once said, “First thought, best thought.” I believe he was wrong. Next thought, best thought.
• Method is more important than style. Your methodical approach to solving problems will sustain you for the rest of your career. Style is fast and dies young.
• Critique is always an opportunity to grow, both as an artist and as a person. Be generous in the feedback you give to others, and be open to the feedback that you receive.
• Your energy is finite. Be strategic and methodical in your dispersal of it.
• We all aspire to create change and to make the world a better place, but that can seem like a daunting task— an insurmountable challenge. Simply start small. Then make better. Then inspire others to make better. Small steps towards a larger goal. And that larger goal is to create real change.”

Instructor Brad Bartlett in his “Type 5: Transmedia” course. Photo: Chris Hatcher

The Great Teacher Award recognizes excellence in the College’s full-time and part-time teachers, honoring the transformative role they play in advancing art and design theory, practice and discourse.

Art Center first began formally honoring great teachers in 1986. Now awarded once per year, recipients are selected by a committee of students following an open nomination process by all students.

During the award’s history, instructors from across all departments have been recognized for their significant and life-changing contributions toward student learning.