“Head to Toe, Berlin” was a study abroad upper term course involving ten students from Product Design, Interaction Design, Graphic Design and Illustration. With nine weeks in Berlin, this immersed students in the design, textile and fashion industries of Berlin. Through field trips to designer studios, museums as well as input from professional guest speakers and studio work sessions, students were empowered to develop their own collection of designs focusing on head to toe wearables: apparel, accessories, soft goods, textiles and/or wearable tech.
The project kicked off with three weeks of workshop intensives at ArtCenter’s Pasadena campus. Students then spent June and July in Berlin at ArtCenter’s satellite studio located at Bikini Berlin.
Their projects were completed and presented at ArtCenter’s Hillside Campus on August 14, when those 10 students showed the fruits of their study abroad experience—concept designs for wearables inspired by Berlin.
This kind of total immersion approach to design inspiration allowed the students to explore and research the culture and history of the location as well as the subtleties of the Berlin aesthetic in order to incorporate all their findings into their designs.
As depicted in the above slideshow, each student gave a 7 minute presentation to Art Center Department Chairs, faculty, students, and guests, including Karen Hofmann (Product Design Chair) and Nik Hafermaas (Graphic Design Chair & Dean of Special Programs) and Justine Parish (Associate Professor and lead faculty for the “Head To Toe Berlin” class).
Read about the adventure on their Blog/Magazine here.
