Author Archives: Jered Gold

Save the Date: Forward Motion

A convergence of circumstances—energy security, climate change, air quality concerns—have led to a rapid push toward sustainable transportation. California and Québec have led the charge, researching and proposing solutions from their respective corners of North America.

These solutions and ideas will be presented at Forward Motion: Advancing Mobility in California & Québec.

This half-day symposium, organized by Art Center College of Design and the Québec Delegation in Los Angeles and in partnership with the Université de Montréal, will examine the impact on vehicle and infrastructure design in light of the roadmaps laid out by each particular region.

Expert panelists will compare and contrast Québec and California’s initiatives for the promotion of electric vehicles and public transit, and examine the new technologies and advanced materials that are rapidly driving North America forward.

Save the date today for this one-of-a-kind event. We’ll bring you more information as it becomes available, so stay tuned.

Don Kubly Memorial Celebration July 30

Please join us as we celebrate the life of Don Kubly, alumnus and Art Center President Emeritus, on Saturday, July 30, at 5 p.m. in the Ahmanson Auditorium at Hillside Campus. A reception will be held following in the student dining room.

RSVP to events@artcenter.edu or 626.396.2386. Those unable to attend the celebration can view the program live online at artcenter.edu/webcast.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to the Kubly Family Scholarship. Visit artcenter.edu/giving or contact Senior Director of Development Wayne Herron at 626.396.2437 or wayne.herron@artcenter.edu for more information.

Don Kubly Memorial Celebration
Saturday, July 30, 5 p.m.
Ahmanson Auditorium
Hillside Campus

July 12: Apparel Design with Justine Parish

Meet Product and Entertainment Design instructor Justine Limpus Parish at the Library on July 12 at 2:30 p.m.

Parish is an illustrator, designer, educator and author. She designs special occasion clothing collection, published her own textbook, Drawing the Fashion Body, and is a regular contributing writer and illustrator for Belle Armoire Magazine. She served as art director for Liberty House of California, and created the fashion department at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, serving as its first department chair.

She’ll be sharing her sources for costume and fashion research, giving an update on this fall’s design runway, and discuss apparel design at Art Center.

Don’t miss it!

Apparel Design with Justine Parish
Tuesday, July 12, 2:30 p.m.
Art Center Library, Hillside Campus

Hot Off the Press: DOT 19

The latest issue of DOT is online, and print versions are hitting mailboxes now!

This issue focuses on Art Center’s new strategic plan, Create Change and includes President Lorne Buchman’s reflections on the strategic plan, essays by faculty and planning committee members on the plan’s different aspects, and profiles on students who’ve realized their creative visions thanks to scholarships.

In October, we’ll debut a reimagined print magazine and online presence, so stay tuned. To be notified via email when the next issue is published, sign up for our mailing list.

Read DOT 19.

With Love from Vevey

Guest post by Alumni Relations Director Kristine Bowne

Art Center Europe opened in 1986 with 39 students from 13 countries. During the 10 years of its operation, more than 500 students graduated from the European campus. Art Center returned to Europe for a reunion of alumni, faculty and staff of that campus June 3 and 4 in Vevey, Switzerland. The reunion was hosted by Art Center and Nestlé, and organized by Alumni Relations and former ACE staff member and consultant Claire Halmos. It was an amazing weekend for everyone involved.

Friday, June 3

Friday night we welcomed more than 250 ACE alumni, former faculty and staff at Café Vè in Vevey. The event was packed with friends and alumni from 18 different countries—many of whom hadn’t seen each other in 20 years!

Saturday, June 4

The next day at noon we met at the field adjacent to former Art Center Europe campus, La Tour de Peliz. Some 200 alumni, former faculty and friends shared ACE memories, lots of laughs and champagne provided by former Art Center Europe Trustee Heinrich Baumann Sterner. Later that afternoon we walked through the field to assemble in the CESSEV auditorium, the former location of ACE graduation ceremonies. There Art Center President Lorne Buchman shared the College’s new strategic plan, which outlines the school’s future over the next five years.

Continue reading →

Art Center Tops IDSA College Wins with Six Awards

Cadence by Seth Astle

Today the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) unveiled the winners of the 2011 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) program—a celebration of design excellence in products, sustainability, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research and concepts.

We’re excited and honored to report that Art Center topped this year’s list of college wins with six student and professional awards. In total, Art Center has won 59 IDEAs since 1991—more than any other school, and in the top 10 of any other institution, corporate or educational.

This year’s winners:

Product Design

Grad ID

Design Strategy & Management (professional category)

  • BRONZE: Mariana Amatullo, Elisa Ruffino, David Mocarski, Karen Hofmann, Liliana Becerra, Penny Herscovitch, Dan Gottlieb, Safe Agua project

Art Center also had many finalists:

  • German Aguirre, Centaur High Performance Quad Rugby Wheelchair
  • KC Cho and Jackie Black, SAFE AGUA: ReLava Kitchen Workstation
  • Jessica Yeh & Narbeh Dereghishian, SAFE AGUA: Ducha Halo Portable Shower
  • Stéphane Angoulvant, Dexter Work Sled
  • Joel Greenspan, Oplei Transitional Running Shoe
  • Jin Kim, Flameingo Sustainable Fire Extinguisher
  • Joey Wang, Lien Sustainable Funerary Ritual for Taiwan
  • Mark Huang, Orbital modular sport performance eyewear for POC
  • Mike Wang, STACK Traffic Control Products
  • Matthew Lim, Sennheiser Eco-Vinyl Turntable
  • Pengtao Yu, U-Haul Emergency Response Conversion Kit for the American Red Cross

Congratulations to all the students, faculty, and staff for your hard work and for a job well done! Co.Design has a nice gallery of the winners on their site.

Imagining New Worlds with Patrick Hruby

Last year we told you about the amazing collaboration between Venice-based Blik and Art Center Illustration alumnus Patrick Hruby.

We’re excited to announce that Blik has just launched a new wall graphic designed by Hruby. The graphic, Imaginary Castle, is the same design that Hruby created for his final project at Art Center, on display in the Student Gallery last year.

Hruby first paired up with Blik in 2010 when he was a graduating student and Art Center’s Spring 2010 valedictorian. Earlier in the year, Blik had mentored Hruby’s fellow Art Center peers in the Advanced Illustration Studio class. 

This serendipitous connection led Hruby to turn to Blik to manufacture his final project, Imagine Something Beautiful.

Each year, the Art Center gives the wall in the main school entranceway to one star student to display their final project during Graduation Show. Hruby’s project was selected for the space in spring 2010, and he approached Blik to help execute his vision and overcome the challenge of placing the design on the school’s grad wall. The transformation of Hruby’s illustration into a wall graphic was easy as Imaginary Castle was always conceived as a wall decal.

“I wanted to create a magical place that was large enough to make you feel as if you were there,” Hruby says. “Imaginary Castle pays respects to my Eastern European heritage and grandparents. I’ve always been fascinated with that design aesthetic and wanted to try my hand at it.”

The punchy colors add dimension to the large-scale design, making the decal “pop-off” the wall and appeal to children’s vivid imaginations and fairy tale sensibilities.

“We were captivated by Patrick’s style,” says Blik co-founder Scott Flora. “Imaginary Castle is a vibrant cityscape reminiscent of Mary Blair’s It’s a Small World. With its interesting shapes and modern aesthetic, we envision Imaginary Castle transporting kids into a color-filled playground. Keep your eye on Patrick, he is definitely an illustrator to watch.” 

Imaginary Castle is available in two sizes: a 36-inch wide wall decal and a 6-foot wide wall decal at Blik.

Find Out How Your Garden Grows


Have you ever wondered how to grow a tomato? Are you looking for new ingredients to add spice to your cooking? Would you be willing to share your gardening secrets? Interested in learning more about sustainable growing practices?

Whether you have a green thumb, or are a gardening novice, EcoCouncil and Art Center invites the Art Center community to grab a trowel, put on your gardening gloves and plant with us. Our new campus garden is intended to be a learning, teaching and recreation space for the College community that allows us to experience what it means to live in harmony with our environment. It is a space for experimentation, investigation and exploration of concepts of lifecycle and sustainability.

The garden is the result of careful planning, partnership with Art Center Student Government and facilities, and the support of the College president and senior staff. This collaboration has resulted in a unique and beautiful garden design incorporating low-impact materials.

Become a “founding grower” and begin your garden! We’ll provide the soil, sunshine and water. Individual students, faculty and staff, or student groups can sign up for a planting bed, which can be used to grow organic food plants or ornamentals. Eat what you grow, or share your harvest. Go to the Garden’s Facebook page for more information and to reserve a plot. Spaces will be assigned for the term in the order received.

In Case You Missed It

Photo by Eric Curry

As you know, there’s always something going on when it comes to Art Center alumni, students and faculty.

Some of the latest: