Career Resource Workshops are free to alumni and offer opportunities for networking and polishing presentation skills.
Calling all Art Center alums: Do you know what your Office of Alumni Relations can do for you?
Sure, when you think Alumni Relations, you probably think networking and social events. But two new alumni programs deserve special mention: career resource workshops and a mentorship program for entrepreneurs.
Read more: New Directions for Alumni Relations
Illustration alumnus and Los Angeles-based artist Demetrius May graduated from Art Center in 2009.
Enjoy out the video below, in which he discusses his time at Art Center and some of the most valuable lessons learned here:
This photograph shows Chair of the Fine Art Department Lorser Feitelson and a group of students viewing a selection of paintings to be used in a traveling exhibit. We know that the student standing behind Feitelson is Greeley Wells FAPT ’69, but not much else.
Do you recognize any of these sharply dressed students? If so, contact Art Center Archivist Robert Dirig at 626.396.2208 or robert.dirig@artcenter.edu. For more information about the Art Center College of Design Archives, including how you can donate or access materials, visit artcenter.edu/archives.
Broadcast Cinema student Olivier Agostini says that although he is pursuing his Master’s in film, the many other disciplines at Art Center undeniably have an influence on him.
“One of the biggest benefits of being at Art Center is the almost subliminal influence of the other disciplines finding its way into my own work,” he says.
Read more about Agostini’s thoughts on studying at Art Center in this great interview, and check out his student film, 5 Gallons.
The Mini Lai Scholarship Fund was created out of love—love for the late Mini Lai, a talented illustrator and proud Art Center alum. The fund strives to honor her memory by granting scholarships to Art Center Illustration students, inspiring them to pursue their dreams no matter what challenges life presents.
“In Between” by Ming Ong
The fund is made possible by the generous donations of her family and friends, and is managed by the California Community Foundation and scholarships are awarded by the College’s Illustration Department.
While a student at the University of California, Irvine, Lai was diagnosed with congenital heart disease, ultimately requiring a heart transplant. With this second chance at life, she pursued her life-long passion for art, studying Illustration at Art Center.
Lai received scholarships while at Art Center, and this fund exists to continue the cycle of giving.
“Mini leaves behind a legacy of love, kindness and hope,” says Ming Lai, Mini’s brother. “Through the Mini Lai Scholarship Fund, we can cherish her memory and inspire Art Center Illustration students to take on the world.”
On October 23, The Mini Show will be held at South Campus to raise money for the Mini Lai Scholarship Fund. The show is being produced through the tireless efforts of Mini’s family and friends and will showcase the work of Art Center Illustration alumni, with all of the proceeds going to the fund. The group exhibition will feature high-quality, affordable artwork, each piece priced at no more than $300. Interested Illustration alums who would like to participate can apply here.
To learn more about the Mini Lai Scholarship Fund, and donate through the California Community Foundation, visit minilai.com and calfund.org/give/minilaischolarship.php.
We are pleased to announce that the fourth Art Center Summit will be held in September. Projects and Partnerships in Sustainable Design will highlight our association with the Opportunity Green Business Conference, taking place September 22 through 24 at L.A. Center Studios. 
The conference, developed alongside Art Center’s Sustainability Summits, seeks to innovate, collaborate and inspire industry leaders and the next generation of thought leadership, helping to develop and implement sustainable business solutions.
In 2007, Art Center successfully launched and hosted a series of annual Summits, bringing international leaders and experts in topics related to sustainability and mobility to the College. Envisioned as a five-year program, the first three Summits took a critical look at environmental, social and economic issues surrounding sustainability supporting the College’s desire to integrate sustainability into its curriculum. In this fourth year, we are taking components of the Summit to Opportunity Green to share with a broader audience how we are integrating the lessons learned so far.
Learn more at the Summit website.
Check out this great L.A. Times profile on Art Center Transportation Design alum Freeman Thomas, design director for Ford Motor Co.’s strategic concepts group in Irvine.
Thomas has helped design the new Beetle, the first Audi TT and the Chrysler 300. Now his latest creation is the eco-friendly Start.
From the article: “The Ford Start concept vehicle is a small, ‘eco-friendly’ car with a 1-liter, turbocharged, three-cylinder engine that puts out 120 horsepower. He said it could get more than 60 miles per gallon, depending on driving conditions. ‘The basic idea of the car was finding a polished pebble on the sand. You are attracted to that pebble and you want to pick it up and play with it. We want the car to look as if nature had shaped it,’ Thomas said. Although there are no production plans for the vehicle, he says it is a serious concept that is ‘buildable.’ Anything else would be a waste of time and Ford’s money, Thomas said. ‘If we don’t combine design and marketing and engineering into the concept cars, it is a fruitless exercise. You have to be able to make the concept cars that work.’”
Very cool. Read more: Ford’s Freeman Thomas has a better idea, and check out this video of the Start featuring J Mays, another of our Transportation Design alums and Ford’s chief creative officer below:
As the unofficial school mascot, Art Center’s Orange Dot has a long and storied history. 
When the school was founded in 1930, designers were exploring primary shapes, so it is no surprise that a simple filled-in circle was chosen to augment Art Center’s printed materials. Advertising alum Robert Brown claims that the Dot was his idea, while Don Kubly, the College’s president from 1969 to 1985, noted that the school’s founder, Tink Adams, chose the Dot because it was an easy way to add a splash of color to the school’s publications.
1931 Art Center Catalog
The Multi-Colored Dot
The Art Center School, as it was then known, opened in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles in a courtyard of buildings on Seventh Street. The glass front door had a red-orange border, and in the front window, the name of the school carried a matching red-orange dot. The Dot was not limited to this color nor was it the only shape Art Center used in promotions. However, the use of dots in published materials undoubtedly began nearly at the same time as the school.
The Dot Goes Into Semi-Retirement
Due to changes in contemporary design, or perhaps because of an association with the Japanese flag, Art Center stopped using the Dot, in any color, toward the end of World War II (mid-1940s). The timing also happened to coincide with the school’s move to its second location (Third Street in Hancock Park) and Art Center may have wanted to present a new look along with its new address. The essence of the Dot lingered, however, as many publications carried photographs cropped into circles.
As you know, there’s always something going on when it comes to Art Center alumni, students and faculty. Some of the latest:
All Signals Configuring to a Position Seeping from Words Either Unspoken or Intangible, by Edwin Ushiro
It’s pretty quiet (and extremely hot!) here on campus today as we are in the first week of break. But what a busy past few weeks it’s been, culminating in Saturday’s Graduation and Graduation Show! Enjoy some photos documenting campus life from the last week: