Author Archives: Jered Gold

Big Picture Lecture Series: Robert Gregg

Don’t miss today’s Big Picture Lecture Series featuring Robert Gregg.

Gregg is professor of religious studies and dean of religious life at Stanford. His current writing project treats several “sacred stories” which appear both in the Bible and in the Qur’an—and examines interpretations of these scripture narratives by Jewish, Christian and Muslim writers and graphic artists in each of the religions’ early centuries.

Big Picture Lecture Series: Robert Gregg
Monday, February 15, 1 pm
Ahmanson Auditorium

In Case You Missed It…

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

  • Film Department Chair Ross LaManna talks to CNN about the rise of the graphic novel in Hollywood. CNN
  • Director for Advanced Mobility Research Geoff Wardle chats with The New York Times about the Tata Nano, which will be on display next week at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The New York Times
  • Alumnus Tommy Lee Edwards explains his conceptual work for the film The Book of Eli. Livingston Daily
  • Indy Racing League discusses the development of its next-generation racing car, developed with the help of Art Center students. Edmunds Inside Line
  • Painter and Illustration alumnus Paul Rickert’s latest exchibit, Industrial Visions, is currently on display at Rider University in Lawrence, NJ. CentralJersey.com
  • Filmmaker and alumnus Tarsem Singh Dhandwar’s fantasy-action-drama epic about ancient Greece, Dawn of War, might be filmed in 3D. Little About

(Pictured: Out of Furnaces, Paul Rickert)

It’s All Good: Designmatters Brings Innovative Guests to Campus

A major component to the mission of Art Center’s Designmatters Department, which invites students from all disciplines to address humanitarian and social challenges, is to lead “an ongoing exploration of design as a positive force in society.”

Part of this exploration takes place in the field—Designmatters has organized dozens of projects, including the recent Safe Agua Chile, in which students developed systems for storing, transporting and conserving water in impoverished Chilean neighborhoods—but another part happens right here on campus.

Special events give students the chance to meet provocative and inspirational individuals who are using design to make a real difference.

Two recent Designmatters-sponsored events at Hillside Campus did just that.

On January 28, Designmatters and Acting Chief Academic Officer Nik Hafermaas presented “Leading Change for Social Impact: Perspectives from Prominent Innovators,” a forum moderated by Adlai Wertman, professor at the USC Marshall School of Business.

The panelists for the evening event in the Ahmanson Auditorium included Mariana Amatullo, vice president and director of Designmatters, who highlighted several recent departmental projects; Rhys Newman, head of strategic projects at Nokia Design, who explained how he uses his company’s extraordinary global reach to push environmental initiatives; and Jonathan Greenblatt, founder of Ethos Water and the open-source All for Good volunteering website, who discussed the business models behind his ventures and the power of the Web to effect social change.

Continue reading →

Awards Honor Exceptional Alumni

Each December, the College and Office of Alumni Relations present the Art Center Alumni Awards to three outstanding alumni. The winners, chosen by the Art Center community, are recognized during the Fall Term graduation ceremony. We are honored to announce the following Art Center Alumni Award winners:

  • Kenji Ekuan PROD ’57, awarded the Lifetime Achievement Alumni Award in recognition of his professional and creative accomplishments with his design company, GK Design Group. Founded in 1957, it is Japan’s largest design consultancy.
  • Michael Osborne GRPH ’78, awarded the Outstanding Service Alumni Award in honor of his humanitarian impact through his nonprofit design studio, Joey’s Corner. Named in honor of his late son, Joey’s Corner provides pro bono, strategic creative services to nonprofit groups focusing on health care, children’s issues and social causes.
  • Eric Benjamin Nyquist ILLU ’07, awarded the Young Alumni Innovator Award in recognition of his notable professional and creative innovation working with a range of clients including NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Goldie Cosmetics, Walt Disney, Heineken USA, VIBE magazine, Jeep, Lexus and Wall Street Journal Magazine.

Congratulations to our alumni for these well-deserved marks of distinction!

Design Revolution Road Show Recap

The Design Revolution Road Show was here! Featuring a biodiesel-powered truck and super-cool Airstream trailer filled with tangible examples of humanitarian industrial design, the show came to Hillside Campus on Monday. Check out their first-hand account of the visit, and view a video of the foot-powered WEZA pedal-treadle pump generator that powers the trailer, on the Design Revolution Road Show website. What an interesting day—thanks for the visit!

Wayne White Stops By

Illustrator and artist Wayne White was on campus yesterday to speak to Art Center students in the Ahmanson Theater. He spoke about his journey from Pee Wee’s Playhouse (where his set and puppet designs won three Emmy Awards) to art direction for music videos (Big Time and Tonight, Tonight) to a seminal painting career of works witty, wordy and various. A book signing followed the talk.

There’s an interesting writeup of White’s recent exhibit at Houston’s Rice University Gallery at glasstire.com.

(Pictured: Pretend You’re Someplace Else, Wayne White, 2008)

Williamson Gallery Exhibition Piece Shown at Winter Olympics

A digital installation artwork commissioned by Art Center’s Williamson Gallery for the 2008-09 exhibition OBSERVE is part of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad Festival. George Legrady’s We Are Stardust is one of more than 40 digital art installations in CODE Live, an 18-day event featuring visual art, music and performance fueled by digital technology and audience involvement. CODE Live, which began February 4, continues through February 21.

We Are Stardust was created by Legrady for OBSERVE, an exhibition organized by the Williamson Gallery in collaboration with the NASA/JPL Spitzer Science Center.

(Pictured: Stardust I, George Legrady, 2008)

Colors Test Shows CEOs are Different

What is your favorite color? If you’re a CEO, your answer will probably be different than most. Results from a 60-second online test are being used to steer people toward a career that matches their personality and strengths.

USA Today reports: “[Psychiatry professor Rense] Lange says no one knows why so much can be learned about a person by the colors they choose. Those answers are buried deep in neuroscience, he says, but it’s just a matter of time before marketers will be able to target products to consumers based on color preferences.”

Read more at USA Today, and take the test. What is your vocational calling?

Design Revolution Road Show Rolls Onto Campus Monday

Monday promises to be quite an exciting day at Hillside Campus, thanks to the Design Revolution Road Show. The traveling exhibition, book tour, lecture and workshop series is bringing “product design that empowers” to more than 30 design universities and high schools across the nation. A Project H Design initiative, the road show features a biodiesel-powered truck and Airstream trailer filled with tangible examples of humanitarian industrial design solutions (also showcased in the book Design Revolution: 100 Products that Empower People).

The all-day exhibition, presented at Art Center in collaboration with Designmatters, Alumni Relations and GOOD, will feature a lecture by Emily Pilloton, founder and executive director of Project H Design. The airstream trailer will be parked in front of the main entrance at Hillside Campus, open for viewing from noon until 10 pm. An evening reception will be held starting at 6 pm. You don’t want to miss this!

Design Revolution Road Show
Monday, February 8
Art Center’s Hillside Campus

Open exhibition times: Noon-10 pm
Evening reception: 6-10 pm

The 2010-11 FAFSA Tutorial Is Here!

Students and financial aid staff at University of California, Santa Barbara have created the cool Seven Easy Steps to the FAFSA: A Student’s Guide to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, an online tutorial to help students complete the 2010-11 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The tutorial is a research project that will look at the overall effectiveness of multimedia tools on the admissions and financial aid application processes at various education institutions. Check it out!