Author Archives: Mike Winder

Say Hello to The New Dot Magazine

Screenshot of the redesigned website for the newly reimagined Dot magazine.

The wait is over! Art Center’s flagship publication, Dot magazine, has been reimagined and redesigned from the ground up. The hardcopy will begin landing in mailboxes shortly, but the online version is available for you to peruse right now.

What’s new in Dot? As always, the magazine will continue to cover noted alumni, programs and trends in the larger art and design fields. But now we’ll be bringing you this coverage twice a year! Stories in the new issue include: a profile of alumnus Ian Sands, a pioneer in the field of interaction design; a peek into the future of Art Center’s Environmental Design program; and a remembrance and appreciation of Art Center’s second president, Don Kubly.

Additionally, Dot has been expanded to include several new sections, including: Around the World, highlighting the work of Art Center alumni and faculty; In the Studio, a behind-the-scenes look at recent studio classes (this issue we look at the recent Purina Remix trandisciplinary studio sponsored by the Nestlé Purina); Spotted, social pages covering Art Center events around the world; and Dot News, a new home for campus news.

We hope you enjoy the new Dot and we look forward to hearing what you think of the changes. Let us know in the comments below or send an email to editor@artcenter.edu.

Alumnus Cuts Through the Fog with “Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn” [Video]

Still from Film alumnus Hoku Uchiyama's "Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn" video.

Film alumnus Hoku Uchiyama FILM ’04 has directed one of the most imaginative music videos in recent history, “Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn,” for Evelyn Evelyn, the musical duo composed of Jason Webley and the Dresden Doll’s Amanda Palmer.

As Evelyn Evelyn, Webley and Palmer perform as conjoined twin sisters Eva and Lyn Neville. But rather than play up that aspect of the duo’s persona, Uchiyama instead mixed live action with traditional animation to make characters that the “sisters” draw on fogged-up windows come to life.

The playful animation, which is highly evocative of cartoons from the ’20s, fits the piano-driven vaudevillian ditty to a tee.

“The song determined the style of animation we used: that old ‘rubber hose’ style that you see in cartoons like ‘Steamboat Willie’ or the old Bosko Looney Tunes,” Uchiyama recently told Your Music Today. “Those things burned into my head as a kid and stayed with me. I sent the idea to Jason [Webley]. He and Amanda [Palmer] liked it, so off we went.”

See the video after the jump.

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Art Center Revs Up For Car Classic ’11

Art Center's annual Car Classic. Photo: © Steven A. Heller/Art Center College of Design

This Sunday Art Center presents Car Classic, the College’s 11th annual celebration of the best in automotive design. The event will feature an incredible array of more than 100 rare automobiles and innovative vehicles on display in Art Center’s panoramic Sculpture Garden.

The theme for this year’s event is “California Design: Influencing Change,” meaning that in addition to enjoying all the classic cars on display—including a 1968 Peter Brock Triumph TR 250 K; a 1942 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Berlinetta Aero Dynamica; and a 1932 Doane Spencer Hot Rod—visitors to Car Classic will learn about the continuing global influence that Southern California has on transportation design.

Why Southern California? As home to more than 20 advanced automotive design studios, as well as forward-thinking companies that are leading the way in new mobility and alternative energy, the region continues to shape the how, what and where of transportation on a large scale.

Also leading the way is Art Center’s curriculum, which is expanding to further impact the evolution of the automotive industry and the broader field of transportation with a new Graduate Transportation Design program launching in Fall 2012. To coincide with this evolutionary growth, attendees to this year’s Car Classic will be treated to innovative designs for cars, bikes, planes, boats, materials and design tools influenced by Southern California culture.

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Get Ready for a Newly Redesigned Dot Magazine

In the coming weeks Art Center College of Design’s flagship publication, Dot magazine, will land in your mailbox with a new design, new features and an engaging new website.

The reimagined Dot will be published twice a year and share relevant, engaging stories about the Art Center community.

Changes you’ll notice immediately include new sections like “Around the World,” which highlights innovative work created by our alumni and faculty; “In the Studio,” a visually-fueled feature that chronicles the course of a studio class; and “Dot News,” a new home for campus news.

There’s so much more we want to share, but we think the magazine will speak for itself.

For the time being, here’s a preview of the new issue’s cover, which features Environmental Design alumnus Sami Hayek’s ENVL ’96 160 Stool.

Art Center Launches a Network on Behance [VIDEO]

Art Center College of Design is launching its own network on Behance, the world’s leading platform for creative professionals to showcase and discover creative work online.

Behance believes great work deserves to be seen, so they allow users to upload and showcase their work, track other creatives and gain exposure to millions of viewers.

Students, alumni and faculty members will now all be grouped together on one single platform–all revolving around creative work and portfolios–creating new opportunities for collaboration and networking.

Membership is free.

This motion graphics piece and a vast array of promotional efforts surrounding the launch of Behance have been spearheaded by Youmna Chamcham and Kevin Wansa. As official Behance Student Ambassadors, Youmna and Kevin have had the opportunity to work as an extension of the Behance Team and gain professional and leadership experience.

Learn more, take a tour or browse the Behance network.

And stay tuned to the Dotted Line for updates on future Behance information sessions with Youmna and Kevin.

In Case You Missed It

Still from the upcoming film "Lost and Found in Armenia," directed by Gor Kirakosian FILM '06.

There’s always something happening when it comes to Art Center alumni, students and faculty. Sometimes there’s almost too much happening!

  • Alumnus Gor Kirakosian FILM ’06  directed the upcoming Lost and Found in Armenia, which stars Jamie Kennedy (Malibu’s Most Wanted, TV’s The Jamie Kennedy Experiment) as an American in Armenia who is mistaken for a Turkish spy. Speaking with Fresno’s Fox affiliate KMPH-26, the film’s producer Vanessa McCaffrey said the movie, which releases early next year, is “My Big Fat Greek Wedding meets The Hangover.”
  • “I was a rookie, and it was one of my first arrests. I saw someone had forged their registration tag — I noticed it was the wrong typeface. You can’t fool an artist.” So says alumnus and Pasadena cop Victor Cass ILLU ’89 in the Pasadena Star-News, who has been chosen to help launch an art-inspired campaign for Door of Hope, an agency that helps transition families from homelessness to permanent housing.
  • Alumnus Roberto Chavez PHOT ’06, a photographer and a member of the Whittier Cultural Arts Commission, has reportedly saved Pictures of Children’s Stories, a mural by ceramic artist F. Carlton Ball that had been tucked away in a corner of the Whitwood Branch Library, from being either dismantled or destroyed.
  • The E-bike, the first-and-last-mile brainchild of alumnus Garbriel Wartofsky TRANS ’09 is heading into the final stages of pre-production. Wartofsky, who has been working on the project since his days at Art Center, describes E-Bike a “compact, lightweight, intuitively-folding electric assist bicycle designed to get you seamlessly from point A to B utilizing the city’s existing infrastructure.”
  • Scars by alumnus and film director Woo-Seong Lim FILM ’01 opened in Seoul, South Korea last week. The film, starring Park So-Yeon and Jung Hee-Tae, is based on a story by novelist Han Kang, and chronicles a destructive love affair between a perfectionist news anchor and a children’s book illustrator.

If you have any Art Center-related news items you’d like to share with the community, send us an email at editorial at artcenter dot edu.

Distinguished Filmmakers Series: Bill Duke [UPDATE 2]

Actor, director, producer and writer Bill Duke

Film Department instructors Dan Perri and David Kellogg will host actor, director, producer and writer Bill Duke on Tuesday, Nov. 1 as part of the Distinguished Filmmakers Series.

Duke became a familiar face to moviegoers in the hit comedy Car Wash and followed up that performance with unforgettable roles in films such as American Gigolo, Commando and Predator.

Duke transitioned into directing, helming such films as A Rage in Harlem, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit and Hoodlum, as well as dozens of episodes for T.V. shows including Miami Vice, New York Undercover and Strong Medicine.

Duke continues to act and direct–his latest film, the documentary Dark Girls, premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival–while also serving as a mentor for young African Americans aspiring to work in the performing arts.

Distinguished Filmmakers Series: Bill Duke
Tuesday, November 1, 2:00 p.m.
L.A. Times Media Center

See a trailer for Duke’s Dark Girls documentary after the break.

UPDATE 2: This event has been moved up a week, from November 8 to November 1.

UPDATE: This event was originally scheduled for October 4.

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More on Art Center’s Reality Augmented course (video)

Art Center instructor Ryan D'Orazi demonstrates his Enlitenar AR app during the class' final presentation.

Last month we told you about an augmented reality (AR) course that took place this past summer at Art Center called Reality Augmented. The course was co-taught by Graphic Design instructor Guillaume Wolf and science fiction author Bruce Sterling; hosted by the Graphic Design Department; and sponsored by Amsterdam-based Layar, whose AR platform claims more than one million active users.

Layar documented the class and recently posted a short three-minute video that does an excellent job of capturing the energy and ambition of this experimental course. ”Our class here  at Art Center is a ‘doing’ class,” says Sterling in the video. “People were working with LAYAR to really do apps. I wanted them to be able to leave the class saying that they can augment reality.”

Sterling goes on to say, “Augmented reality is in the artistic phase where a lot of the most effective players are designers. The best AR efforts are coming out of smaller groups of three, four or 12 people.”

Watch the entire video after the break.

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Tonight: Art Center Explores Brave New WORLDS

Astronomer Mike Brown's "How I Killed Pluto" (left); Detail of Semiconductor's "Black Rain" (right)

For the past decade, Art Center’s Williamson Gallery has produced a series of exhibitions superimposing art and science, domains traditionally thought of as existing on opposite ends of a spectrum. The latest project in this continuing series is WORLDS, a medley of objects, images, sounds and videos that explore celestial phenomena.

The exhibition kicks off tonight with a presentation by Caltech’s Mike Brown (8:00 p.m., Ahmanson Auditorium). A professor of planetary astronomy and the author of How I Killed Pluto And Why It Had It Coming, Brown will speak on “Worlds of Fire, Worlds of Water” as part of Pasadena’s Art and Science (AxS) Festival 2011: Fire and Water.

Following Brown’s presentation, stay for the WORLDS opening reception (9:00 p.m., Williamson Gallery), where you can enjoy a glass of wine, groove to the sounds of Opera Posse, and see incredible work on display by such artists as Jonathan Cecil, Rebeca Méndez and Semiconductor, as well as objects on loan from The Huntington Library’s Rare Book Collection, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and The UCLA Meteroite Collection.

This event is free; RSVP to events@artcenter.edu.

Chip Foose, Bruce Meyers and Jay Leno Among Special Guests To Appear at Car Classic ’11

Influential and innovative car designers and aficionados always show up at Art Center’s Car Classic, and this year’s lineup is no exception. Here’s a list of special guests scheduled to appear at Car Classic ’11 on October 23:

  • Bruce Canepa – Porsche racer and owner of Canepa Design
  • Peter Brock PROD ’56 — Founder of Brock Racing Enterprises and designer of the ’63 Corvette “split window” Sting Ray and the Cobra Daytona Coupe
  • Chip Foose TRAN ’90 — President and CEO, Foose Design and member of the Hot Rod Hall of Fame
  • Miguel Galluzzi TRAN ’86 – Designer of the Ducati Monster and Vice President of Design, Piaggo
  • Dave Kunz — Automotive reporter for KABC-TV Los Angeles
  • Jay Leno – Host of NBC’s The Tonight Show and Jay Leno’s Garage
  • Barry Meguiar – President/CEO, Meguiar’s, Inc. and host of Car Crazy, as seen on SPEED Channel and heard on syndicated radio
  • Bruce Meyer – Car collector and former chairman of Petersen Automotive Museum
  • Bruce Meyers – Father of the modern dune buggy
  • Chuck Pelly PROD ’58 – Founder, The Design Academy Inc. and BMW Designworks, USA
  • Freeman Thomas TRAN ’83 – Director of Strategic Design for Ford Motor Company

This year’s Car Classic will explore the continuing global influence that Southern California has on transportation design. Visit the event’s website for additional information and tickets.

See you next weekend!