Category Archives: Designmatters

WATCH: Art Center President Lorne Buchman talks conscious design

Bill Gross, CEO, Idealab in conversation with Lorne Buchman, President, Art Center College of Design from Ted Habte-Gabr on Vimeo.

What defines innovation? Art Center College of Design President Lorne Buchman and Idealab CEO and Art Center Trustee Bill Gross describe it through frugal, real-world projects that make the planet a better place.

During a recent Live Talks Business Forum, Buchman and Gross discussed works-in-progress highlighting Gross’ Idealab, a Pasadena-based think tank for startups.

Through Idealab, Gross created WorldHaus, which manufactures eco-friendly, modular housing in more rural parts of India starting at $2,000.

Gross said his for-profit company has the goal of adding 200 homes in India this year and increasing that number to 1 million houses by decade’s end.

Buchman talked about Art Center’s Designmatters program, which allows students to design for communities in developing countries including India.

Just a warning: The 50-minute video has some static, but the ideas are solid.

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Bringing It All Back Home: Designmatters Students Create Furniture for India’s Low-Income Housing Residents

"Living Home: India" Designmatters students, faculty and staff in Bangalore, India last summer.

Last term, students in Living Home: India—a transdisciplinary Designmatters studio led by the Environmental Design department—spent their summer investigating the living needs of low-income housing dwellers in India, and then building furniture prototypes for use in the type of high quality, low-cost housing championed by Ashoka, a social entrepreneurship nonprofit and partner for the studio.

Due to the reduced scale and high occupancy rate of the housing units, the students were tasked with creating reduced scale and transformable prototypes. They also needed to make sure the furniture they designed was environmentally responsible and could be developed in collaboration with community stakeholders and local craftspeople in India.

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Fast Company honors Designmatters students, staff

Giradora, designed by Alex Cabunoc and Ji A You, cuts the water and time needed for laundry.

Students and staff at Art Center’s Designmatters program will make their mark on Fast Company’s upcoming issue dedicated to design.

The magazine has named three students from Designmatters as finalists in its annual Innovation by Design competition in the Student Designs category for their designs dedicated to those in developing countries.

Kim Chow designed the clip-on faucet device, Balde A Balde, that turns any water basin into a source of flowing water for those who lack running water in their homes. And Alex Cabunoc and Ji A You created a $40 foot-powered washer, Giradora, which cuts the water and time needed for laundry.

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Innovative design in India topic at Live Talks

President Lorne Buchman, left, and Trustee and Idealab CEO Bill Gross at Live Talks

Art Center College of Design President Lorne Buchman and Idealab CEO and Art Center Trustee Bill Gross bonded over socially conscious design in India Thursday morning at Live Talks Business Forums, a one-hour conversation focused on innovation and design held in downtown Los Angeles.

Through WorldHaus, longtime entrepreneur Gross has ventured into creating eco-friendly, modular housing in more rural parts of India starting at $2,000. Buchman highlighted furniture created by a Designmatters student that features creative seating with storage for low-income city-dwellers in Bangalore.

“We have to go make a deal with that student and start that right away!” said Gross.

WorldHaus has the goal of adding 200 homes in India this year and increasing that number to 1 million houses by decade’s end. The for-profit company manufactures the structures for $1,800 and owners pay $200 down and $10 a month.

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Designmatters alum wins grant with ‘Where’s Daryl?’

"Where's Daryl?" includes YouTube videos, posters and Facebook pages

A faculty member and alumna from Art Center’s Designmatters program is among the 13 grant recipients in this year’s SAPPI Ideas that Matter, a program that helps designers create print projects for charitable causes.

Maria Moon developed the Where’s Daryl Teachers Guide, a series of curriculum tools to teach teens the realities of gun violence.

The concept and campaign was conceived by students Thomas Banuelos, Damon Casarez, Rhombie Sandoval and Alex Cheng in the Designmatters UNCOOL Studio, along with instructors Elena Salij, Advertising, and Allison Goodman, Graphic Design.

Instead of using images and statistics, which can be too abstract for pre-teens, “Where’s Daryl?” consists of YouTube videos, posters and Facebook pages showing Daryl missing basketball and his girlfriend while he deals with criminal charges.

The pilot program will be implemented this fall and spring in partnership with Los Angeles Unified School District.

The annual SAPPI Ideas that Matter, now in its 13th year, focuses on using design to create social change by pairing designers with nonprofits from around the world to implement their ideas.

“[Ideas that Matter] is a rare platform that brings to the forefront outstanding talent and initiatives that speak loud and clear about the potency of design driven by purpose,” said Mariana Amatullo, vice president of the Designmatters department.

This year’s SAPPI judging panel included five designers from across the country recognized for their commitment to solving social problems.

Sappi Fine Paper North America launched Ideas that Matter in 1999, and since that time, has awarded more than $12 million in grants worldwide.

Art Center Students Rack Up Core77 Design Awards

Emmy Fever: Alum Talents Featured on Top Nominee “Mad Men”

Art Center President Lorne Buchman talks social change

Idealab CEO Bill Gross, left, and Art Center president Lorne Buchman

Two leading innovators take center stage at Live Talks Business Forums’ first event of the season. Art Center College of Design President Lorne Buchman will interview Idealab CEO Bill Gross about entrepreneurs’ role in social change on Thursday at 8:15 a.m. at architectural firm Gensler’s offices in downtown Los Angeles.

The one-hour talk includes a behind-the-scenes-look at Gross’ latest venture WorldHaus, which manufactures and builds customized homes for families in the developing world for less than $2,000.

A longtime entrepreneur, Gross has launched more than 100 companies in the last 42 years, 40 of which have gone public or been acquired, including the first online business directory (CitySearch), the first paid search engine (Goto.com/Overture) and the first online car retailer (CarsDirect).

Prior to his tenure at Art Center Buchman ran a private consulting firm that focused on identifying philanthropic and private investment sources for nonprofits. Art Center is also home to Designmatters, an innovative program that fuses design and social change.

Live Talks Business Forums are a breakfast-hour series featuring leading executives and thought leaders to give the Los Angeles business community a chance to connect, network and hear new insights.

Tickets are $20 and include a continental breakfast served at 7:45 a.m. Gensler is located at 500 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles.

New Tsunami Awareness Designmatters Studio “The Next Wave” Kickoff on Sept. 11

New Tsunami Awareness Designmatters Studio “The Next Wave” Kickoff on Tuesday, September 11

Attention Art Center students:

Don’t miss the launch of Designmatters’ new studio The Next Wave, in which students, in partnership with the US Geological Survey (USGS), will create a campaign to raise awareness among Southern Californians of the profound hazards and affects of a plausible West Coast tsunami.

Join faculty Guillaume Wolf and La Mer Walker next Tuesday, September 11 at 1:45 p.m. in the Faculty Dining Room for a one hour presentation on social transformation, social media and the future of design.

The presentation will be followed by a Q&A with USGS scientists on the topic of tsunami scenarios.

For more information, click here.

MDP Showcased in Little Tokyo Design Week
Art Center Earthquake Project Showcased at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Get Ready to Shake, Rattle and Roll

Art Center Students Rack Up Core77 Design Awards

Following a week of rolling announcements, Art Center is happy to congratulate the teams behind six noteworthy projects selected as Student Winners in the 2012 Core77 Design Awards, which celebrate the richness of the design profession and the brilliance of its practitioners. Among the award winners, our Product Design students’ solutions for medical devices and uniforms are valued in the Equipment and Soft Goods categories, Designmatters’ Safe Agua projects were recognized for their Social Impact, and a collaboration between Grad ID and the Drucker School is noted in the area of Strategy & Research.

CATEGORY: Equipment
DESIGNER/TEAM NAME: Andrew Kim
PROJECT: Pal IV Pump System
JURY COMMENTS: Not only does this design pay attention to people’s physical need, but also their psychological needs in their most painful period.

CATEGORY: Equipment
DESIGNER/TEAM NAME: James Cha
PROJECT: Syncro – Post-surgical knee rehabilitation device
JURY COMMENTS: Unlike many professional medical devices with a cold, mechanical form, this design is very user friendly with its organic form and inviting user interface, which encourage patients to use it with joy.

Core77 award winner "Syncro," a post-surgical knee rehabilitation device, was designed by Art Center student James Cha.

CATEGORY: Social Impact
DESIGNER/TEAM NAME: Kimberly Chow and Carlos Vides
PROJECT: Safe Agua: Balde a Balde
CLIENT: Innovation Center, Un Techo Para Mi Pais
JURY COMMENTS: This product shows that even relatively humble designs can make a big difference to people’s lives.

CATEGORY: Social Impact
DESIGNER/TEAM NAME: Alex Cabunoc and Ji A You
PROJECT: Safe Agua: GiraDora
CLIENT: Innovation Center, Un Techo Para Mi Pais
JURY COMMENTS: So much going for it – a great concept that works on all the required levels to be a success.

CATEGORY: Soft Goods
DESIGNER/TEAM NAME: Leonardo Ochoa
PROJECT: Allayant – A shirt with built-in back support for paramedics
JURY COMMENTS: We really loved how [far] the Allayant reached. This was a big undertaking. It is rare to see such an innovative solution that is so well aesthetically resolved in a student project.

CATEGORY: Strategy & Research
DESIGNER/TEAM NAME: Art Center College of Design Grad ID and the Drucker Graduate School of Management
PROJECT: KPCC+
CLIENT: Southern California Public Radio
JURY COMMENTS: The KPCC+ strategy is notable because of the breadth of analysis that was done to increase listenership. They did a good job of targeting, understanding and designing for a complex and changing market and technology. Excellent process and project!

In addition to winning an award for KPCC+, the video testimonial submitted to Core77 as part of the entry process was showcased on the award site for being particularly informative.

The winners of each category will receive the C77DA trophy, and all honorees will be published in the Awards Gallery, on Core77 and in the awards publication. The recognition will culminate with a special event in New York City this fall.

Launched in 1995, Core77 publishes articles, discussion forums, resources, book reviews and event calendars in service to a global audience of design professionals, corporations, students, enthusiasts and fans. They host hundreds of thousands of online portfolios, provide job listings through a distinguished network of leading design site partners and maintain a database of thousands of design firms, schools, vendors and services. And offline, Core77 produces myriad design competitions, lecture series, parties, portfolio reviews and exhibitions.

Art Center Top Winner of Awards from Industrial Designers Society of America

Art Center College of Design won the most awards of any college in the prestigious 2012 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA®). Design teams are celebrating across campus today as the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) unveiled the winners of the program—a celebration of design excellence in products, sustainability, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research and concepts.

Balde e Balde

IDSA will reveal the Best in Show, Curator’s Choice, People’s Choice and the Sustainability Award at the IDEA ceremony on Aug. 18 at its 2012 International Conference in Boston.

GiraDora

Students won three Gold, two Silver, and three Bronze awards in the annual competition. Congratulations to all the students, faculty, staff, and administrators who were involved in these projects.

DIGIFI

Gold Winners

Mike Kim, Product, DIGIFI: Audionauts project
Kim Chow, Designmatters, Product, Environmental Design, Balde a Balde: Safe Agua project
Alex Cabunoc & Ji A You, Designmatters, Product, Environmental Design, GiraDora: Safe Agua Washer and Spin Dryer

Silver Winners

Geoff Ledford, Product, Traverse Ski Patrol Rescue Toboggan
Leonardo Ochoa, Product, ALLAYANT – A shirt with built-in back support for paramedics

Bronze Winners

Derrick Tan, Product, Link Collapsible Recurve Archery Bow and Prosthetic
Siddharth Vanchinathan, Hugo Giralt Echevarria, Philip Keller, Jan Lienhard, John Badalamenti, Nicholas Fusso and Heather Hoopes, Grad ID, KPCC Growth Strategy
Andrew Kim, Product, Pal IV Pump System

Finalists

James Cha, Product, Syncro – Post-surgical knee rehabilitation device
Lindsay Nevard, Product, Nutriflex Flexible Infant Nutrition System
Chelsea Ji Hong Park, Product, Blind Spot laundry kit for the visually impaired
Joel McDavitt, Product, Airia Rescue Backboard
Jonas Crister Kristiansson, Grad ID, A Place For My Stuff
Seth Weissman & Viirj Kan, Designmatters, Product, Environmental Design, Caja Del Tesoro: Safe Agua
Kim Chow & Carlos Vides, Designmatters, Product, Environmental Design, Soap Buddy: Safe Agua
Mariana Prieto & Alexandra Yee, Designmatters, Product, Environmental Design, Clean & Smart.

Art Center on Scene at Dwell on Design

Art Center was an official partner of the West Coast’s largest design event, Dwell on Design, which boasted three days of the best and brightest products, services and thought leaders in modern design. Dwell on Design was held last weekend at the L.A. Convention Center.

As the only educational institution named a Silver Sponsor, Art Center made a significant impact during the event. The College occupied 1,000 square feet of exhibition space showing representative student and alumni work in Product and Environmental Design; led a series of creative design activities on the show floor; and showcased student, faculty and alumni presentations on three separate stages at the event.

Here are some images from the show.