Come see the Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) prototype this Friday, March 15, from 2 – 4 p.m. in the visitor’s parking lot on the Hillside campus.
In the fall term of 2010, Grad ID students were tasked to envision an improved Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) for the American Red Cross (ARC).
Cloud 9's Enric Ruiz-Geli. Credit: Chuck Spangler
Creative engines were revving as Art Center’s Spring 2013 Educational Partnerships kicked off Jan. 17–24.
Corporate partners are sponsoring five different projects this term, focused on retail packaging, consumer market analysis, architectural design and, from a transportation perspective, the future of car buying and the future of “reward.”
Projects are a win-win for students and sponsors alike. Undergraduate and graduate students gain valuable experience tackling real-world challenges with business and design professionals at the top of their fields; meanwhile sponsors have an opportunity to step out of the corporate environment and take in fresh perspectives.
Cloud 9, an award-winning Barcelona-based firm known for its dynamic, cutting-edge architecture, is collaborating with students from multiple disciplines — Environmental Design, Product Design, Grad Industrial Design and Graphics — led by Environmental Design faculty members James Meraz, Jason Pilarski and Kenneth Cameron.
A prosthetic socket designed to be adjustable, robust and affordable designed by Benevolent Technologies for Health (BETH) was named one of two international runner-ups for the prestigious James Dyson Award.
Product Design alumnus Jason Hill is part of the BETH Project team, which also includes Elizabeth Tsai, an MIT student pursuing her master of science degree, Ramin Abrishamian, an MIT alumnus and businessman, and Asa Hammond, who is earning a degree in physiological science at UCLA.
The BETH Project’s website says its launch product “will bring significant cost savings to the multi-million dollar prosthetic care industry that struggles to meet the needs of low income patients especially in developing countries.”
The team also says that by being made from an infinitely re-moldable material, its mass-producible socket device will cut prosthetic care costs by reducing or eliminating labor intensive procedures like fitting, fabrication, adjustment and re-fabrication.
Art Center’s industrial design graduate and undergraduate programs have ranked No. 1 by the Design Futures Council in its DesignIntelligence survey of America’s best architecture and design schools.
Additionally, DesignIntelligence named Integrated Studies instructor Randall Wilson among the 30 Most Admired Educators for 2013.
Art Center’s undergraduate industrial design programs — which include Product Design, Environmental Design, Transportation Design and Entertainment Design — were praised for teaching students communication, computer applications and design.
Deans and department heads surveyed said they most admired Art Center’s Graduate Industrial Design program, “For its forward-looking focus on the role of design in business and research.”
Art Center’s industrial design undergraduate program has ranked No. 1 in the survey since 2006, while the graduate program has ranked in the top three during the same time.
Beijing Team “Ghost” Top Winner in 7th Annual Design Competition
For the first year ever, the Formula-E Race has gone global. Known as the race where the rubber meets the road, Formula-E is the annual contest of rubber band-powered miniature cars designed by teams from Art Center and Pasadena Community College. But 2012 will be remembered as the year the Department of Industrial Design at Beijing University of Technology joined the competition – and when the dust settled, the international visitors smoked the locals.
Devoted race fans endured sweltering heat at the August 9th event on Art Center’s Hillside campus to witness Beijing’s team “Ghost” take first place in two races plus Best in Show. Art Center’s team “Ahn and Ahn” took first in The Sinclair Hill Climb track and the team from Pasadena Community College won The Eckles Design, Build, and Approach Award.
A highlight of Art Center’s Graduate Industrial Design (GradID) program, the race is judged by a panel of distinguished industry leaders. This year, the panel included designers from Honda R&D, Disney, BMW Group Designworks USA, LEGO Concept Lab, Tesla Motors, Fisker Automotive, Mattel Hot Wheels, Calty, and Nissan. Judging was based on a variety of criteria including quality, craftsmanship, materials, style, engineering, branding, innovation, and, of course, performance.
Sweating it out as MC for the event was the humorous Matt Gallant, host of ABC’s American Inventory and Animal Planet’s The Planet’s Funniest Animals.
The purpose of the class project is to teach lessons in strategy, product development, science, engineering, design, fabrication, branding, communications, and event planning through a fun and real world product-development experience. In the process, students learn about competition, teamwork, setting goals, and creating design plans that are then executed to varying degrees of success. (more…)
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 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
Silver Winners
Bronze Winners
Finalists
Graduate student work will be on display at 4 Hours Solid on April 18. Photo: Four Eyes Photography.
U.S. News & World Report has released its annual Best Grad Schools rankings, and we’re proud to report that Art Center made quite a splash in its Fine Arts Schools list.
The College’s Graduate Industrial Design program ranked number two in the “Industrial Design” category; Graduate Media Design ranked number seven in “Graphic Design;” and Graduate Art ranked number 18 in “Fine Arts.”
According to U.S. News, these rankings were based on the result of a peer assesment survey—art school deans and other top art school academics were asked to nominate up to 10 programs noted for their excellence in each specialty, with the schools receiving the most nominations being listed.
Curious to learn more about Art Center’s graduate programs?
On April 18, the College will host 4 Hours Solid, its annual event at South Campus that showcases the work produced by its Broadcast Cinema, Graduate Art and Graduate Media Design departments. This year’s event will also include a preview of Art Center’s new graduate programs in Environmental Design and Transportation Design.
4 Hours Solid
Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 6–10 p.m.
Art Center College of Design, South Campus
950 South Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105
Instructor Stan Kong reviews his students' work. Photo: Four Eyes Photography
“I hate being called ‘Mr. Kong’ because that puts a barrier between you and me,” says Art Center at Night (ACN) instructor Stan Kong, who’s teaching Sketching for Designers, among other courses, for the upcoming Spring 2012 term. “And I don’t think there should be any barriers.”
For Stan, who graduated from Art Center in 1983 and created ACN’s very first Introduction to Product and Transportation Design course shortly thereafter, removing barriers isn’t about becoming best friends with his students; it’s about facilitating honest communication in order to meet their needs. “A lot of what I do in the classroom is getting the students to talk about themselves,” says Stan. “If somebody were to ask a student of mine what they learned from me, I’d be totally disappointed if they answered ‘how to design a product’ or ‘how to draw.’ The best answer would be, ‘I learned to care about myself and about the world. I learned that I could go out there and achieve and make this world a better place.’”
An Art Center student hard at work at a recent DesignStorm.
Cited as a “heavyweight player,” Art Center College of Design was once again ranked first for its undergraduate industrial design programs by the Design Futures Council in its annual DesignIntelligence survey of America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools, which recognizes the schools that are best preparing students for success in their professions. This year, the College’s Graduate Industrial Design program ranked second, one spot away from first where it has placed five times out of the last seven years.
The sum total of Art Center’s undergraduate industrial design programs—Entertainment Design, Environmental Design, Product Design and Transportation Design—were most admired for their “resources, reputation and quality of education.”
In their assessment of industrial design skills, in which hiring firms deem the collegiate programs most strongly educating students in specific skill areas, Art Center ranked first place in the categories of “Communication,” “Computer Applications” and “Design.” The College also ranked in the top five in the areas of “Cross-Disciplinary Teamwork” and “Research and Theory,” which makes Art Center one of only two schools to place in all categories.
“These programs are graduating students who are able to tackle complex and difficult work, create and share knowledge, and invent new design solutions in their fields,” the survey said of the institutions which ranked in its annual survey. “Students learn not just technologies and craft but also leadership, judgment, and insight into changing contexts and upcoming challenges. These will be our future leaders.”
The Design Futures Council is an independent and interdisciplinary network of design, product, construction leaders exploring global trends, challenges and opportunities to advance innovation and shape the future of our industry and environment.
