Category Archives: Graphic Design

Graphic Design Department Hosts Upcoming Events

Each term Art Center’s Graphic Design Department brings together three LA-based design professionals to discuss a particular topic of interest to their students. This term, 3×3 will look into the issues surrounding graduate school.

Speakers include Chair of Graduate Media Design Anne Burdick, Art Center professor and alum Ramone Muñoz and Mike Neal, freelance design writer and recent graduate of the School of Visual Arts with an MFA in design criticism.

The group will address:

  • What are the philosophical and creative differences in graduate and undergraduate programs?
  • What are the unique characteristics of the top graduate programs?
  • How have graduates from particular schools shaped our field?
  • How one can best prepare for a graduate education?

It’s a must-attend event for all Art Center Graphic Design students.

3×3: WHY GRAD SCHOOL?
Thursday, Nov. 4, 7:30 pm
Los Angeles Times Media Center

Also next week, the Graphic Design Department is holding an internship preparation workshop for Graphic Design students with faculty member Petrula Vrontikis, a designer, author and educator and creative director and owner of Vrontikis Design Office.

Internship Preparation Workshop
Monday, Nov. 1, 1-2 pm
Boardroom, Hillside Campus

Graphic Design students, don’t miss either of these great events!

Student-Made PSA Airing on CNN International

CNN International has donated air time to the student-made United Nations Population Fund television spot, When Mother Died, the Family Fell Apart, running it throughout the month of June. The PSA was created in a Designmatters studio that developed an integrated multimedia awareness campaign in support of UNFPA’s Safe Motherhood Initiative. Art Center Advertising, Graphic Design and Graduate Media Design students participated in the project.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is an international development agency that promotes the right of all humankind to a life of health and equal opportunity.

If you missed the spot on CNN, watch it below:

Happy 100 Years, OAS!

Today marks 100 years since the founding of the Organization of American States. The milestone will be celebrated with a series of events in Washington, D.C. Art Center students developed work that will be prominently featured in the celebration over the course of two funded TDS/Designmatters projects led by the Graphic Design Department last year.

Congratulations and thanks to faculty member Simon Johnston, who led the TDS that developed a new identity for the Museum of the Americas of OAS, implemented on their website. Thanks to Gloria Kondrup, Brian Boyl and Jonas Mayabb, who led the centennial rebranding TDS. A new logotype, as well various elements of the student work, have been implemented by OAS on their website. Also, a big thank you to Jonas Mayabb, who worked closely with his team, Elisa Ruffino and our OAS partners after the studio’s conclusion to create the final version of the public service announcement for the centennial. Watch it below:

PSA: Common Values on Common Ground from OAS Video on Vimeo.

Es Tiempo Wins I.D. Award

Great news: Es Tiempo, a cervical cancer awareness campaign which resulted from a Designmatters transdisciplinary studio has won Best of Category in the Student Division of I.D.’s 2010 Annual Design Review. The project was among more than 400 entries.

The project, a collaboration between Designmatters, USC’s Keck School of Medicine and USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, took place last summer and was led by the College’s Advertising Department, including lead faculty Elena Salij and Maria Moon. Es Tiempo is a broad-based communications and outreach campaign encouraging Latinas to seek out early cervical cancer screening.

A warm congratulations to the student team behind Es Tiempo: Phillip An (Illustration), Mark Brinn (Graphic Design), Chris Lack (Graphic Design), Tracy Hung (Graphic Design), Haelee Kang (Graphic Design), Lucia Loiso (Photography and Imaging) and Camille Ontiveros (Fine Art).

Read more about Es Tiempo at the project’s website, and be sure to check out this great write-up by DesignObserver.

Get Your Group On: Spotlight on ACCD/AIGA

If you’re a graphic designer, you’ve heard of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA).

A professional association for design founded in 1914, AIGA’s mission, according to its website, is “to advance designing as a special craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force.”

Not surprisingly, Art Center has a student group affiliated with the association—ACCD/AIGA. We recently caught up with the group’s president, seventh-term Graphic Design student Amelia Stier, to get the lowdown.

Continue reading →

Words, Words, Words! Marion Bantjes brings her candor to Art Center

Marian Bantjes, fresh from her appearance at TED, stopped by the Ahmanson Auditorium last Thursday to share some riveting stories behind her internationally-recognized work. The Canadian artist, typographer, designer and writer touched on her project selection process, the philosophy behind her unique aesthetic and the difficulty of finding something worth saying.

Did you hear Bantjes speak? What did you think?

Here are a few highlights:

On her early career as a typesetter:

As a typesetter, I didn’t do any creative work at all. The designer told me what to do and my job was to know typography well enough to get it right. I did this for ten years. Most people who want to be designers think of this as tedious. But I learned a lot about typography and I loved that job. It’s something undervalued in most design today. People want to do the fun stuff, the crazy stuff, the stuff that I do now, but it’s really important to be able to get pleasure in the fine details.

Continue reading →

Student Work: Seventh Generation Redesign

Check out this cool hypothetical redesign of Seventh Generation green cleaning and household products by Johana Tran, a 6th term Graphic Design student.

Says Johana: “Through a redesign that exudes a natural charm and confidence, Seventh Generation offers consumers a promise of liberation from the burdens associated with mundane household tasks. In addition, the package design utilizes sustainable materials, while maintaining a hygienic appeal, ensuring a product that users can trust to be safe for both the environment and the body.”

Good work, Johana!

Meet Orlando Sanabria

Graphic Design student Orlando Sanabria says that Art Center’s experienced instructors have made a huge difference in his time here.

“The projects I’ve worked on have challenged me, and helped me to develop my skills as a designer,” he says. “The high level of networking with working professionals has exposed me to the different fields within graphic design. And critiques with instructors have shown me how to fully utilize my creativity.”

Read more about Orlando’s time here, as well as how a class project led to his involvement with his neighborhood council, in this great interview.

Schwab Poster Earns Accolades

You might have already noticed the striking image used for the Campaign for Art Center, created by acclaimed graphic designer and alumnus Michael Schwab. We’re happy to report that the poster has won a second gold award in the international design publication Graphis, and will be featured in the Graphis Poster Annual 2010. Earlier this year, it was added to the permanent collection of San Francisco’s Legion of Honor fine arts museum. Schwab’s donation of time, vision and talent underscores the lasting impact that an Art Center education has had on his life and creative career. Congratulations, Michael!

Read more about the poster and the genesis of the Art Center pencil in this intersting article at @Issue.