Tag Archives: Graphic Design

Creative Footnotes: Graphic Design student re-imagines Hawaiian Airlines for the iphone generation

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Graphic Design student, Oliver Lo, created the following rebranding campaign for Hawaiian Airlines as part of a class project. When he posted his materials on Behance, the digital crowd went wild for this casually elegant design, evocative of the tropics without relying on dated island tropes (think: Hawaiian Tropic‘s burnt orange and bikinis). Here, Oliver kicks off a series of posts in which Art Center students unveil the creative process and ideas animating their work. 

With this rebrand, Hawaiian Airlines establishes itself as a destination carrier that elevates leisure travel to an experience of sophistication, hospitality, premium quality and fun. To reflect this transformation, the airline shortens its name and condenses its logo into a simple wordmark.

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Poster competition honoring Nelson Mandela features designs by eight Art Center students

 

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Organizers of the Mandela95 Poster Project suspected this would be an opportune time to commemorate Nelson Mandela’s contribution to humankind. But the project — a poster design competition conceived to align with Mandela’s 95th birthday on July 18 — may also serve a dual role as a eulogy to the anti-Apartheid revolutionary, who has been hospitalized since falling critically ill with a lung infection on June 8.

Posters designed by eight Art Center Graphic Design students, featured below, were selected for inclusion in the traveling exhibition by the South African Organizing Committee from a large pool of submissions from around the world.

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Design gurus from Art Center, Facebook and MySpace share trade secrets on the past, present and future of web design

Marshall Rake, Maria Giudice and John Chambers at 3X3

Marshall Rake, Maria Giudice and John Chambers at 3X3. Photo by Chuck Spangler.

Ask a group of web designers to describe the state of internet aesthetics and you’re likely to get as many answers as there are designers. There are few working environments more fluid than the digital domain, a kind of primordial soup where new innovations and ideas constantly bubble up, creating a rapidly evolving field where the rules of engagement are constantly shifting.

However, the most recent installment of Art Center’s 3X3 lecture series, Web Design: Past, Present and Future (held on the evening of June 26 at the College’s Hillside campus) made some major strides toward delivering a clear picture of how to best navigate and succeed in this nebulous arena.  The event featured a trio of design luminaries — Art Center faculty member John Chambers, Facebook Director of Product Design, Maria Giudice and MySpace Creative Director (and Art Center alum) Marshall Rake – each of whom brought an array of  diverse professional experiences to bear on a specific phase of the state of the art of web design.

Chambers kicked off the proceedings by offering a longitudinal perspective of digital design, from its primitive beginnings (back in the 1980’s) through its rough infancy (when nobody believed it would survive) to the restless adolescent it has become today. The popular web design instructor harkened back to a time when designers had very few tools with which to ply their trade beyond simple HTML code, which, he pointed out, remains the through-line connecting the web’s earliest iterations and the complex motion-graphics enabled sites of today.

Maria Giudice then took the stage, donning a headset and unleashing a dynamic presentation that could have easily been mistaken for a TED Talk on the rise of web design in tech circles. (That’s no coincidence given that she’s no stranger to the TED stage).  Guidice described her career trajectory, which began in print, where she redesigned the PacBell yellow pages before migrating to the web and launching her own design firm, Hot Studio, which she recently sold to Facebook, where she now works as the social network’s design guru.

Giudice strongly emphasized the notion that we’re in the midst of a tectonic shift, from an entrepreneurial culture centered on engineering expertise to one driven by design innovation. “When Facebook acquired us, it was a declaration that designers have value too,” said Giudice. “Engineers used to have all the currency. But companies are making an investment in design. I think we’re going to see the rise of the DEO – leadership by design. They’re going to be the future leaders of companies. You have to think and act like a designer to unlock innovation.”

Graphic Design alum Marshall Rake followed Giudice and echoed some of her thoughts about how designers must respond to the explosion of content generation by taking a curatorial approach to their web presence (think: Pinterest). He also emphasized the idea that the future of web design has yet to be invented and encouraged aspiring designers to experiment and expand upon what’s already been created.

“On the web your creations are always on the brink of being discovered,” said Rake. “Three things to think about with every web design challenge are how to simplify, organize and contextualize information.” Following his brief, high-decibel video montage of some of the recent work he’s done for MySpace, Rake ended the evening with an imperative to future designers: “We have a crazy opportunity in front of us,” he insisted, as a mischievous smile spread across his face. “The web is a place we can experiment because so much stuff doesn’t exist yet. It’s our job to go out there and detonate.”

Alumni and Student Find Dream Jobs at Porsche, Cadillac and Tesla

Working for a carmaker is a dream come true for many, but for Transportation Design alumni Julien Bilodeau and Christine Park and Graphic Design student Bryce Shawcross, it’s a testament to their individual goals, ambition and perseverance, as well as Art Center’s stellar design programs.

Julien Bilodeau grew up in Baie Sainte-Marie, a small French Canadian town in Nova Scotia, where he dreamed about designing cars. When he came to Art Center, he said, “I was instantly impressed by the passion of the students, teachers and Southern California as a whole,” citing instructors Stewart Reed, Bumsuk Lim and Jason Hill as major influences on him as an artist and designer.

Alumnus Julien Bilodeau drafted sketches of Multiplier, a mobile, temporary & expandable parking structure.

Alumnus Julien Bilodeau drafted sketches of Multiplier, a mobile, temporary and expandable parking structure.

“Art Center really helped me develop a wide skill set, allowing me to approach design from a number of perspectives,” said Bilodeau. “The flexibility of the curriculum and supportive guidance allowed me to really pursue my own avenues with regards to my own interests.”

During his time at Art Center, he held an internship at the Honda Advanced Design Studio before transitioning into an internship at Porsche. Once his internship ended, he was offered a chance to complete his thesis project at Porsche. Although he couldn’t complete his final term at Art Center, he decided this was the best opportunity, knowing that it would be an important factor in eventually working at Porsche.

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Valedictorian Roy Tatum Shares with Graduation Crowd Lessons He Learned at Art Center

Valedictorian Roy Tatum addresses the Summer 2012 graduation crowd.

At last Saturday’s Summer 2012 graduation, Graphic Design graduate and Art Center valedictorian Roy Tatum shared with the assembled crowd some lessons about life, learning and the design process that he picked up while at the College.

Here are a few highlights.

On his high school aspirations:

While everyone I went to high school was making plans for college, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to attend [college]. I hadn’t found something I was passionate enough about to devote a significant amount of time.

On something a fellow musician told him:

I had just finished playing a show and I was talking to the drummer of the band that had played after us. He had gone to an art and design school in Los Angeles and he told me about his experience and I thought, That doesn’t even sound like school. That just sounds awesome.

On Art Center’s Public Programs:

Like many of you, I started by attending Art Center at Night. I remember being so excited and eager to learn from the teacher during the first night of class. I came home and thought to myself, This is what I love, this is what I’m passionate about. I was so excited I couldn’t wait to apply to the day program.

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Faculty Member Sean Adams Donates Proceeds of MOO.COM Collaboration to Art Center Scholarship Fund

Art Center faculty member Sean Adams.

Sean Adams

Art Center faculty member Sean Adams, partner and co-founder of the branding and strategic design firm AdamsMorioka, recently collaborated with MOO.COM to create their newest collection of high-end business cards for The Luxe Project.

When deciding which charity would receive 100% of the net proceeds from the sale of the business cards, Sean selected the Art Center Scholarship Fund and the purchase of any cards in Adams’ three collections—totaling 42 different designs—between now and the end of August will benefit Art Center students.

You can purchase any of Adams’ designs — Pattern and Colour, Sad Places or Ships Ahoy! — from MOO.COM.

Commenting on his choice to support the Art Center Scholarship Fund, Adams said, “As a teacher I’ve seen too many remarkable people leave school because they couldn’t afford to continue. When I see a student who is brilliant, passionate and who works like a dog, lose the resources to finish school, it is a loss not just to his or her own experience. It’s a loss of an incredible resource and voice to the world.

“None of us would have become successful without the help of the generation ahead of us. I myself wouldn’t have finished school without scholarship help,” he continued. “It feels great to know that I can give back and be a small part in making Art Center students the most incredible and successful designers graduating in the world today.”

As part of MOO’s efforts to make quality products and top-level design available for anyone to create their own unique identity, Luxe Business Cards are high-quality, super-thick, customizable cards that feature limited edition designs.

Adams said, “I was thrilled to have the opportunity to design cards for anyone to use and that MOO has given me the ability to support our future designers in this way. So thrilled that I couldn’t stop with just one collection, so I designed three.”

Images and more information about the designs follow. Continue reading →

Pasadena City Buses To Get the Ultimate Detailing

Bus riders soon will notice a new look, a new name, and find a fresh mobile phone app for travel around the City of Pasadena. Art Center students are creating a new identity for the Pasadena ARTS transit system that will guide riders throughout the region.

City officials are now choosing which proposed design to implement. Contrary to what you might guess, the ARTS bus is not merely a way to hit the city’s multiple arts and cultural venues. ARTS stands for the Area Rapid Transit System, which transports locals and visitors alike to various spots around town. To address the confusion around the moniker, the design brief also encouraged students to come up with a new name for the transit agency.

In the spirit of local engagement, Art Center’s Dean of Special Programs and Chair of the Graphic Design Department, Nik Hafermaas, suggested that the college’s Educational Partnerships team coordinate the project through an Identity Systems course taught by Gloria Kondrup.

“Our goal is to demonstrate that well conceived design can significantly improve our communities, said Hafermaas. “This is a wonderful chance for our students to make a positive contribution to our own neighborhood.”

In the class, each student developed a new brand name and a design standards manual to guide the implementation of the new identity through its various applications. The manual addressed the use of color, typography and image across many touch points. This includes new bus graphics, signage, bus shelters, the agency’s website and its forthcoming smartphone app.

In April, Mayor Bill Bogaard joined a team of city executives to review final presentations. Once a choice is made, the new brand will be implemented across all city marketing materials.