Tag Archives: Petrula Vrontikis

Art Center in the news, August – September 2013

Mego Lin and Jon Jon Augustavo on the set of “Same Love.” Photo by Craig Nisperos.

Art Center students, faculty, alumni and staff have been busy racking up awards, giving interviews and making news. Here is a selection of some recent coverage.

MTV.com, “Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Smash Hip-Hop Competition With VMA Knockout”
Two music videos directed by Art Center alum Jon Jon Agustavo with cinematography by Grad Film student Mego Lin earned some shiny Moonmen awards at the 2013 Video Music Awards.

SciArt in America
October issue featuring ACCD faculty Lita Albuquerque’s Stellar Suspension (from OBSERVE, Williamson Gallery, 2008) on the cover and a 4-page interview with Williamson Gallery director Stephen Nowlin.

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Graphic Design Students Ready for Their Closeups

Still from student Sang Chung's video profile of student Bo Yeoung Han.

Graphic Design students in last summer’s Advanced Graphics Studio course were given an unusual assignment. Each of the students, none of whom had prior experience shooting live action video, were asked by instructor Petrula Vrontikis to collaborate with one of their classmates to create two- to four-minute promotional videos of one another.

The students were given approximately six weeks to research, storyboard, interview and to learn the basics of contemporary digital shooting and editing. Motion Graphics instructor Rob Garrot provided the students with support and insight from a video editors perspective, and a number of professionals came to class to provide critical feedback, including product designer Spencer Nikosey PROD ’08 of KILLSPENCER, whose video profile for Behind the Hustle was a partial inspiration for the course.

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Filling in the Blank: Students Bringing TEDx to Campus

Class shot of the TEDx Art Center College of Design Studio. Photo: June Korea.

Orange will mix with red this summer when the student-driven TEDx Art Center College of Design conference takes over the Hillside Campus on Saturday, June 9 to explore the event’s theme: “Design a ________ for Social Impact.” The “blank” in that title is a call-to-action designed to inspire conference attendees to come up with their own idea for how to effect positive change in the world.

Also on hand to inspire attendees will be an impressive lineup of speakers, including Doug Powell, national president of AIGA and the individual spearheading that association’s Design for Good initiative; and Cameron Tonkinwise, chair of Design Thinking and Sustainability at Parsons The New School School for Design, whose current research is exploring design-enabled sharing of resources. And for something completely different, Art Center Product Design alumnus and KILLSPENCER founder Spencer Nikosey has been tapped to provide the day’s musical entertainment.

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Lynda Weinman, Shepard Fairey and Spencer Nikosey on Campus for this Thursday’s 3×3 Presentation

Each term, Art Center’s Graphic Design Department hosts a 3×3 presentation in which three creative professionals are invited to speak on a particular topic.

This Thursday, the Art Center Community is invited to hear stories from three pioneers who have created reality from their dreams and gone on to influence design, culture, art, technology and fashion worldwide.

The speakers are:

Shepard Fairey, Artist, Activist and Founder, OBEY GIANT ART and Studio Number One

Lynda Weinman, Co-Founder and Executive Chair, lynda.com

Spencer Nikosey, Founder, KILLSPENCER

Moderated by Petrula Vrontikis

3×3: Creative Entrepreneurs
Thursday, March 22nd, 2012
7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Ahmanson Auditorium
Art Center College of Design
Hillside Campus
1700 Lida Street
Pasadena, CA 91505

FREE; no reservations required.

Lynda Weinman, co-founder and executive chair of lynda.com, is a self-taught computer expert, author, educator, and entrepreneur. Before launching lynda.com, she was a faculty member at Art Center College of Design and worked as an animator and motion graphics director in the film special effects industry. Lynda has also been a consultant for Adobe, Macromedia, and Microsoft, and has conducted workshops at those organizations in addition to Disney. She, along with her husband and co-founder Bruce Heavin, evolved lynda.com from its original concept as a free web resource for her students, to the site for her books on Web design, to the registration hub for physical classrooms and conferences, to a highly successful online training library. lynda.com

Shepard Fairey was born in Charleston, SC in 1970. He received his B.F.A. at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. While at R.I.S.D. he created the Andre the Giant as a Posse sticker that transformed into the OBEY GIANT art campaign with imagery that has changed the way people see art and the urban landscape. His work has evolved into an acclaimed body of art which includes the 2008 “Hope” portrait of Barack Obama which can be found in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait gallery. Since the beginning of his career in 1989 he has exhibited in galleries and museums around the around the world, indoor and outdoor. His works are in the permanent collections of the MOMA, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Boston ICA and many others. For more information, visit obeygiant.com

Spencer Nikosey launched his premium bag and luggage brand KILLSPENCER at his Art Center grad-show in 2008. Handcrafting functional Weekender Bags, Backpacks, and Messenger Bags out of used-in-combat military truck tarps and vintage Korean War Era fabrics caught the attention of bloggers and instantly kickstarted an online following and customer base. Soon, demand increased and local production became problematic. Frustrated with the lack of quality and attention to detail in local factories, Spencer decided to assemble a team of master craftsmen and build his own Workshop in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District. Today, Spencer and his team of passionate creatives designs, develops, manufactures and ships their products globally, proudly made in U.S.A. killspencer.com