Campus News |
ART CENTER NEWSWIRE - June 5, 2000
PASADENA, CA, USA | To keep abreast of the exciting and innovative ideas, people and projects at Art Center College of Design, the media and general public can subscribe to Art Center's news digest by sending a blank email to: newswire-on@lists.artcenter.edu. We highlight some of the newsmakers in our Art Center community on the first and third Monday every month. To report news or obtain more information, contact Jan Kingaard, tel. (626) 396-2394, fax (626) 683-9233.
BREAKING NEWS
21st IDEA00
Art Center students won two gold and one silver medal in the world's most prestigious recognition of excellence in the profession that is responsible for the form, use features and interactive qualities of products, exhibits and software. Gold medal winners are: Michael Stefan Leoniak, for his "bebo" chair; and, Kee-sook Jeon, for her "Bigelow Tea Series Boxes". Silver medallists are: Kevin Wee Joung Kim, Terry Ko, Bryan Ranzenberger, and Hee Jo Seok for their Gap Station sponsored project. The goal of IDEA is to foster business and public understanding about the impact of industrial design excellence on the quality of life and the economy. Out of 1,078 entries, the 2000 Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA00) 16-member jury honored 40 designs with the Gold award, the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) announced today. Published in the June 12 issue of Business Week magazine-co-sponsor of the programthe IDEA winners also include 70 Silvers and 51 Bronzes, for a total of 161 winners. The program continues to grow more international in its scope, with 26 honors this year to international participants.
GREAT MINDS
In a recent talk entitled "Dyslexia and the Creative Individual," Dr. Paul B. MacCready shared his experience of being dyslexic and discussed the relationship between reading problems and creativity. Dr. MacCready was recently featured as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of the century. His fascination with aeronautics dates back to his childhood, when he was a serious model airplane enthusiast who set many records. He went on to earn a B.A. in physics from Yale University and a Ph.D. in aeronautics from California Institute of Technology and has subsequently been awarded five honorary degrees. His accomplishments include inventing the Gossamer Condor, the first human-powered aircraft, permanently on display at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. He also developed the Gossamer Penguin, a solar-powered aircraft, and the GM Sunracer, a record-setting solar-powered car that laid the groundwork for today's commercial solar-powered automobiles.
ADVERTISING
Napa Valley Register
Down a winding one-lane country road in the western hills is one of the last places one might expect to find a Bauhaus in the style of renowned New York-based architect Richard Meier. Alumnus Ralph Colonna and his wife Sarah, of St. Helena, took an idea and a whimsical sense of design and created a dream home. They wanted something a little more offbeat, something that was different, clean, simple and elegant. Ralph is an artist, and a pastel landscape is played, propped up on an easel in the corner of the living room. He has worked in the valley for nearly three decades as a graphic designer, designing wine labels and package designs for other products such as liquors, cosmetics and gourmet food.
ART CENTER AT NIGHT
San Diego Business Journal
When Art Center launched its extension program in San Diego in the spring, several local graphic designers were drawing up lesson plansas instructors. Among them were MaeLin Levine, owner and partner of Visual Asylum; Tracy Mitsunaga, creative director at Mentus; and Robert Jew, a local illustrator. John Sodano, senior designer at Daimler-Chrysler Pacifica, taught "Product/Transportation'; while Rafael Lopez, an independent graphic designer, taught "Conceptual Illustration." Mikio Osaki, chairman of Art Center's Advertising Department, taught the introduction to advertising class.
ComputeredgeArt Center at Night, the popular extension program, is launching a series of evening and weekend classes in San Diego that will offer students the opportunity to study with top contemporary designers, many of whom are Art Center graduates. The evening and weekend classes will help San Diego meet the demand for new media professionals that is growing alongside the biotech and high-tech industries.
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
House Beautiful
Ten students had their order books out last April at Milan's international furniture fair. The annual market, where careersand fortunesare made, attracts the best and brightest in the field, and the young people had the chance to rub shoulders with the likes of Philippe Starck and Ron Arad as their pieces competed for the attention of buyers and manufacturers. Monika Wahy's Pupil chair and Philip Godrey Aja's FOSA bench were pictured.
Furniture StyleExperienced buyers attend the Salone Internatzionale del Mobile in Milan to spot what's next in home fashion. Newcomers to the furniture business provided some "fabulous" answers. Art Center students submitted entries to the fair's Salone Satellite, a three-year-old showcase highlighting the work of new and accomplished international designers. Following the college's guiding design principle"smart design is not isolated from technological advancements"students treated visitors to inventive designs that suggest fresh perspectives on shape and material. The work received high marks for its practicalitymany of the designs accomplish many tasks. The aptly named Duplicity by Holly Schmitt serves as a bench, table and loveseat. Monika Wahy's chair stands out for its contract applications: Pupil's armrests become writing surfaces for right- or left-handed users. The backrest rotates to create a flat surface, so the chair can be stacked. Jonaton Guzman Damian's Elytra chair represents a unique combination of materials: aluminum, epoxy resin and Kevlar, a lightweight material used in bulletproof vests. Philip Godfrey Aja's FOSA consists of 18 upholstered and painted wood cubes, a steel frame and maple base. It works as a bench, daybed, loveseat or separates into several individual stools.
International Woodworking Furniture Design Competition Five Art Center students have been selected as finalists in the "Design Emphasis" International competition. They are: Kimberly Joy Murray, Jenny Yoo, R. Sky Kogachi, Kyung Kelly Lee, Jiwon Suh, and Terrence Sean Yoo (two pieces). These students are among students from 21 schools who will be competing for prizes at the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta, Georgia, in August.
ENVIRONMENTAL/PRODUCT/ADVERTISING
Los Angeles Times
Five Art Center alumni pool their senses of humor for SuperHappyBunny, a playful line of furniture and goods. SuperHappyBunny isn't a band, it's a design firm.. And though none of the five pieces in its catalogue of stuff has come to market yet, the group hopes to ship its offbeat merchandise later this year. Hayes Urban, a company co-founder, like his fellow bunniesBart Haney, Edwin Roses, Dave Sherman and Gabriel Carlsonis 20-something, and designs fresh, really innovative products. For example, Special #8, a lighted coffee table that resembles a Chinese takeout box and retails for about $400. Visopia balls are squishy lights made from silicone gel and sell for less than $50. Neo-Amish Seating (a.k.a. the Bart Chair), estimated to retail for $300, can be put together in a three to five simple steps, according to designer Bart Haney.
FILM
Faculty member Gabor Kalman held a premiere screening of his new film, "15 French Architects in Los Angeles" at Art Center. The film documents a recent, much-lauded lecture series by eminent French architects (such as Jean Nouvel, Claude Parent, and Christian de Portzamparc) that was co-sponsored by the French Consulate General in Los Angeles; the USC and UCLA Schools of Architecture; Art Center; SCI-Arc; and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). The film screening was introduced by noted French architect, Olivier Touraine.
Clio AwardsStudent Jayson Moyer received two Clio Awards at the May awards in New York. He earned a Gold for his "New Balance" spot, and a Bronze for his "Preparation H" spot. MFA alumna Yuki Watanabe received a Silver for her spot for "Kirin Beer."
Student Academy AwardsMFA alumna Garin Armenian was selected as a National Finalist in the Alternative category of the 2000 competition for her film, "Single Moments."
GRAPHICS/PACKAGING
Business Dialogue Series
Alumna Kristen Ding, vice president of design at idealab!!, works with new companies at the Old Town Pasadena incubator. She recently spoke with students and faculty about what it's like to work in a fast-paced, idea-centric environment, and showed some of the work she's done to assist with branding, logo development, and interface design to help startup Internet businesses establish their look and feel on the Web. Founded in March 1996 by entrepreneur Bill Gross, idealab!! has built an integrated, collaborative network of approximately 30 Internet businesses, including GoTo.com, eToys, CarsDirect.com, Citysearch.com, NetZero, PETsMART.com, and HomePage.com
ILLUSTRATION
The Artists' Magazine
Alumnus Jack Hines shares his approach and gives tips for painting on the road. "Traveling doesn't have to be a hassle if you want to paint on location," says Hines, who has had a 30 year career in illustration, advertising and publishing in New York while remaining active as a fine artist. Hines is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and the New York Society of Illustrators.
San Gabriel Valley WeeklyIllustration instructor Mary Yanish, uses Victorian papers and Chinese ritual Joss papers in her collages, which also include found objects such as feathers and candy wrappers. "Each collage forms a shrine shaped around a central image in order to form a sacred space," said Yanish. "Although these works initially appear formal and contained, they were created in a very meditative, intuitive state of mind."\ Illustrators tell other people's stories, fine artists tell their own. I'm just starting to emerge as a fine artist." Her work is part of "Pacific Overtures: Inspirations from the Far East," an exhibition of collages, ceramics and jewelry at The Folk Tree Collection.
Agri NewsAlumna Mary Ann Kenyon sees barns through the eyes of an artist. When she sees an intriguing barn, church or old farmhouse, she pulls off to the side of the road, jumps out of her car, clicks off a few photographs to be sure the architecture is right. The Minnesota native has captured about 45 Goodhue County barns in paint, selling the images on notecards at the SEMVA Gallery in Rochester and the Aster Hill Shoppe in Zumbrota. She also paints framed barn prints.
NEW MEDIA
The Star
The "philosopher of cyberspace" Michael Heim will untangle the Web for night students this summer when he teaches two Web design workshops for Art Center at Night. He will be teaching students how to design 3-dimensional, virtual worlds on the Web and techniques on creating virtual reality. Heim is a freelance philosopher and educator with an expert approach to the Web and the creation of interactive-immersive environments.
PRODUCT
Automotive Interiors International Award
Ben Delphia, director of Styling, Design & Graphics at Magna Seating Systems, received the 2000 Lifetime Achievement Award in Detroit, Michigan. The prestigious award recognizes Art Center's alumnus for his substantial and lasting contributions toward the advancement of design in the automotive interiors industry. Beginning with his design involvement at Chrysler Corporation nearly 40 years ago, he continues to have a measurable impact as a leader in the field.
WILLIAMSON GALLERY
Pasadena Star News
Art Center unveiled the <img src> exhibit which will continue through July 9. <img src> is Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) shorthand for "image source" and is the code designation that allows importation of visual imagery onto the Internet. This show differs from traditional artwork that is merely photographed for the Web representation, as the works presented here have been created in and for cyberspace and are only distantly related to conventional art. Visit the show online.