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ART CENTER NEWSWIRE - 12 March 2002

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 email to requests@lists.artcenter.edu and in the body of the mail type "subscribe newswire" (without quotes). We highlight some of the newsmakers in our Art Center community monthly.

To report news or obtain more information, contact Jan Kingaard,
(626) 396-2394; fax (626) 683-9233.


ADVERTISING

CMYKThe work of several Art Center students was featured including: "Water" by photographer Joseph Rafferty and instructor Ann Cutting; "Angela at All Star Lanes in Eagle Rock, CA" by photographer Mark Scoggins; "Hollywood Motel #4" by photographer Allen Scott and instructor Paul Jasmin; "Eastern Fairy Tale" by photographer Vanh Wan; client Hormel bacon bits by art director/copywriter Erwin Federizo and art director/copywriter Arnaldo D'Alfonso and instructor Nic York; client The Economist by art director Sorenne Gottlieb and instructor Roland Young.

Los Angeles Times, Telegraph Herald, Brandweek, Escondido North County Times, Record GazetteCalifornia Milk Producers launched a $2 million advertising campaign created by four Art Center students that targets Hispanic teens. The campaign features "La Llorona," the ghost of a woman in Spanish lore that cries over the loss of her children that she drowned after being spurned by her husband. In the commercial, the shrouded ghost goes to the refrigerator for milk, finds the carton empty and leaves weeping. The legend of La Llorona is deeply ingrained in Hispanic culture and it is hoped that the ad will reverse a trend of teenagers drinking less milk. Says Jeff Manning, executive director of the milk board, "The goal is for these teenagers to see this advertising and they will feel that milk is much more attached to them culturally."


DIGITAL MEDIA

The Daily JournalAs technology plays an increasing role in our lives, it is not surprising that it is becoming an art form of its own. Previously used as a support to more traditional mediums, digital art is gaining acceptance in the mainstream art world, appearing in at least two major museum exhibits this year and having a gallery opened that is devoted exclusively to digital and digitally influenced art. Artists have been exploring digital art since the 1960s, but only in the past few years has it become more widely practical because of better technology and prices, according Art Center instructor Peter Lunenfeld. Examples can be seen at the "BitStreams" exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and "010101" at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Projects commissioned or displayed include "e-poltergeist," which generates random sound bites and launches Web pages as if a ghost were in the machine, and "ecosystem," which uses programming code to translate real-time financial data into images of birds and trees.


FINE ARTS

Valley SunLong time La Canada resident and retired judge Robert P. Schifferman has produced a CD of 30 songs reflecting the time period of the early 20th century that he plays on the piano. The CD is a result of a one-year project to preserve songs dating from before World War I through the early 1950s. He commissioned an Art Center Fine Arts graduate to create the cover art which embraces the Art Deco style of the period. A computer and graphic arts expert assisted with the design and production of an accompanying eight-page booklet. The Judge credits the fine artist and the computer and graphics arts expert with the professional result of the project, saying that he feels that without them the album would never have become a reality. Since obtaining copyright protection, he has presented five copies of "Silver Memories for Seniors" to the local library branch for check out and wants to license the Disabled American Veterans on a no-royalty basis using the components of the project without charge to produce and distribute copies of the CD to every VA or other military hospital and veterans' home in the United States.


FILM

SHOOTAlumnus Steven Poster has been elected president of the American Society of Cinematographers. Among the items on his agenda, Poster announced his plans to construct a campus surrounding the ASC historic clubhouse in Hollywood. The campus will include a 250-seat screening room and a large conference area. The clubhouse will be converted into a "living museum" containing rare artifacts, publications and photographs spanning the history of the motion picture industry. Poster expects the ASC to break ground for the new complex during the summer of 2002.

SHOOTDirector Melodie McDaniel has signed with The Directors Bureau, Hollywood, a commercial and music video production house and satellite operation of bicoastal parent HKM Productions. Her credits include a record label for A&M Records for recording artist Suzanne Vega and spots for Nike, Honda, Gatorade and Mastercard from ad agencies Wieden+Kennedy, Rubin Postaer and Associates and FCB Chicago.


ILLUSTRATION

Victoria AdvocateHard rockers Linkin Park ended the year with having the best-selling album in the hard rock format. Linkin Park's sound is a melting pot of alternative rock, hip-hop and electronic samples and unlike anything heard today. Band members Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson attended high school together, meeting drummer Rob Bourdon. Shinoda later hooked up with DJ Joseph Hahn while studying illustration at Art Center. The last member of the band, Chester Bennington, is a transplanted Arizona native who has been singing since the age of 2.


PHOTOGRAPHY

Orange Coast MagazineContributing photographer Stephen Harvey established his Los Angeles-based studio soon after graduating from Art Center. His advertising and editorial work reflects the warm, sun-splashed style of California and his innovative studio fashion and celebrity work has produced more than 250 images that are known for an informal, natural beauty.


TRANSPORTATION

Press TelegramAnimator and alumnus Keith Weesner may earn his keep doing animation for studios like Warner Bros., Disney and the Cartoon Network, but he hasn't forgotten his love affair with cars. Whether in his sketchbook or his driveway, Weesner is earning a reputation in the hot rod scene as someone who puts the "Midas touch" on cars. He redesigned a 1950 Fordfirst with a pen, then in metalchanging it from a two-door sedan into a swoopy coupe. In the early 1990s, he designed a much copied T-shirt for Salinas-based Salinas Boyz Customs. He has also begun to commit to canvas the simple, quirky '40s and '50s hot rods and customs that he admires. Currently, the annual issue of Hop Up Magazine, a publication that covers the vintage hot rod and custom car scene, features his rendering of a vintage auto. Says Hop Up's publisher Mark Morton of Weesner, "He definitely has the taste that transcends brush art and gets into the mechanical," commenting that Weesner's interest in working on cars probably enhances his artistic talent.

Pasadena Star NewsGraduate Nick Pugh's personal concept car, a one-of-a-kind vehicle that he designed for himself, was recently unveiled at the Art Center campus. The Xeno III is a two-seater that Pugh envisions as the future of the automotive industrycars that are tailored to individual buyer's tastes, specifications, personalities and body size. The centrally placed Chevrolet V-8 engine is powered by compressed natural gas. The gas tanks hold 3,600 pounds per square inch of the alternative fuel and give the car a range of about 100 miles before it needs refueling. The angular design is accented by a mix of 18-carat and 24-carat gold plating that covers the combination aluminum and steel body. Though he won't reveal the exact cost, Pugh said it took about six years to build the car. It is not licensed or registered, and the only place he has driven it is an industrial park parking lot, so commuters won't have to be watching for it on the roads anytime soon.

Poughkeepsie JournalTransportation alumnus and Ford Vice-President J Mays likes to dream. But unlike most people, he takes his dream to paper and ends up with the New Beetle, retro Thunderbird or the reintroduced concept car FortyNine. The vision he has for his designs embody not just a vehicle, but a sensation. "We don't want our cars to just stand on their own," he says. "We want to create an overall feeling." He works hard to evoke that feeling, designing, sketching, peering over clay models in the automaker's Dearborn, Michigan studios. He believes the focus should be design "cues"shapes, materials, textures and colors that work together to send messages to customers about "values" in a car. According to George Peterson, president of Auto Pacific, a research firm in Tustin, California, "Mays is on the cutting edge. He's bringing change in the design process to Ford." Mays has a busy schedule these days as he visits ten different design centers around the world. Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda and Austin Martin all have his stamp. His mantra to designers is to think "hyper-smooth" or "American muscle" or "unbridled optimism." But never "cheap buy." Says Mays, "That doesn't sound inspirational to me."

Cycle WorldWith redesigned bikes being rolled out the doors of motorcycle manufacturers Kawasaki, Harley Davidson, Honda and Yamaha, interest was high in the opinions of students at one of the most prestigious schools for transportation design, Art Center College of Design. When the new models were brought onto the campus, it was quickly apparent that the "eye-candy" of the bunch was Harley's V-Rod, though not without criticism. Student Jeff Neild thought the V-Rod's "swoopy, flamboyant exhaust pipe" didn't quite fit the "Terminator theme" present in the design. Even the instrument nacelle was picked on. Former Pro Italia employee and current student Bernard McKennzie thought a better look would come from widening the nacelle to achieve a "meaty, muscular look." Overall, however, all were impressed with the really clean design of machine. Honda's VTX also garnered praise. Said McKennzie, "Its headlight is much more robust and the pipe is clean, long, throatyit's the type of pipe the Harley should have." Yamaha's Road Star Warrior drew the second most attention of the students, following the Harley. Though most liked the details on the machine, almost nobody approved of the muffler saying that it really makes the tire look undersized. The Kawasaki was the step-child of the bunch, attracting neither praise nor criticism.

Pasadena Star NewsThough cars may be born in Detroit, more and more are conceived in California. Ford, General Motors, BMW, Toyota, Honda, Daimler Chrysler, Porsche and other car companies have major design centers in Southern California. Many models built in Japan, Sweden, Germany and the United States had origins on the drawing boards in Southern California. The reasons for the appeal range from the quality of light to inspiration drawn from California's car culture, but one standout is that many of the world's top designers studied at Art Center. Frank Saucedo, director of design at GM's Los Angeles Advanced Design Center, takes his staff to hot rod meets at the parking lot of the Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Toluca Lake to keep in touch with the California car culture. Other points of inspiration include furniture design centers and the boardwalk in Santa Monica.