Design Education Topic of Davis Retreat for Art Supervisors

Art Supervisors from across the country were introduced to the concepts of Design Thinking at the Davis Retreat for Art Supervisors in October 2008 held in Palo Alto at Stanford University's d.school (design school) and IDEO, one of the top design firms in the world (right).

Among the participants were Debora Reeves, Executive Director of the National Art Education Association (left) and John Wilson, Executive Director of the National Education Association (on right).

David Kelley, founder of IDEO and the d.school welcomed participants and introduced them to the ideas upon which IDEO and the d.school were founded. Over the next two days everyone participated in a "Deep Dive" to experience the design thinking process first-hand. They learned about the design thinking process including ideation, inquiry, empathy, visualization, and prototyping (far right)

This retreat coincided with the release of Davis' special issue of School Arts magazine on Design Matters. Click on the heading above or go to www.davisart.com for more information about School Arts and Davis Publishing.

5D: The Future of Immersive Design Conference in Long Beach

Keynote speakers like Henry Jenkins (far left) from MIT and panelists like Gore Verbinski (center) (director of the Pirates of the Carribbean movies) and Rick Carter (production designer for Stephen Spielberg and Robert Zemekis) made the 5D conference on immersive design put together by Alex McDowell (on right) an excellent start to what will hopefully be a continuing series of conferences on Immersive Design.

This international conference explored the impact of rapidly changing technologies in design for narrative media - film and television, game design, animation, interactive media, architecture and environment - for artists, designers, scholars, educators, and students. The definition of narrative media is changing rapidly as traditional storytelling disciplines expand and converge. A new breed of designer is emerging who can flow freely between the real and the virtual; between media and across cultures.

Presented by the University Art Museum (UAM) at California State University, Long Beach and the Art Directors Guild (ADG), this international conference assembled the design world's leading pioneers and academics in an open exchange of ideas and insights about new design processes within the entertainment industry and the delivery of the immersive experience.

The event was attended by over 500 award-winning production designers and art directors, visual and digital artists, designers, architects, animators, as well as leading academics in these fields and their students: the future of the industry.

Click on the heading above to read more about the conference and the many panelists.

Entertainment Design at Art Center College of Design

Industrial Designer Scott Robertson (left) started a program in Entertainment Design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 2005. The program brings together skills in illustration (figurative work, picture composition, color theory, and narrative illustration) with skills in industrial design (technical perspective drawing, object styling, model building, and design methodologies).

Concept designers for the entertainment industry design characters, environments, vehicles, props and other things people have often never seen before. Robertson, who also has a publishing company (Design Studio Press) for concept design, put together a book called "In the Future... Entertainment Design at Art Center College of Design" (right) that shows examples of student work in character design, color theory, architecture, visual development and originality.

Concept designers are expected to have the ability to design, and illustrate unique and compelling characters, environments, vehicles, and props for stories taking place in the past, present and future. They draw upon knowledge and skills in industrial design, architecture, graphic design, illustration, and concept design.

Click on the heading above or go to http://www.accdentertainmentdesign.com/ for information about the Entertainment Design program at Art Center College of Design.

AIGA Conference on "Social Studies"

Ellen Lupton, center, helped design a recent AIGA conference looking at connectivity in the design world. The Balitmore Chapter of AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) hosted the conference in October 2008 called "Social Studies: Educating Designers in a Connected World."

This AIGA design educators' conference addressed the social life of design. Graphic designers work with clients, institutions, users, and communities to make things happen in the world. Yet education often focuses on the individual voice. How are we preparing students for a lifetime of working with and for other people? How are our students connecting to the world?

AIGA provided a relaxed and stimulating weekend of lively discussions, hands-on workshops, and informal activities. One of the keynote speakers was Steven Heller (far left) the most prolific design historian/critic/author who has written over 100 books about design.

The Social Studies conference was a project of AIGA, sponsored by Adobe Systems and hosted by the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) (right).

The Co-Chairs were Ellen Lupton, Director, Graphic Design MFA, MICA; author and editor of numerous books, including Thinking with Type and D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself, Jennifer Cole Phillips, Associate Director, Graphic Design MFA, MICA; co-author of Graphic Design: The New Basics; award-winning designer and Brockett Horne, Co-Chair, Graphic Design BFA, MICA; graphic designer and member of AIGA’s National Design Educator’s Committee.

Click on the heading above or go to http://www.socialstudiesconference.org/ for more information.