“Designmatters allows us to look at the world as a classroom with an eye toward changing it for the better. We aspire to redefine and expand the role of the artist and designer into one who is a catalyst for social change and innovation.” Mariana Amatullo, Vice President, Designmatters Department
An engaged mode of art and design education that forms creative leaders, Designmatters provides the know-how and aspiration to shape the futures we truly desire for a more sustainable and equitable world.
Through research, advocacy and action, Designmatters engages, empowers and leads an ongoing exploration of art and design as a positive force in society.
Designmatters is integrated across all the educational departments at Art Center College of Design. Activities are organized at 3 key levels:
As an educational magnet and research division for the college, we conceive of projects for the curriculum, oversee the DM Concentration at the undergraduate level, and partner with the Graduate Media Design Program in the Media Design Matters Track;
As an agent for social impact educational projects, we are a guarantor for implementation and assessment of projects led by students, faculty and alumni;
As an external relations center for strategic partnership building, we leverage art and design education as tool for positive change in the world.
As Art Center’s social impact department, Designmatters is where local, national and global issues are encountered head-on. Participants are in the world, with the world.
Values that are embedded into the department are filtered into the curriculum, programs and projects. These values represent the spirit of Designmatters, and consist of:
Commitment: We are dedicated to looking at, confronting, researching and addressing real-world issues, and we endeavor to innovate through art and design.
Relevance: We strive to be a model for relevancy in education. We open doors for organizations to engage with artists and designers and see them as key contributors to their mission.
Engagement: We look at the world as our classroom, with an eye toward changing it for the better. Our students engage in experiential learning, giving them an insider’s awareness of the challenges confronting communities around the block or around the world.
Collaboration: We view art and design as a space that invites collaboration with other disciplines, such as: development, science, business, engineering, and anthropology. It is in the intersection between distinct areas of inquiry that we often find the most opportunity for innovation.
Empathy: We believe that artists and designers can be uniquely compassionate as how they relate to the lives of others, and with that comes great responsibility.
Action-led outcomes: We see art and design students as having the gift of creativity and the skills to execute a vision, and when immersed in a real-world context, they can be empowered to become changemakers.
“Turning outward is key to the future of higher education in art and design. Designmatters provides the platform where that can happen.” Lorne M. Buchman, President, Art Center College of Design
At the environmental, social and economic levels, this pillar addresses global challenges by meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future.
With a focus on mobilizing decision-making and provoking change at the policy level, this pillar explores communication tactics and advocacy strategies.
Touching on health issues that impact global populations, this pillar creates the designs of environments, products, systems of delivery, and communication portals.
Using innovative, market-based approaches to create social and environmental impact, this pillar guides a new generation of innovators who want to do well by doing good.
At the onset of 2012, select members from the Safe Agua Peru team made their way to the University of Texas at Austin to participate in the Dell Social Innovation Challenge Sustainable Vision Venturelab, with the goal of sharing preliminary design outcomes as well as learning business strategies to move their projects forward. In the following blog post, Alex Cabunoc (Product Design) gives insight into his time spent in Texas and shares the process of preparing a business plan for his design, GiraDora (a human powered washer and spin dryer). In addition to GiraDora, two other Safe Agua Peru projects also participated in the Venture lab; Balde a Balde (a portable faucet that provides running water from any bucket) and Vitamigos (a new fun, playful, & interactive experience for moms & kids that brings together water purification & nutrition in a tasty beverage).
The past year GradID student Siddharth Vanchinathan along with other select Art Center students participated in a joint project with Caltech and SaintGITS that took them all the way to Kerala, India to conduct field research. The Caltech class entitled Design for Development was led by visiting Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Ken Pickar. Instructor Nathan Allen (Product Design) served as the Art Center faculty mentor for the team. The goal of the class was to come up with innovative solutions to help industrial laborers in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India.
Siddharth was part of the Ideabag team along with Alta Fang (Caltech), Stephanie Kato (Caltech), Cinny Sunny (ST GITS) and Sajith Sundar (ST GITS). They designed a gravitational mixing process that could considerably lessen the workload of the laborers at the Vembanad Chemicals facility in Kottayam.
As part of the class, the team/project with the best final paper with a commitment to continue implementation wins a $1000 prize. The Ideabag team plans to use the funds to help facilitate future prototyping and engineering costs when implementing the first pilot in Kottayam.
To learn more about the project check out Siddharth’s blog
Safe Agua – Ducha Halo has been selected by the jury for a Design Ignites Change Implementation Award. The awardees are given a financial grant to help fund the implementation of student initiatives with powerful and provocative solutions. In addition to the grant, Ducha Halo is also featured on the Design Ignites Change website.
Ducha Halo an outcome of the Safe Agua Chile studio, is an affordable pressurized shower solution that brings the dignity and well-being of a hot shower to people living with no running water and inconsistent electricity.
Design Ignites Change is a world studio program that supports designers and architects who want to make a difference.
To learn more click here.
Safe Agua Peru project’s Balde a Balde and GiraDora are part of a select group of student design projects that will be showcased at the NCIIA 2012 Open Minds Conference, March 22-23 in San Francisco.
Open Minds is the acclaimed annual exhibition of cutting-edge innovation from NCIIA’s best student teams. The exhibition takes place each year during NCIIA’s annual conference, and is an opportunity for student teams to demonstrate their products and companies, and receive local and national media coverage.
To learn more click here.
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