Fresh Crop: Design Entrepreneurs
March 23, 2007 | Levent OZLER
School of Visual Arts presents "Fresh Crop: Design Entrepreneurs," an exhibition of socially and environmentally aware products developed by 19 students graduating from the MFA Design Department at SVA. The projects on view tap the power of design in various forms-graphic, motion, Web and 3D-to be both commercially viable and culturally significant. The exhibition is curated by Dorothy Twining Globus, an SVA faculty member, Museum of Arts & Design curator of exhibitions and independent curator, and will be on view at the Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26th Street, New York City, from May 4 - 19, 2007.
Among the designs featured in the exhibition are: Bookfool, Amanda Spielman's Web-based matchmaker for readers that recommends fiction titles based on mood, interests and personal circumstances; Serifcan Ozcan's Biyografik, a resource for designers that embraces Turkish graphic design; Lara McCormick's Stop and Start Over, an awareness campaign intended to assist in the recovery process of substance addicts and alcoholics; Masood Ahmed's Pussykatz, a line of collectible erotic toys inspired by urban street trends and pop-culture icons; and Clement Wu's Killer Cantonese, a language course on DVD that teaches Cantonese through Hong Kong gangster films.
Recent thesis projects by alumni of the MFA Design Department at SVA include the original design for the ClearRxSM prescription packaging system created by Deborah Adler (MFA 2002 Design), which was purchased by Target and exhibited in "SAFE: Design Takes On Risk" at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Other products developed at SVA and subsequently brought to market include: ASENYA, a line of home accessories and greeting cards, based on one of Africa's oldest forms of written language, by Araba Simpson (MFA 2005 Design); and Cravings (FindYourCraving.com), an Internet guide to New York eateries designed to satisfy culinary cravings from Bloody Marys and burgers to sushi and tapas, developed by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng (MFA 2005 Design).
The Visual Arts Gallery, located at 601 West 26th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues, 15th floor, is open Monday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm; closed on Sundays and public holidays. Admission is free. The gallery is accessible by wheelchair. For further information call 212.592.2145.
The MFA Design Department at SVA prepares students to be content providers in a broad range of media. Drawing on fluency with the graphic design language of type and image, the program focuses on authorship as the independent creation of ideas. Students are empowered to create products that are responsible to the needs and wants of society - objects of worth that integrate the best design. Faculty members include Paola Antonelli, Milton Glaser, Maira Kalman, Kevin T. O'Callaghan, Stefan Sagmeister and Veronique Vienne.
School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City is an established leader and innovator in the education of artists. From its inception in 1947, the faculty has been comprised of professionals working in the arts and art-related fields. SVA provides an environment that nurtures creativity, inventiveness and experimentation, enabling students to develop a strong sense of identity and a clear direction of purpose.
School of Visual Arts: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/7494.html
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