designmatters | Where art & design education meets social change.

Welcome to Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design
Where art & design education meets social change.
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Designmatters Project Archive
List of all Designmatters Case Studies in Chronological order.
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Socially Engaged Art
As a field that blurs the lines between art and life, the Spring 2018 studio, Socially Engaged Art, emphasized participation, dialogue, and action from a place of shared concerns. The class was formatted to encourage collaboration to foster skills of negotiation, while holding space for individual voices and unexpected innovation within art production.
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Seeing the Unseen: Visualizing Flow Patterns of Mesopelagic Ocean Eddies
ArtCenter students design interactive data visualization projects based on the elusive underwater movement patterns of ocean eddies.
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Safe Niños Development Studio: Charity Retail Pop-Up
ArtCenter students worked with COANIQUEM to design and implement a pop-up structure/system on site at the Lollapalooza Music Festival in Santiago, Chile.
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The Designmatters Minor in Social Innovation
The Designmatters Minor in social innovation is a course of study for ArtCenter undergraduate students who want to master a toolkit of design skills and strategies to navigate the complex dynamics of working with communities and designing for social change.
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Fellowship Program
The Designmatters Fellowship Program embeds top ArtCenter students in host organizations for one full 14-week academic term to work on high-level projects and explore the mission, model and meaning of the host organization’s work.
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Engage + Envision + Empower: Creating a Safe Sex Culture in the City of Long Beach
ArtCenter students were challenged to develop a comprehensive transmedia awareness campaign about safe sex practices for the City of Long Beach which has seen a dramatic increase in the rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) during the past two years.
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A Future Vision for the Aquarium of the Pacific
Packard Fellowship invited ArtCenter students, faculty to develop concepts for a new wing at Aquarium of the Pacific!
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Designing Democracy: The Future of Civic Engagement
In partnership with California Common Cause, ArtCenter students created campaigns, collateral and experiences aimed to increase voter participation and citizen empowerment.
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Imagining the Future of the Barbie Dreamhouse
Students teamed up with Mattel & Barbie to envision innovative forward-thinking ways of reimagining the iconic Barbie Dreamhouse for 2022!
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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FALL 2018 DESIGNMATTERS MINOR GRADUATES!
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Introduction

The Designmatters educational platform at ArtCenter College of Design joins collaboration with experimentation, experience with reflection, problem-solving with problem-discovery, and purpose with action.

Our Mission

Through research, advocacy and action, Designmatters engages, empowers and leads an ongoing exploration of art and design as a positive force in society.

Recent News

Homeless crisis in L.A. inspires some purposefully small ideas: tiny houses

Los Angeles Times / December 2018

The assignment: Design a poster that dispels America’s myths about immigrants

Los Angeles Times / January 2019

"The practical foundation that underlies this program is that even the most amazing design solutions need to be supported by a strong business model in order to be implemented and sustainable."
Adlai Wertman, Professor, Marshall School of Business, USC

Pasadena students create art piece to spark dialogue and engagement on immigration policies

KABC-TV / December 2018

The “Night Loo” keeps refugee women safe from hazardous bathroom trips

Fast Company Design / September 2018

Designing Democracy: The Future of Civic Engagement

Spring 2018 - Host Department: Humanities & Sciences

“It is one thing to know and design for an ‘end user’, but it’s another to sit across from someone in their own living room and hear their personal story. It humanizes the work we do and gives it meaning and value.”
Narbeh Dereghishian, Product Design '10,

With tiny homes, Pasadena ArtCenter’s students face the realities of solving LA’s homeless crisis

Daily News / December 2018

Engage + Envision + Empower: Creating a Safe Sex Culture in the City of Long Beach

A Future Vision for the Aquarium of the Pacific

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"These projects help every design student see what is on the other side, and opens the door to making the impossible a possibility of hope."
Armie Pasa and Gabriel La 'O, Product Design, Students