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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Building Trust, Bridging Divides: Visual Communication/Branding Programming for the LBPD
In collaboration with the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) and supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), ArtCenter students developed a visually compelling and technology-infused awareness campaign and branding program, to build understanding and empathy between the LBPD and the diverse communities of Long Beach that would ultimately encourage more prospective local recruits to consider a career in law enforcement.
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Smart Image/Social Impact: Myth vs. Reality in the Immigration Debate
Illustration students worked with United We Stay (UWS), a nonprofit immigrant advocacy organization, on their final projects to debunk the myths surrounding immigrants in America.
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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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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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PACIFIC RIM: Eco Research Lab Costa Rica
ArtCenter students collaborated with Tama students and faculty for two weeks to study, explore and be inspired by the rich biodiversity of the Costa Rica ecological landscape to later design sustainable spaces, materials innovations, furnishings and experiences.
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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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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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Design Smarter: Reimagining Electronics for Repair & Recycle
The Fall 2018 Design for Sustainability 2: Design Smarter: Reimagining Electronics for Repair & Recycle studio in partnership with Homeboy Electronics Recycling challenged students to explore the economics, systems and processes of e-waste to create an innovative product or system that efficiently utilizes materials, processes, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, repair, reuse, recycling and end-of-life.
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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

Building Trust, Bridging Divides: Visual Communication/Branding Programming for the City of Long Beach Police Department and Community

Seeing the Unseen: Visualizing Flow Patterns of Mesopelagic Ocean Eddies

Spring 2018 - Host Department: Interaction Design

“The two-week experience on the ground in Chile was instrumental. We all felt the same thing; we all saw and experienced the same realities together. We all lived the same moments. And that really helped us later as a design team, as we related our ideas and concepts back to our shared experience.”
Andres Zavala, Student, Environmental Design

Design for Freedom from Disability

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

Designing Democracy: The Future of Civic Engagement

Spring 2018 - Host Department: Humanities & Sciences

“Each student brings individual life experiences, diverse cultural upbringings, varied interests and perspectives to the subject displaying the many ways see and converse about a problem.”
Krystina Castella, Faculty, Product Design

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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"The students created outcomes that are innovative and exciting, and help move us closer to our ultimate goal."
John Bwarie, United States Geological Survey (USGS)