designmatters | Where art & design education meets social change.

Designmatters

Welcome to Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design

Where art & design education meets social change.
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The Aesthetics of Power: What Makes Good Design

This Designmatters studio challenged ArtCenter students to explore the intricacies of design and what it means for something to be considered “beautiful” or “good”—and how those concepts can be incorporated into design for social change. Students examined how the study of aesthetics has expanded today beyond style and beauty to include various forms of sensory experience in relation to values, taste, and power.
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A GOOD STOPPING POINT: SMOKING CESSATION CAMPAIGNS FOR LGBTQIA+

With a grant from the LA County Department of Health Services, the Cedars-Sinai Research Center for Health Equity joined forces with Designmatters and the Graphic Design Department to challenge ArtCenter transdisciplinary students to develop a campaign advocating tobacco cessation for the LGBTQIA+ communities, which have some of the highest tobacco rates in the United States.
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Branded: How Brands Shape Ideas, Identities and Society

This Designmatters studio in Fall 2022 invited students to decode ideological aspects of brand messaging and values to learn how brands shape personal and collective identities.
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Designing for Green Justice: Protecting the White Sage Campaign

In this Designmatters studio, students explored the connections between Los Angeles’ indigenous past, present, and future relationships with native plant life – and the opportunities for non-natives to learn about the land they live on.
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Designing Advocacy: Arts Education + Graphic Design Implementation

With support from the California Arts Council and in partnership with Create CA, this ArtCenter ACX studio invited high school and college students to learn organizing principles, case making and design process fundamentals as they translated concepts into powerful visual messaging.
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The (Re)Search for Inclusive Healthcare

Partnered with Cedars-Sinai Research Center for Health Equity, ArtCenter students were challenged to explore a lack of diverse representation in clinical trials. By designing an awareness campaign, the hope is to encourage clinical trial participation with Los Angeles Latino and Korean communities - as well as inform healthcare providers about their own biases.
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Designmatters Project Archive

List of all Designmatters Case Studies in Chronological order.
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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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Birthing Barriers: Designing for Black Birth Equity

This Designmatters Studio challenged transdisciplinary students to learn about the disparity and dangers facing pregnant Black birthing people in Los Angeles County who are four times more likely than white birthing people to die of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.
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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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Bee Lab: Designing for Wild Bee Conservation & Biodiversity

Working with biologists, scientific researchers and community advocates, student teams conducted field research, interviewed experts and conceptualized conservation outreach efforts that would benefit bees and help humans better understand these insects as important ecological links.
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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.

The Aesthetics of Power: What Makes Good Design

A GOOD STOPPING POINT: SMOKING CESSATION CAMPAIGNS FOR LGBTQIA+

Safe Niños: Games, Stories, and Animations to prevent Childhood Burns

"One of the best ways to change public perception is to combine art with science.”
Dr. Jerry Schubel, President & CEO, Aquarium of the Pacific

Branded: How Brands Shape Ideas, Identities and Society

The (Re)Search for Inclusive Healthcare

FY21 Designmatters Goals

"All of a sudden, I wasn’t a student working in a classroom in Pasadena, but a person with responsibility and potential to change the world."
Jonathan Goldman Advertising, Student

Designing Advocacy: Arts Education + Graphic Design Implementation

Designing for Green Justice: Protecting the White Sage Campaign

Detectable Preventable: Promoting Colorectal Cancer Screenings Within the Filipino-American Community

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DESIGNMATTERS MINOR IN SOCIAL INNOVATION

A transcripted course of study for ArtCenter undergraduate students in social innovation

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

ArtCenter students are embedded in host organizations for one full 14-week academic term to work on high-level projects.

Designmatters Faculty

The Designmatters Residency

"I learned how to work with and for others and how to put the client’s needs above my own. I had to know everything about my target user and create with them in mind."
Jie Gu, Student, Interaction Design