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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PACIFIC RIM: Eco Research Lab Costa Rica
ArtCenter students collaborated with Tama University 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. This immersive experience challenged students to draw upon the influences of biomimicry and nature’s biological forms for concepts that reflected symbiotic relationships with natural resources.
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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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Summer 2018 Designmatters Minor Graduates
View their amazing work at the Summer 2018 ArtCenter College of Design Grad show!
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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

Case Studies for Social Change

This seminar examines the history of community-based art and design practices through a collaboration anchored in the historic Watts Art Towers district of Los Angeles.

Socially Engaged Art

Spring 2018 - Host Department: Fine Art

"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)

Designing Democracy: The Future of Civic Engagement

Spring 2018 - Host Department: Humanities & Sciences

RECAP: Dawn Hancock’s A Workshop About Workshops

Seeing the Unseen: Visualizing Flow Patterns of Mesopelagic Ocean Eddies

Spring 2018 - Host Department: Interaction Design

"The students were able to grasp the need and the reality of vulnerable communities and translate that information into creative yet realistic ideas. This was a great example of how design can contribute to furthering a cause."
Bianca Lomell, Regional Director for North America, Project Concern International (PCI)

The Es Tiempo Campaign

Summer 2009 - Host Department: Advertising

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

Imagining the Future of the Barbie Dreamhouse

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“I learned that working together as a team means finding the strengths in your partners, finding the strengths in yourself and bringing those together. But it’s also the ability to see weaknesses, especially your own and knowing the areas you need to work on to get better.”
Anna Violette, Student, Product Design