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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INSIDE and OUT: Closing the Cancer Gap in LGBTQIA+ Communities
In partnership with Cedars-Sinai Research Center for Health Equity (RCHE), ArtCenter students created a comprehensive awareness campaign targeting youth in LGBTQIA+ communities about the threat of cancers associated with Human Papillomavirus (HPV).
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Project Play: Exploring the Concept of Play Through Pop-Up Experiences
In partnership with Kidspace Children’s Museum in Pasadena, ArtCenter students conceptualize engaging age-appropriate museum play experiences that would serve as educational outreach at community locations.
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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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Shield Makers
ArtCenter students design protective face shields to assist medical workers caring for those affected by Covid19.
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Designmatters Project Archive
List of all Designmatters Case Studies in Chronological order.
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2020 Census: Information Graphics to Overcome Participation Barriers
Using data associated with the Census 2020, ArtCenter students created multidisciplinary projects to promote participation in the upcoming census, targeting populations that are typically undercounted.
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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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COANIQUEM: Safe Niños: Co-creating Innovative Healing Environments for Children
Student teams co-created playful and therapeutic environments that will welcome young burn patients and their families at COANIQUEM’s two satellite campuses spread far across the expansive country: Antofagasta (in the north) and Puerto Montt (south).
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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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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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Adaptive Design Planning: Sea Level Rise in Long Beach Communities
This DesignStorm challenged transdisciplinary ArtCenter students to address the impact of rising sea level on the Long Beach communities of Belmont Shore, Naples Island and the Peninsula.
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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

Meet IDSA Design Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship winner: Peggy Li

IDSA / July 2020

Project Play: Exploring the Concept of Play Through Pop-Up Experiences

"Socially conscious designers can inject new ways of thinking into the world to help deal with pervasive social and environmental problems (such as inequity and the hyper-production of wasteful and harmful things)."
Mari Nakano, Grad Media Design '09, Visual Design Lead, UNICEF Innovation Unit

Game On: Inspiring a Healthy L.A. for 2028

COANIQUEM: Safe Niños: Development Seminar | Co-creating Innovative Healing Environments for Children

2020 Census: Information Graphics to Overcome Participation Barriers

"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

Socially Responsible Art: Connecting Legacy L.A. Youth to Artistic Opportunities and Personal Expression

The Aquarium of the Pacific: Open Ocean Project

In the Open Ocean studio, Designmatters students created a public awareness campaign for the Aquarium of the Pacific centered on the topic of ocean exploration.

INSIDE and OUT: Closing the Cancer Gap in LGBTQIA+ Communities

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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.

“The problem the students were trying to solve, in essence, was how to visualize data. These teams figured out ways to understand, digest and make data real. That’s a difficult task, but bringing together transdisciplinary students seemed to facilitate and accelerate the process. Each of them – product designers, graphic designers, advertising, etc. – was oriented to view and contribute in a unique way that added depth to the concepts.”
Petrula Vrontikis, Instructor