Library

Mariana Prieto On Social Innovation For Wildlife

ArtCenter
March 2019

Mariana Prieto is a social innovator in the purest sense of the term. From the moment she collected her degree in Product Design from ArtCenter seven years ago, she’s been working at the forefront of social change. She’s spent much of her time in the developing world, deploying her deeply empathic and thorough design methods to address challenges facing underserved communities of humans and other creatures around the globe.

Environmental Design alum Seth Baker brings his love of design and nature to the Huntington

ArtCenter
March 2019

Head gardener of the Huntington’s 6.5-acre Frances and Sidney Brody California Garden and Steven S. Koblik Education and Visitor Center, Baker has worked at the San Marino institution—a 10-minute drive from ArtCenter’s South Campus—for 13 years, and almost five of those years in his current position. “For me, there’s no better designer than nature,” says Baker. “This is a really dynamic work place, and no day is the same here.”

This Alhambra, California–based illustrator exercises his voice in his artwork.

Communication Arts
February 2019

I hope that people respond to my voice and thinking in my work. I am obsessed with translating into painting the emotional moment when you have that empty knot in your upper stomach while you’re staring forward at the space in-between you and what’s in front of you.

leonardosantamaria.com

ArtCenter to Consider What Designers Should Know About Kids

Pasadena Now
February 2019

Make no mistake, designing products for children is not kid’s play, and Pasadena’s ArtCenter College of Design will convene a Feb. 7 panel to discuss the weighty considerations that come with creating for the juvenile market.

The panel has been assembled by Krystina Castella, author of the just-released textbook, “Designing for Kids,” and is comprised of five people who contributed to the work.

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

Los Angeles Times
January 2019

To convey some immigrants’ frustration of getting ahead only to fall back, Abbassi designed a poster — a children’s board game with squares that read “daca,” “asylum,” “work visa” and “fees.” The message: Let’s have greater compassion for immigrants and refugees doing their best to navigate what can seem like an impossible system.

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

Los Angeles Times
December 2018

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

KABC-TV
December 2018

The nonprofit United We Stay teamed up with students at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena under the program Designmatters. They said the goal is to address some of the most common misconceptions about immigration.

‘Dispelling Myths’, a project that seeks to destroy false beliefs about immigrants

Univision Los Angeles
December 2018

Una clase del Art Center College of Design en Pasadena creó unas imágenes artísticas que buscan romper la falsa creencia de que los inmigrantes llegan al país para convertirse en una “carga pública”. Si desea ver todas las imágenes puede ingresar a www.unitedwestay.org.

Should We Replace Homeless Shelters With Tiny Houses?

Los Angeles Magazine
December 2018

Earlier this year, Mayor Garcetti announced a plan to fund 15 temporary shelters in every City Council district to help ease the region’s homelessness crisis. The first of these—a cluster of four metal co-living trailers in downtown’s El Pueblo historic district—was erected in September. As officials scramble to approve sites for the others, students at the ArtCenter College of Design have been rethinking how future pop-up developments might look.

Students Touch on the Theme of Immigration Through Art

LA Opinion
December 2018

Dicen que una imagen vale más que mil palabras y un grupo de estudiantes de artes gráficas dieron a conocer su punto de vista acerca de la inmigración en Estados Unidos mediante una presentación en el centro de Los Ángeles el martes.

Estudiantes del ArtCenter College of Design se unió a United We Stay—una organización dedicada a abogar por los derechos de los inmigrantes—para que por medio de su arte ayudaran a desmentir, lo que ellos argumentan son, los mitos acerca de la inmigración.

With Tiny Homes, Pasadena ArtCenter’s Students Face the Realities of Solving LA’s Homeless Crisis

Daily News
December 2018

A small group of students at Pasadena’s ArtCenter College of Design took on an ambition project, with “tiny” results.

They responded to a challenge from the city of Los Angeles to develop structures that could be used in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s emergency housing plan, “A Bridge Home.” In the process, they got a first-hand look at the challenges of solving what has become an increasing visible “crisis.”

The fruits of their labor were three tiny homes, “microdwellings” unveiled on Tuesday night at The Main Museum in downtown Los Angeles.

The World’s Most Sustainable Corporations Might Surprise You—and Other Lessons from Design Educator Mariana Amatullo

AIGA Eye on Design
November 2018

Mariana Amatullo’s teaching and design practice sits at the intersection of design, design management, and social innovation—one of her primary concerns being the responsibility of (and potential for) designers to get involved in social and institutional change. After 16 years at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, where she co-founded and led Designmatters, the school’s social innovation program. Last year, Amatullo joined Parsons The New School in New York City, where she teaches strategic design and management, and is co-chair of the school’s Management Initiative.

The Design of Business | The Business of Design Podcast: Mariana Amatullo

Design Observer
October 2018

Mariana Amatullo teaches strategic design and management at Parsons School of Design at The New School in New York.

Executives often get praise for their decisiveness, but Amatullo says that, in today’s business climate, leaders need to adopt a “design attitude.”

Design / The Tool to Build the Future

Revista D-mentes
October 2018

In our 15th edition we made a brief introduction to the work done by Designmatters in collaboration with entities and foundations from other countries, on that opportunity, Miranda Lapour, one of the participants in one of the projects, told us a bit about her experience working on the hand with Safe Niños and COANIQUEM in Santiago de Chile, CL.

ArtCenter Provost Karen Hofmann Receives 2018 IDSA Education Award

ArtCenter
September 2018

Karen Hofmann, provost of ArtCenter College of Design, was presented with the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) Education Award during the organization’s annual International Design Conference in recognition of her significant and distinguished contributions to the field of industrial design education.

Product Design Student, Anna Meddaugh Wins James Dyson Award

James Dyson Awards
September 2018

A reusable personal urinal allowing women and girls living in refugee camps to relieve themselves within the safety and comfort of their own shelter at night, when the threat of rape makes going to the communal latrines too dangerous.

Public Interest Design Education Guidebook: Curricula, Strategies, and SEED Academic Case Studies (Public Interest Design Guidebooks)

Amazon
September 2018

Public Interest Design Education Guidebook: Curricula, Strategies, and SEED Academic Case Studies presents the pedagogical framework and collective curriculum necessary to teach public interest designers. The second book in Routledge’s Public Interest Design Guidebook series, the editors and contributors feature a range of learning competencies supported by distinct teaching strategies where educational and community-originated goals unite.

ArtCenter Faculty & Students Awarded 2018 Sappi Ideas That Matter Grant

Sappi Ideas that Matter
September 2018

A mini-library of 10 books, designed by Illustration students from ArtCenter College of Design. The books are culturally and linguistically relevant to rural Haiti, whose literacy rate stands around 50%. Distributed to schools and families through the Matènwa Community Learning Center, these books will encourage reading as part of everyday life and help to build habits and affinities that support education.

The “Night Loo” Keeps Refugee Women Safe From Hazardous Bathroom Trips

Fast Company Design
September 2018

At camps where late-night bathroom visits can expose women and girls to the risk of sexual assault, this new toilet makes it possible to go without going outside.

“I just thought there’s got to be a better way,” says Anna Meddaugh, a product design student at Art Center College of Design who created the concept for a class that asked students to consider products for displaced people.

Valedictorian Wisdom from 2018 ArtCenter Grad Charlie Neshyba Hodges

ArtCenter
August 2018

Charlie Hodges is no stranger to thriving under pressure. He enrolled in ArtCenter’s product design program on the heels of an award-winning career as a dancer with the Twyla Tharp Company and on Broadway in Movin’ Out and Come Fly Away. Poised to complete this major career pirouette at the top of his ArtCenter class, Hodges shares some of his most effective strategies for succeeding as an ArtCenter student and beyond.

TEDxPASADENA TRANSFORM speaker series: Steven Butler

TEDxPASADENA
August 2018

The last time Steven Butler visited the Huntington Library, he was there to perform for an annual black-tie gala.

His next visit there will be in September to give a TEDx Talk about visual language and storytelling, and how they intersect with perception. We look forward to having him share his perspective!

One of the Most Important Roles of a Designer is to be an Interpreter of Divergent Problems

Base, diseño e innovación
August 2018

One of the most important roles of the designer is the ability to be a translator or an interpreter of divergent problems. The ability of the designer to interpret the problem and synthesize it. And that job is very important in the context of public organizations, where designers work in teams with professionals who perhaps come from more linear training.

How Design Can Boost Social Impact and Business Results

IESE Insight
July 2018

This article discusses how companies can build a design culture that boosts social impact and business results, providing examples of projects that reflect insight, imagination and iteration — the three key elements that research and experience show are essential for human-centered innovation.

IDSA West District Student Merit Award Winner Charlie Hodges

IDSA.org
July 2018

IDSA West District Student Merit Award winner Charlie Hodges, IDSA, came to industrial design circuitously, having dedicated his life to studying the art of ballet at the age of 10. Traveling across 30 nations and five continents in pursuit of professional dance, Hodges performed extensively with Twyla Tharp, im’ij-re and the Sacramento Ballet, earning the Best Male Dancer at the European Critics’ Choice Awards (2003), Best Male Dancer on Broadway (2010), and L.A. Weekly’s Person of the Year (2014).

Business by Design

Los Angeles Business Journal
July 2018

The ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena has long-held ties to local and global enterprises — pipelines that give its students opportunities to pursue lucrative design and creative careers in a spread of industries.

Now the 88-year-old college, with more than 2,100 students at its two Pasadena campuses, is broadening its ties, establishing partnerships and formal programs with business schools and other universities.

Change Lab Podcast Episode 14: Jackie Amezquita on Crossing Borders and Making Change

Change Lab Podcast
June 2018

We are trying something new: We have decided to add an episode every year to the Change Lab podcast that will feature one of our graduating students. It’s a way for our listeners to learn, directly, about some of the amazing people who attend this College. We begin that endeavor with a conversation with Jackie Amezquita who just graduated from our Fine Art department this past spring.

Antiracist Classroom Hosts Two-Day Convening 'Reconstructing Practice: Toward an Antiracist Art and Design Field'

ArtCenter
June 2018

On Friday, July 13 and Saturday, July 14, The Antiracist Classroom, a student-led organization at ArtCenter College of Design, will host the two-day convening Reconstructing Practice. At Reconstructing Practice, participants will explore the ways artists, designers and technologists approach and enact anti-racist practices in a variety of settings: from academia, to museums, to communities of practice, and even neighborhoods.

WantedDesign School Workshop 2018!

Core77
June 2018

With a rich history and an incredible track record of success, the WantedDesign’s Design School Workshop launched at the start of this year’s New York Design Week, NYCxDesign, mixing and mashing students and mentors from all over the world to share, to collaborate, and to learn. Led by James Meraz and Chiara Ferrari of ArtCenter College of Design, this year’s theme was “Future Heirloom.”

Es Tiempo Campaign Raises Awareness of Cervical Cancer Prevention Among Latinas

USC News
May 2018

Es Tiempo is an annual public awareness campaign that was conceived a few years ago when Laila Muderspach, chair of the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, observed that women in the Latino communities around L.A. County had unusually high rates of cervical cancer, which can be fatal if not diagnosed early. The result was a multidisciplinary effort that included the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Professor Sheila Murphy and the Designmatters program at the Art Center College of Design.

This Artist Walked from Tijuana to L.A. to Make a Powerful Statement

Los Angeles Magazine
May 2018

It’s April 12 and at this point Amézquita has been walking for eight consecutive days, making her way up to Los Angeles all the way from the U.S.-Mexico border as part of an art performance piece she’s titled Huellas Que Germinan (Footprints That Sprout). The project was born of a course called Socially Engaged Art at ArtCenter College of Design, where Amézquita is currently wrapping up her senior year.

A Matchmaker for Public-Private Partnerships

INSEAD / Knowledge
May 2018

For well over a decade, Manuel Sosa, INSEAD Associate Professor of Technology and Operations Management, has taught an elective-course series bringing together INSEAD MBA candidates and visiting students from the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. Students from both schools team up to tackle project-based challenges posed by real companies.

Artist Jackie Amezquita Walked From The U.S.-Mexico Border To Los Angeles

GOOD Magazine
April 2018

Sunset descends upon Los Angeles’ Chinatown as a crowd gathers inside an art space filled with socially-conscious art. Called “Decentralized,” the works here largely look at issues of displacement and brings together students from ArtCenter College of Design and local nonprofit Art Division.

Meanwhile, not too far from here, Jackie Amezquita is walking.

The ArtCenter student, only a short time away from graduation, is on the final stretch of an eight-day journey that has taken her from the U.S.-Mexico border — separating San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico — to Los Angeles. Most of her trek has been made on foot. “Huellas que Germinan” is a performance piece that stretches 150 miles and is Amezquita’s meditation upon her personal history.

Art Student Walks From Tijuana to Her L.A. Gallery Show

LA Weekly
April 2018

Each day, from sunrise to sunset, from April 5 to 12, ArtCenter College of Design student Jackie Amézquita was walking. For eight days, the young artist could be found treading in silence, proceeding along the highlighted route that would take her from the Mexican border to a gallery in L.A.’s Chinatown, where people were waiting for her at her own opening reception.

Design Over Time: the Value of Case Studies

AIGA
April 2018

This essay was adapted from “LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways in Design for Social Innovation” as an introduction for 10 case studies that were part of the book which focused on the changing role of design and designers in society and the marketplace. Case studies are one of the most important tools that can help designers at any stage of their career, by pairing their existing design abilities with the wisdom of those who navigated complex projects.

ArtCenter and Art Division Students on their Socially Engaged Art Collaboration

ArtCenter
April 2018

In the Spring 2018 Fine Art course Socially Engaged Art, taught by Assistant Professor Olga Koumoundouros, Fine Art students collaborated with students from Art Division, a nonprofit organization by Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park dedicated to training and supporting underserved youth committed to studying the visual arts. Managed by ArtCenter’s social innovation department Designmatters, and with funding by the Mary Pickford Foundation, the course culminates with Decentralized, an April 2018 group exhibition in L.A. of 16 artists working around the theme of displacement.

Q&A with Dr. Mariana Amatullo: “Sustainable design is not a choice but an imperative”

The Oslo Manifesto
April 2018

Dr. Mariana Amatullo is a tremendous advocate of the role design plays as a driver of societal innovation— as evidenced by her ongoing work and dedication as a design researcher, practitioner-scholar, strategist, educator, and author. Mariana is an Associate Professor of Strategic Design and Management at The New School at Parsons School of Design. She is the co-founder and former Vice President of Designmatters at the ArtCenter College of Design. She additionally acts as Executive Board Member for the Cumulus International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media.

Local Architects Celebrate 20 Years in Santa Monica

Santa Monica Daily Press
March 2018

From a home Adelaide Drive near the Pacific Palisades to the new Vice Media offices in Venice, the architects at March Studio have left their mark on the places where Santa Monicans visit, live and learn across the west side. Whether you sent your children to the Growing Place or shopped at Fred Segal, chances are you have walked through a space designed by the close-knit team at March Studio. Todd, his wife, Sherry Hoffman, and design director Lara Hoad specialize in working with brands to create custom spaces.

Moving beyond divide in America: Insights from well-being metrics, teenagers, and Sister Sledge

The Brookings Institution
March 2018

The City of Santa Monica developed a multidimensional Well-being Index in partnership with the RAND Corporation and the New Economics Foundation. A particularly noteworthy effort resulted from the Index and highlights the potential of well-being metrics, including in incorporating the energy and creativity of youth. It stemmed from a design challenge answered by students at Designmatters at ArtCenter focused on Communicating the Well-being of a City with Santa Monica.

Culture and Arts at the Aquarium

Long Beach Business Journal
March 2018

D-mentes: Qué Pasa Con El Diseño

Revista D-mentes
March 2018

ArtCenter Students to Help Bridge Trust Between LB Police and Residents

ColoradoBoulevard.net 
March 2018

New Meters in L.A.'s Grand Park Will Fund Homeless Outreach

Los Angeles Times
February 2018

ArtCenter Project Aims at Building Mutual Trust Between Long Beach Police, Residents

Pasadena News Now
February 2018

Pasadena’s ArtCenter College of Design has received a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a project aiming to build mutual trust and cooperation between the Long Beach Police Department and Long Beach residents. The project, themed Building Trust, Bridging Divides: Visual Communication for Diverse Communities and Their Police, will kick off in May, co-led by ArtCenter and the City of Long Beach — California’s seventh-largest and one of the nation’s most diverse cities.

Downtown LA Meters Will Accept Donations for Homeless Outreach Program

Elijah Chiland
February 2018

With a growing homelessness crisis affecting the entire Los Angeles region, residents now have an unusual way of contributing to a potential solution: by feeding a meter. City and county leaders unveiled new donation meters Thursday designed to capture the contributions of charitable passersby.

ArtCenter NEA Grant to Help Long Beach Police

ArtCenter
February 2018

ArtCenter College of Design is pleased to announce it has received a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This prestigious new grant was awarded in support of a project that aims to build mutual trust and cooperation between the Long Beach Police Department and Long Beach residents.

Change Lab: Wendy MacNaughton's Illustrated Journalism Draws Extraordinary Stories from Everyday Lives

ArtCenter
January 2018

Wendy MacNaughton is an illustrator, author and graphic journalist whose idiosyncratic body of work shimmers with warmth and humanity. Her recent collaboration with writer Caroline Paul yielded the bestselling young adult novel, The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure, which novelist Sheryl Strayed, praised as: “the book of the year for daredevils, doers and dreamers of all ages.”

Why you need to go check out the Global Grad Show

Khaleej Times
November 2017

The Global Grad Show — they’re hashtagging it #FutureOfDesign — is on till tomorrow, November 18, at d3, Dubai. With some 200 prototypes from 92 universities in 43 countries to marvel at, it’s not surprising that the place, even on Day One, was packed. School kids seemed especially charmed.

Designmatters Releases Vital Higher Ed Resource in Social Innovation

Cumulus Association
November 2017

Designmatters at ArtCenter College Design published a digital guide for educators to help students better understand the spectrum of challenges and opportunities for designers building career pathways in social innovation. LEAP Dialogues: The Educator’s Guide, edited by Mariana Amatullo, Andrew Shea and Jennifer May, is available as of September 27, 2017 as a free downloadable PDF on the Designmatters website to anyone interested in the complexity of navigating the rich opportunities that are connected to shaping meaningful career pathways in the emergent field of design for social innovation.

What Will A Designer + Their Job Look Like in 2025?

Eye on Design
October 2017

To try to understand the designers of the future, we turn to their teachers today.

Big questions for big times: What makes a good design education? And what exactly will the designers of the future be expected to do, above and beyond (or as part of) a design career?

CHANGE LAB PODCAST FEATURING MARI NAKANO, SOCIAL IMPACT DESIGNER WITH THE NEW YORK CITY MAYOR’S OFFICE

Dot Magazine
October 2017

Mari Nakano (MFA 10 Media Design Practices) is a social impact designer and ArtCenter alum deploying design problem solving to improve the lives of at-risk populations around the world. She was recently named Deputy Director of the Service Design Studio with the New York City’s Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity.

A LEGACY OF CREATIVITY AND COMPASSION

Dot Magazine
October 2017

ArtCenter President Lorne M. Buchman reflects on the legacy of Mariana Amatullo, the former head of Designmatters, and the program she co-founded.

CHANGE LAB PODCAST EPISODE 2: DIRECTOR JOHN X. CAREY ON BALANCING ART AND COMMERCE IN FILM

Dot Magazine
September 2017

John X. Carey (BFA 11 Film) is a filmmaker and ArtCenter alum whose social conscience has fueled his wildly successful career as a commercial director. He is best known for Dove Real Beauty Sketches, a short film about female self esteem that became the most watched internet commercial of all time.

Product Design Faculty Member Krystina Castella on the Serious Business of Designing for Play

Dot Magazine
May 2017

“There are many big questions about how kids are growing up today,” says Castella, an enterprising mother of a 5-year-old. “Designers with our research methods and expertise in user experiences are coming up with interesting solutions to create change. We can do a lot to make a difference in kids daily lives today and in the future.”

SAFE NIÑOS AND FRESH EYES CUBA: MARIANA AMATULLO AND DESIGN FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION

Revista Diseña Magazine
October 2017

Designmatters Co-founder and former Vice President, Mariana Amatullo shares with Revista Diseña Magazine two of Designmatters most celebrated and impactful projects Fresh Eyes Cuba and Safe Niños.

Read Article

How Role Play Helped a Designer Find Key Challenges at a Women's Clinic in Kenya

KCET
July 2017

Have you ever tried to apply for food stamps? Have you ever tried to use a public toilet? Have you ever cooked on a cook stove?

Visualization is a Way to Encourage Collaboration in Social Design

KCET
July 2017

When doing things in the world that involve communities of people, social impact is inevitable. However, the nature of that impact is ultimately a matter of design — it can create a positive difference, or a negative one.

Visual Mapping as a Powerful Tool for Social Design

KCET
July 2017

In design research, understanding how people think is far more useful than simply what they think. When working in foreign cultures, this can be incredibly challenging. Without sharing the same cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds, it’s critical to spend extra time understanding how and why people make decisions. In these circumstances, I often use visual mapping — a simple but powerful research tool.

What Do Designers Need to Practice Social Innovation?

KCET
June 2017

Like never before, designers are improvising. They’re finding un-inscribed rules in frames of reference as didactic as form fields, as motley as urban landscapes. This section of “LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways in Design for Social Innovation” investigates the “what” of practicing social innovation. Not comfortable resting on the “what” that is, the practice of social innovation stretches our understanding of what can be. And suggests a bit of improv is required.

Team Human: Interaction design alum Nicholas Jayanty's fluid ride from filmmaking to Artcenter to IBM

Dot Magazine
June 2017

“For me, it’s always been about social justice,” says Jayanty, who had a Designmatters concentration (now minor). “I’m very sensitive to how people self-identify and socially identify. My own identity is really fluid. With interaction design, it’s all about finding the truth and shattering assumptions. You talk to your users, and they either discredit or validate those assumptions. It’s not about designing an experience. It’s about designing for an experience.”

Why Designers Practice Social Innovation

KCET
June 2017

The role of designers in society is changing. More and more, designers are being tasked to make an impact on the world around them by applying their skills to better society. “LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways in Design for Social Innovation” published by Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design explores this emergent field of design for social innovation, its key issues and the future of the field. The following series are excerpts from the publication.

Keck Futures Initiative and the Gulf Research Program Award $1.55 Million for 21 Projects

National Academies of Science Engineering & Medicine
June 2017

The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI) and the Gulf Research Program — programs of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine — are pleased to announce recipients of 21 interdisciplinary seed grants, totaling $1.55 million. These competitive grants support collaborations and investigations resulting from Discovering the Deep Blue Sea: Research, Innovation, Social Engagement, the 14th annual Futures conference, held last November.

Women's Design Salon Recap

verynice
May 2017

We’re reflecting on our first installment of the verynice Women’s Design Salon: Inspiring Action. In March, I had the pleasure of moderating this event with my co-host, Clarisa. We had our panel of experts discuss their experiences in the world of design and impact and then guests broke out into groups to get to know each other, talk about how the social climate effects us in the workplace, and how it affects our personal lives.

YesGrl! Interaction Design Alumna Kelly Weldon Take the World by Storm

Dot Magazine
May 2017

When recent Interaction Design alumna Kelly Weldon (BS 2016)—the co-founder of in-the-works female friendship mobile application YesGrl—was growing up in California and Michigan, she loved animals and wanted to be a veterinarian. With four sisters and one brother, she also yearned to stretch her wings solo.

New wellness campaign created by students

Santa Monica Daily Press
May 2017

In order to promote their efforts, the City wanted to create a creative and innovative campaign. They turned to the ArtCenter College of Design students to work alongside Santa Monica civic leaders, and residents.

Where Design Education Needs To Go Next

Fast Company
May 2017

Mariana Amatullo is vice president of Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design. She spoke to Doreen Lorenzo for Designing Women, a series of interviews with brilliant women in the design industry.

Looking to Art to Improve Santa Monica’s Wellbeing

Santa Monica Next
May 2017

Most recently, the city worked with students from Pasadena’s ArtCenter College of Design to find creative ways to not only communicate the results of the Wellbeing survey but also to engage residents in finding solutions to issues the results revealed.

State Senate Approves Freeway Sign for Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial

Asbarez
May 2017

Sacramento, Calif.—Senator Anthony Portantino’s legislation, SCR 25, which will install a sign at the Fair Oaks Avenue exit off Interstate 210 in Pasadena to direct the public to the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial, passed the Senate Transportation Committee with unanimous support.

Art Center College of Design partners with UNICEF Mexico – bringing design and technology to issues within international development.

UNICEF Stories
March 2017

Implementing innovation for children requires understanding the complexities and intricacies of a child’s life – what are their needs, interests, and concerns, how do they interact, and in which ecosystems are their actions embedded? Another important question is whether they have access to technology, how do they use it and how often?

Art Center Visits Sequoyah with DesignMatters Workshop

Sequoyah High School
March 2017

Four students from Art Center’s DesignMatters program to run a workshop on ideation that helped students synthesize their understanding of the SIP issues while also highlighting the gaps in their knowledge.

Pasadena’s ArtCenter College of Design Launches Minor in Design for Social Innovation

Pasadena News Now
March, 2017

Pasadena’s ArtCenter College of Design will offer a new minor in Design for Social Innovation program beginning this summer in response to an increasing demand for this type of specialization in public and private sector organizations.

Mariana Amatullo: "We are in the right moment for the designer to have a new activism"

El Diario Diseno
March, 2017

An interview with Mariana Amatullo.

LEAP Dialogues Reviewed by Form Magazine

Form Magazine
February, 2017

MDP/Field Collaborates With UNICEF in Mexico City

Media Design Practices
February, 2017

Mexico City is the site for MDP/Field’s Spring Concept year studio. A multi-week engagement, the studio is part of a deep interrogation of design’s role in diverse, global contexts. Students will work with UNICEF and the tech hub Startup Mexico to explore what it means to make with purpose. Our designers will apply multiple worldviews to define social practice for the 21st Century condition.

Social Innovation: Now More Than Ever

Print Magazine
February, 2017

The role of design and designers in society and the marketplace is changing. So editors Mariana Amatullo, Bryan Boyer, Liz Danzico and Andrew Shea recently co-edited LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways in Social Innovation (Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design), which addresses this transition through conversations, case studies, examples and more—becoming a veritable handbook for social impact design stories through a global lens.

America Has Its Problems, But Design Can Help Solve Them

Wired
February 2017

DESIGNERS DO MORE than make shiny, pretty things. They shape how the world works by solving problems. And right now, the country has some problems.

International Design Awards Winners 2017: Editorial

HOW Magazine
January, 2017

HOW International Design Awards recognizes excellence on a global scale. See LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways for Designers in Social Innovation.

AIGA’s Design Educators Community list their must-have books for design inspiration for 2017

Design Observer
January, 2017

To energize and support educators with the new year, the members of the AIGA Design Educators Community steering committee (DEC) have compiled a list of books (a few oldies but goodies, a few fresh and new) that are sure to serve as creative fodder for both life-long learners and for educators arriving back at campus for a new term. — The Editors

LaTercera MásDeco
January, 2017

An interview with Mariana Amatullo.

People to People ­­: Fresh Eyes on a Changing Cuba

Design Observer
January, 2017

Mariana Amatullo on ArtCenter’s recent project in Cuba, which created the opportunity to collaborate with the communication and industrial design faculty and students from Cuba’s only higher education institution dedicated to design, Havana’s Instituto de Diseño (ISdi).

Revamping sex ed

Signal Tribune
January, 2017

LB’s Health Dept. partners with local college for new approach to preventing STDs

FUTURE CRAFT: Japan + Thailand Edition

Design Milk
January, 2017
Nanette Wong

Worlds collide between California, Japan, and Thailand in the epic convergence that was FUTURE CRAFT Japan + Thailand. This two week field research trip and exhibition brought together students from ArtCenter College of Design in California and Tama Art University in Tokyo, Japan to envision opportunities for design with a social impact on the design community in Northern Thailand.

ArtCenter Student Stories - Alvin Oei

ArtCenter
December, 2016

Environmental Design student Alvin Oei is both a busy student, and a student leader. Early on in his ArtCenter career, he founded ArtReach, a student led mentorship program that brings free art and design education to local non profit organizations. We caught up with him to find out what makes him tick, why he came to ArtCenter, how the College has changed him and what he plans for the future.

Exploring the oceans with scientists, engineers, artists and designers at the NAKFI 2016 conference

Science Practice
December, 2016
Dr Tempest van Schaik

In November this year I was lucky enough to be flown to Irvine, California for “the Woodstock of conferences” – the 2016 National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI). I was invited in order to bring my biomedical engineering perspective to a diverse group of artists and scientists discussing ocean exploration.

Art Center Presents Unique Dual Exhibit Showcasing Student Travels to Cuba and Germany

Pasadena Now
December, 2016
Brandon Villalovos

Art Center presented two unique visual exhibits that showcased student work based on separate immersive trips to both Cuba and Berlin Wednesday evening in the form of interactive and multi sensory displays aimed to provide a snapshot into the daily lives of these foreign lands.

ArtCenter’s Fresh Eyes Cuba Studio Exhibition

Impact Design Hub
December, 2016

On Wednesday, December 7, ArtCenter will exhibit work from its Fresh Eyes Cuba studio at the school’s headquarters in Pasadena, California. The studio was organized around a 10-day immersive trip to Havana, Cuba, in which ArtCenter students engaged in a 4-day workshop with communication and industrial design students from Cuba Instituto Superior de Diseño (ISDi).

One of a Kind Dual Exhibit Brings Cuba and Berlin to Pasadena

Pasadena Now
December, 2016
Brandon Villalovos

Designmatters is Art Center’s award-winning social impact department that enabled students to present Fresh Eyes Cuba in conjunction with the Testlab Berlin City_X exhibit that is set to open to the public.

Duoc UC’s School of Design collaborates with international social project

Learn Chile
November, 2016

The project of the School of Design and Construction, jointly with the Art Center College and the Chilean NGO Coaniquem (Corporation for Assistance of Burned Children), seeks to provide better spaces for Chilean children and teenagers that are treated at the center.

Socially responsible design in America presented in Cooper Hewitt exhibition

Dezeen Magazine
October, 2016
Jenna Mcknight

The “Where’s Daryl?” gun violence prevention educational program is showcased in the “By The People: Designing for a Better America” exhibition, at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York.

L.A. Earthquake: Get Ready - The next Drill will be on October 20, 2016, at 10:15 AM.

The Norman Lear Center
October, 2016

The next Great Southern California Shakeout, earthquake drill will take place on October 20 at 10:15AM. The original campaign was created by ArtCenter students in a two term Designmatters studio in Summer 2007 and Fall 2008.

This Book Design by TwoPoints.Net Avoids Closed Letterforms to Open Dialogue with the Reader

Communication Arts Magazine
October, 2016

“On the cover of LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways in Design for Social Innovation, a custom-designed typeface pops against a simple, yet distinctive color scheme of neon red, petrol blue and soft gold. Spreading throughout the rest of the flexible visual identity for LEAP Dialogues, designed by Barcelona-based studio TwoPoints.Net and published by educational platform Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design.”

ArtCenter College of Design Student Wins Ideas that Matter Award for Design that Helps Young Burn Patients in Latin America

Pasadena News Now
October, 2016
Teri Bond

“Alvin Oei’s The Healing Tree an outcome of the Safe Niños initiative is recognized with top honor in competition highlighting the role design can play to help solve complex social issues.”

Interview with Faculty Council Co-Chairs Matthew Clements and Pascual Wawoe and Chairs Council Co-Chairs Mariana Amatullo and Geoff Wardle

ArtCenter College of Design
October, 2016
by Cindy Bernard

In recognition of the anniversary of the alliance between Chairs Council and Faculty Council, Faculty Council blog editor Cindy Bernard asked the Co-Chairs of Faculty Council and Chairs Council to reflect on the work done in the last year.

Safe Niños Project "The Healing Tree" Awarded Sappi Ideas that Matter Grant

Sappi Ideas That Matter
October, 2016

“Alvin Oei’s “Healing Tree” project is awarded a Sappi Ideas that Matter Grant. The design is an outcome of the Safe Niños initiave and is a storybook, patient passport and environmental graphic system to guide children and their families through burn treatment plans in Latin America.

Mariana Amatullo of Designmatters

Project Think Tank
September, 2016
Cory Wingelaar

“Meet Mariana Amatullo, PhD.,  CoFounder and Vice President of Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design and a scholar-in-residence at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University where her research focuses on design as a knowledge-domain for social innovation.”

The Master of Manipulating Habitats

Cultured Magazine
September, 2016
Dan Howarth

Designmatters VP, Mariana Amatullo, led the 2016 awards jury,  that awarded Moshe Safdie a Cooper Hewitt Lifetime Achievement Award.

Why Designers Practice Social Innovation

NPR Design
September, 2016
by Liz Danzico

Join us at NPR headquarters for “Design for Social Impact,” an evening of conversations inspired by  LEAP Dialogues Career Pathways in Design for Social Innovation edited by Mariana Amatullo, Bryan Boyer, Liz Danzico and Andrew Shea

Mental Leap

Grafik Magazine
August, 2016
Lupi Asensio & Martin Lorenz

The role of designers in society is under the spotlight in an important collection of research and analysis by 84 designers, writers and thought leaders. Two Points studio talks us through its visual identity for LEAP Dialogues.

"Real Change Movement" Brought In Sufficient Funds to Help 20 Homeless People Get Permanent Housing

Pasadena Now
August, 2016
Brandon Villalovos

“The nine vibrant orange, refurbished parking meters that were installed in 2014 in high foot traffic areas of the city that collect donations to help end homelessness raised $8,000 last year and helped place 20 homeless individuals off the streets and into permanent housing, according to a memorandum from the Department of Housing.”

Making Models: R&D in the Social Sector

Design Mind
August, 2016
David Sherwin

This is an edited excerpt from the book LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways for Design in Social Innovation, which was published by Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design and available from DAP/Distributed Arts Publishers.

Designers’ Evolving Roles in Government - Leap Dialogues

Stanford Social Innovation Review
August, 2016
Mollie Ruskin & Jessica Teal

This is SSIR’s second excerpt from LEAP Dialogues, by Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design, in which 84 designers, educators, and thought-leaders discuss the challenges and opportunities of social innovation design.

Designmatters VP, Mariana Amatullo Speaking at 2016 SXSW Eco Conference

SXSW Eco
August, 2016
Julie Yost

“Designmatters VP, Mariana Amatullo speaking at the 2016 SXSW Eco Conference in Austin, Texas.

LEAP Dialogues Addresses Careers In Design For Social Innovation

Graphic Design USA
July, 2016
by Kristina Bravo

“LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways for Designers in Social Innovation is the first publication of its kind to present a comprehensive overview of new professional pathways to successful and meaningful careers as experienced first-hand by a who’s who of respected thought leaders who are making seminal contributions to the field.”

Diving In: Nonprofits, NGOs, and Design - Leap Dialogues

Stanford Social Innovation Review
July, 2016
Jocelyn Wyatt & Jeff Wishnie

LEAP Dialogues  features 84 designers, educators, and thought-leaders discussing the growing demand for social innovation design and the many challenges and opportunities around designers’ work in the field.

LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways for Designers in Social Innovation

Slanted Magazine
July, 2016
TwoPoints.net

“LEAP Dialogues is a manifestation of the state of the art in design practices through the lens of social innovation.o battle homelessness, one city came up with a controversial alternative to giving spare change to panhandlers.”

Designing Solutions

International Educator
July, 2016
Charlotte West

“The Safe Niños initiative featured in International Educator Magazine.

Real Change Meters Implemented in West Palm Beach, Florida

PalmBeach Post
June, 2016
by Christina Diabo

“The Real Change Movement spreads to West Palm Beach Florida.

The Most Beautiful Book Covers Of The Year Are All About Type

Fast Company
June, 2016
Meg Miller

“LEAP Dialogues wins Design Observer and AIGA’s 50 Books | 50 Covers competition.

Problem Solving Through Art & Design: Designmatters Fellows

Long Beach i-team
June, 2016

“Designmatters Fellows work with the Long Beach i-team and stakeholders developing solutions to Long Beach’s most frustrating challenges by facilitating design thinking to the public sector.”

"LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways in Design for Social Innovation" Wins 50 Books | 50 Covers

Design Observer
June, 2016

Read Article

Text Leaps Into New Era of Design

ColoradoBoulevard.net 

June, 2016
Melanie Hooks

“LEAP Dialogues rooftop launch party held at ArtCenter College of Design south campus.

What Drives Innovation in Development? - From Poverty to Power

OXFAM
May, 2016
Duncan Green

“Designmatters VP, Mariana Amatullo and Chris Fabian featured in social innovation publication “Innovation for International Development: Navigating the Paths and Pitfalls” edited by Ben Ramalingam of IDS and Kirsten Bound of Nesta.

What are “Flexible Visual Identities” + Will They Replace Logo-centric Design?

AIGA
May, 2016
Madeleine Morley

“LEAP Dialogues designers TwoPoints.net are profiled by AIGA.

Designmatters + Autodesk Foundation

May 2016

Designmatters is thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Autodesk Foundation under their Educational Program Grants. The Autodesk Foundation is the first foundation to focus exclusively on supporting the people and organizations using design for impact. As Designmatters celebrates 15 years of social impact design, we are excited to collaborate with the Autodesk Foundation to expand our programs and outreach by adding new courses, new partners, new projects and new opportunities for Designmatters students. We look forward to sharing more about these new endeavors soon, and in the meantime, you can read about Designmatters and the Stories of Impact of the Autodesk Foundation’s other grantees on their website.

Designmatters thanks the Autodesk Foundation and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The Autodesk Foundation invests in the most impactful people and organizations using the power of design to create a better world.

LEAP 2: Value of Design Symposium Dove Into Tough Challenges of Impact Design

Impact Design Hub
MAY, 2016

“LEAP 2: Value of Design Symposium to be held at MICA.

National Design Awards Announced

New York Times
May 2016
Julie Lasky

“Mariana Amatullo, a design educator who led the 2016 awards jury, confirmed that non-New Yorkness was a factor in the selection of honorees, announced Thursday, but not “the first lens.” More important, she said, were excellence and innovation.”

Social innovation designers pioneering new career paths

ArtCenter Dot Magazine
April, 2016
Brenda Rees

“ArtCenter catches up with two Designmatters Concentration alumni, Mariana Prieto and Jonathan Goldman—along with Designmatters Fellow Mari Nakano— in celebration of Designmatters 15th anniversary.

Large Crowd Gathers for Unveiling of Poignant Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial

Pasadena Now
April, 2015

“A poignant, long-awaited memorial to the estimated 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide was dedicated and unveiled before a crowd of as many as 1,000 in Old Pasadena’s Memorial Park Saturday afternoon.”

Change Agents: 4 Programs Making a Difference Through Impact Design

Autodesk Foundation
April, 2016
Jeff Walsh

“Designmatters allows us to look at the world as a classroom with an eye toward changing it for the better,” says Designmatters Department Vice President Dr. Mariana Amatullo.

La Cuestión Social, también es cuestión de Diseño nacional

El Diario Diseno
March 2016
Rafael Chávez

“The Safe Niños initiative profiled by El Diario Diseno.

UNICEF Innovation Team Spotlight: Mari Nakano

UNICEF Stories
February, 2016

“Former Designmatters Fellow, Mari Nakano is the Design Lead for the Office of Innovation at UNICEF New York Headquarters.

Downtown donation meters to help West Palm house homeless

Palm Beach Post
January, 2016
Tony Doris

“West Palm installing “Ready Change Movement” donation meters downtown for homeless housing.”

What it means to be a design fellow at the Innovation Unit

UNICEF Stories
January, 2016

“UNICEF profiles Fall 2015 Designmatters Fellow, Minji Gim.

Digital Library on Social Impact Projects From DesignMatters

Impact Design Hub
January, 2016

Impact Design Hub Profiles Designmatters’ Social Impact Library.

Paved With Good Intentions – When Impact Design Goes Wrong

Impact Design Hub
January, 2016

As part of the “From Failure to Resolution” series, Impact Design Hub asked leading practitioners in the world of impact design to share a few choice cautionary tales and epic blunders from their own experience in the field.

26 incredible innovations that improved the world in 2015

Mashable
December, 2015
Matt Petronzio

“The “Flo Kit” an outcome of the Girl Effect project is named one of the top 26 incredible innovations that improved the world in 2015.

Core77 Year in Review

Impact Design Hub
December, 2015
Allan Chochinov

“This past year, Core77’s Allan Chochinov had a chance to speak with leaders in social innovation about their projects, methods, and ideas about design for social impact.”

Mari Nakano wins the Young Innovator Alumni Award from Designmatters ArtCenter College of Design

UNICEF Stories
December, 2015
Pilar Lagos

“The Young Innovator Alumni Award is given to individuals that are shaping new career pathways in the design field and making meaningful contributions that challenge the norms. That’s a perfect characterization of Mari Nakano and her work.

Every day is Veterans Day for students in Designmatters’ The Healing Trauma Project

ArtCenter Dotted Line
November, 2015
Mike Winder

Students in the The Healing Trauma Project, led by Graphic Design faculty member Guillaume Wolf, have teamed up with the advocacy committee of the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA), to help raise awareness of EMDR therapy among veterans and other victims of trauma via an engaging cross-platform campaign.

Q&A with participants at the Global Innovations for Children and Youth Summit in Helsinki

UNICEF Connect
November, 2015

 Q&A with participants at the Global Innovations for Children and Youth Summit in Helsinki, including Designmatters VP, Mariana Amatullo.

The Future of Impact Design Education

Impact Design Hub
October, 2015

Twelve leading practitioners of impact design answer a simple question: “What will design education of impact designers look like ten years from now in the year 2025?”

Mariana Amatullo, PhD '15, was featured presenter at event hosted by UNICEF's Innovation Unit

Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve Univ.
October, 2015

“To battle homelessness, one city came up with a controversial alternative to giving spare change to panhandlers.”

Mariana Amatullo, PhD ’15, was the featured speaker at “Innovation by Design for UNICEF: Winning approaches and emerging organizational practices in innovation” hosted by UNICEF’s Innovation Unit at UNICEF’s offices in New York this past July. Amatullo introduced the salient findings of her recent ethnographic case study of the UNICEF Innovation Unit and participated in a panel and Q&A with John Paul Stephens, PhD, assistant professor of organizational behavior at Weatherhead, and Manuel Toscano, faculty member for products of design in the School of Visual Arts and Principal for Zago. The panel focused on some of the practices that are converging today in many of the most dynamic innovation activities underway in UNICEF organizations.

Pathways to Practice – Lessons From The Field

Impact Design Hub
October, 2015
by Kristina Bravo

Designmatters Director, Jennifer May featured in this short Impact Design Hub article on the 2015 Better World By Design Conference.

The Invention That Aims to Make Periods Less of a Pain

The Guardian
October, 2015
Terry Slavin

Product Design student, Mariko Higaki Iwai and her award winning Flo Kit design are profiled by The Guardian.

Real Change for Real Change

Sign of the Times Magazine
October, 2015
Wade Swormstedt

Sign of the Times Magazine features the Real Change Movement campaign.

Oh, the humanity!: How inclusive design transforms the designer as much as the user

ArtCenter Dotted Line
September, 2015
Sean Donahue

Core MDP Field faculty member, Sean Donahue tells us about inclusive design!

These 3 ArtCenter Projects Could Represent the Future in Wearable Tech

San Gabriel Tribune
September, 2015
Kevin Smith

Alum and MDP faculty Jenny Rodenhouse joined an ArtCenter Panel on werable technology to present her project, completed with fellow MDP lab alumni Kristina L. Ortega, Senor Salon. Do these 3 wearable‬ projects indicate the future of technology?

Dr. Mariana Amatullo on Women and Design

ICSID
September 2015

Q&A with Designmatters VP, Dr Mariana Amatulo.

A Group of Students Have Figured Out a Way to Disrupt the Period Industry in Low-Income Countries

The business Insider
August, 2015
By Shivam Saini

Flo, an outcome from the 2014 Girl Effect studio, featured in the Business Insider.

How These ArtCenter Students are Creating Social Change Through Design

The Pasadena Star-News
August, 2015
By Claudia Palma

Flo, an outcome from the 2014 Girl Effect studio, featured in the Pasadena Star-News.

Mirrors and Glass: The Role of Design in a Time of Change

Pieria
May, 2015
By Frances Coppola

Designmatters VP, Mariana Amatullo contributes a quote to this article on the changing role of today’s designer.

The Walz Happens Interviews Mariana Amatullo

The Walz Happens
May, 2015
by Sebastian Seibold & Lena Esser

The Walz Happens interviews Designmatters VP, Mariana Amatullo.

The Walz Happens Interviews Designmatters Director, Jennifer May

The Walz Happens
May, 2015
by Sebastian Seibold & Lena Esser

The Walz Happens interviews Designmatters Director, Jennifer May.

Subtle Commemoration: Pasadena's Armenian Genocide Memorial

KCET
April, 2015
By Wendy Gilmartin

“In the northeast corner of Memorial park — the quiet and the less accessed side — where the park’s original 1945-built stair entrances and ramps give way to Walnut Avenue, the new Armenian genocide memorial structure activates a portion of the park that had been bare since late 2013…”

Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial a Powerful Tribute to Victims

Pasadena Star-News
April, 2015
By Brian Day

“More than 1,500 members and supporters of the Southland’s Armenian community gathered Saturday to celebrate the dedication of the long-awaited Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial.”

Mariana Amatullo On 5 Things We Know About Social Innovation

Core77
February, 2015
By Allan Chochinov

“As part of an ongoing interview series on the Autodesk Foundation’s new blog, Allan Chochinov, Editor at Large of Core77  discusses Impact Design with Mariana Amatullo…”

Design Matters in Social Innovation: Interview with Mariana Amatullo

Impact Design Hub
February, 2015
By Allan Chochinov

Allan Chochinov, Editor of Core 77, interviews Designmatters Vice President, Mariana Amatullo for Impact Design Hub.

Inherited land and soft hands: An MDP faculty’s field notes from Uganda

The Dotted Line
February, 2015
By Elizabeth Chin

Repost from Art Center’s Dotted Line blog: Media Design Practices faculty member, Elizabeth Chin, illuminates her experiences doing field work in Uganda in Anthropology Now.

Ground Broken on Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial

Pasadena Star-News
January, 2015
By Brian Day

On January 25, 2015, ground was broken on the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial designed by Alumna Catherine Menard (Env ’14).

GiraDora: A Washing Machine for Those Without Running Water

VentureWell
January, 2015

VentureWell profiles Designmatters and the award winning Safe Agua Initiative.

Hot Water Fast: Healthier Children, More Time and Income for Mom

OpenIDEO.com
October, 2014
By Mariana Somma

Team Calientamigos member, Mariana Somma’s featured contribution to the OpenIDEO platflorm.

Made to Break: Designing Technology for Development

UNICEF Stories
October 2014
By Tina L. Zeng

MDP Field Track Graduate Student, Tina L. Zeng shares some of her experiences working with the UNICEF Innovation Lab.

Biocultural Conservation: the Antidote to Nihilism?

National Geographic
September 2014
By David Braun

National Geographic article written by our friends at the (NTBG) National Tropical Botanical Garden. The piece features our joint project “Garden in the Sea,”  a short documentary film about the NTBG created by Designmatters Fellows and Art Center Alumni Olaolu Jegede, Jonathan Augustavo and Jorge Sandoval.

Pasadena Repurposes Parking Meters to Collect Change for Homeless

Los Angeles Times
September, 2014
by Frank Shyong

Across Pasadena, fourteen repurposed parking meters will collect change for nonprofits that serve the homeless.

Feed Your Change to One of These Innovative Parking Meters and Help the Homeless

TakePart.com
September, 2014
by Kristina Bravo

“To battle homelessness, one city came up with a controversial alternative to giving spare change to panhandlers.”

Pasadena Installs Controversial Parking Meters Used To Collect Donations For The Homeless

LAist
September, 2014
by Carman Tse

“The city of Pasadena has installed two new parking meters, but not for the goal of milking us parking regulation-abiding citizens for more money. Instead, the two bright orange meters will be used to collect donations to help the homeless.”

Parking Meters In Pasadena Will Collect Donations For The Homeless

Think Progress
September, 2014
by Alan Pyke

“If giving money to panhandlers makes you queasy but refusing them makes you feel like Ebeneezer Scrooge, one California city thinks it has a solution for you.”

City Raising Money for Homeless Through Parking Meters

CBS News
September, 2014

“The Los Angeles suburb is turning 14 parking meters into repositories for donations made to nonprofits that serve the homeless…”

UNICEF Innovation Annual Report 2014

August 29, 2014

UNICEF released its annual Innovation Unit report created by Zoe Padgett, 2014 UNICEF Innovation Designmatters Fellow and Media Design Practices graduate student.

Giving Change for Change: Pasadena Parking Meter Proceeds Benefit Homeless

CBS Los Angeles
August, 2014

Real Change Movement Aims to House Pasadena Homeless Population with New Donation Meters

Pasadena Star News
August, 2014

VJing: Engaging Ugandan youth in Technology for Development

Media Design Practices/Field student, Tina L. Zeng, blogs about weDub, an electronic device that brings VJ technology to Ugandan youth.

MDP/Lab+Field Wins the Core77 Educational Initiatives prize!

Core77 recently awarded the Media Design Practices/Lab+Field Curriculum Redesign Project an Educational Initiatives prize.

Designmatters and Aspen Institute Examine the Social, Creative and Economic Impact of the New Culture of ‘Intrapreneurs’

Dotted Line
June 2014
By Sylvia Sukop

ArtCenter’s Dotted Line  reposts Mariana Amatullo’s Huffington Post article on the new culture of ‘intrapreneurs.’

LEAP Article Published in Design Principles and Practices Journal

We are happy to share that an article by Mariana Amatullo,  “Codifying Practices in an Emergent Space: Insights from the LEAP Symposium on the New Professional Frontier in Design for Social Innovation” has been published by the Design Principles and Practices Journal Annual Review.

Scholarship Seeds a New Generation of Sustainability Designers

Dotted Line
May 2014
By Anna Macaulay

Safe Agua Colombia students Carolina Rodriguez, Connie Bakshi and Rudy Rummel were recently selected as 2013-2014 Denhart Family Sustainability Scholarship recipients!

Learning from Abroad: When Government Meets Design

NEA Blog
April, 2014
By Camilla Buchanan

Designmatters is mentioned in this short blog post about the intersection of Government and Social Impact Design.

Examples of Great Design for Everyone

Everyone Deserves Great Design
April, 2014
By Ehsan Noursalehi

Safe Agua Peru project Giradora designed by Alex Cabunoc, featured as an example of great design that “simultaneously embraces desires and constraints, minimizes resource inefficiencies, optimizes value, and dignifies everyone.”

Estudiantes colombianos y estadounidenses intercambiaron experiencias de diseño para la innovación social

ANSPE
March 2014

The Safe Agua Colombia team is making very exciting progress and working closely with Techo Colombia and the families of Altos de Pino.

Safe Agua Peru: GiraDora Designer, Alex Cabunoc on TakePart Live

March 2014

Last night, ArtCenter Product Design Student Alex Cabunoc was interviewed on TakePart Live about his award winning Safe Agua Peru project GiraDora.

GiraDora is the world’s first human-powered washer and spin dryer designed specifically for people living on $4-10 per day to increase efficiency and improve the experience of hand-washing clothes.

UNICEF Innovation Unit Predictions for 2014

UNICEF Stories
January 2014
By Chris Fabian & Erica Kochi

LEAP Symposium outcomes mentioned in this UNICEF Innovation Unit article.

LAUSD and Art Center Partner Against Gun Violence

Dotted Line
January 2014
By Sylvia Sukop

Art Center’s Dotted Line blog covers The LAUSD implementation of the “Where’s Daryl?” Educational Program.

Best of 2013: The Top Nine Public Interest Design Milestones

Good Magazine
December 2013
By John Cary

LEAP Symposium listed as one of top nine public interest design milestones of 2013 by Good Magazine.

Best of 2013: The Top 10 Public Interest Design Videos

Good Magazine
December 2013
By Katie Crepeau

LEAP Symposium documentary listed as one of the top 10 public interest design videos of 2013 by Good Magazine

Mariana Amatullo on Honesty

Design Observer
November 2013

Designmatters Vice President, Mariana Amatullo shares her thoughts on honesty, as part of the Design Observer’s Insights Per Minute: Series 3.

Public and Collaborative: Exploring the Intersection of Design, Social Innovation and Public Policy

September 2013

The Designmatters DESIS Lab is delighted to be included in this publication by The DESIS Network, edited by Ezio Manzini and Eduardo Staszowski. Designmatters’ own Mariana Amatullo contributes an essay on the Teen Art Park project, on page 117.

Earthquake PSAs Around the World

American Geophysical Union Blog
October 2013
By Austin Elliot

The American Geophysical Union Blog features the “Preparedness Now” earthquake scenario video created by Grad Media Design Alum, Theo Alexopoulos for USGS, to raise awareness for the California ShakeOut drill, which falls on October 17 this year.

LEAP Day 3: Tools and Takeaways to Activate Social Innovation Career Tracks

Dotted Line
October 2013
By Teri Bond

ArtCenter’s Dotted Line blog covers day 3 of the LEAP Symposium.

Shaping Design Education at LEAP Symposium

Design Observer
October 2013
By Andrew Shea

A  Design Observer essay about the recent Designmatters hosted,  LEAP Symposium and the topic of emerging career pathways for designers in the social innovation space.

LEAP Day 2: Designing Strategies for the Future of Social Impact Design Careers

Dotted Line
October 2013
By Christine Spines

ArtCenter’s Dotted Line blog covers day 2 of the LEAP Symposium.

A bold LEAP in an Emergent Field: “Creative Citizens” Forge New Pathways in Design and Social Innovation

Dotted Line
October 2013
By Sylvia Sukop

ArtCenter’s Dotted Line blog covers day 1 of the LEAP Symposium.

Design Alone is Not Enough to Create Social Impact

GOOD
September 2013
By Sami Nerenberg

Sami Nerenberg from Design for America shares her experiences participating in the first LEAP Symposium held at ArtCenter College of Design.

Pasadena City Council Approves Armenian Genocide Monument

Los Angeles Times
September 2013
By Joe Piasecki

The Pasadena City Council approved Art Center student, Catherine Menard’s Armenian Genocide Memorial design in a unanimous decision Monday night.

ArtCenter: Design for UNICEF Final Presentations

UNICEFstories.org
August 2013
By Chris Fabian

UNICEF covers the inaugural Media Design Practices/Field track ”Design for UNICEF” course at ArtCenter College of Design.

‘Design for UNICEF’ is an interdisciplinary design programme where graduate students examine some of the challenges UNICEF faces and work in groups to research and prototype solutions.

La lavadora a pedal puede ser usada sin esfuerzo

teleSUR tv
August 2013

teleSur tv features Safe Agua Peru outcome GiraDora, in this short video segment.

ArtCenter Designs Selected for the Official Mandela 95 Poster Collection

Three Art Center  students will have their poster designs showcased as part of the Official Mandela 95 Poster Collection.  Zarina Mendoza, David Iker Sanchez and Jasveer Sidhu participated in a Designmatters and Graphic Design Department collaboration with faculty member Leonard Konopelski. The students were given the assignment of designing a poster to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s lifelong contribution to humanity.

The Mandela Poster Project received over 700 contributions from all over the world. The committee selected 95 designs to represent the 95 years of Nelson Mandela’s life thus far.  The 95 posters will be exhibited around the world and will eventually be auctioned by the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital.

To view the poster collection click here.

Every Designer Who Wants to Address Poverty Should Watch This

Good Magazine
July 2013
By Mary Slosson

This short interview with Art Center faculty member Penny Herscovitch highlights the Safe Agua Peru documentary “Hands in the Mist” directed by Erik Anderson (Graduate Broadcast Cinema ’12).

Designmatters Co-Founder, Mariana Amatullo, Adds a Voice for Socially Conscious Design to the Executive Board of Cumulus

The Dotted Line
June 2013
By Christine Spines

Art Center’s Dotted Line blog covers Designmatters’ Vice President, Mariana Amatullo’s appointment to the Executive Board of Cumulus, the International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media.

Reducing Gun Violence, One Middle School Class at a Time

Good Magazine
June 2013
By Elisa Ruffino

The Uncool Initiative outcome “Where’s Daryl?” implemented at Vista Middle School in Panorama City, CA.

Can Gun Culture be Rebranded as Uncool?

KCRW Blog
June 2013
By Frances Anderton

Frances Anderton interviews Mariana Amatullo and Elisa Ruffino about the Uncool Initiative and “Where’s Daryl?” as part of an ongoing story around combating the scourge of gun violence in the U.S.

ArtCenter Brings Anti-Gun Violence Campaign to AGLA

Aveson Charter Schools
June 2013

The Uncool Children’s Books and “Where’s Daryl?” Educational Program presented at the Aveson Global Leadership Academy in Pasadena.

100 Ideas Que Cambian El Mundo

Semana Sostenible
May 2013

National Colombia magazine  Semana Sostenible includes Designmatters as one of the top 100 ideas of merit and an interview with Mariana Amatullo in its social innovation issue.

Global Public Interest Design 100

Public Interest Design
May 2013
By John Cary and Megan Jett

Public Interest Design posts 2nd infographic representing 100 people and teams working at the intersection of design and service. The infographic features Art Center students and designers of GiraDora,  Ji A You (Environmental Design) and Alex Cabunoc (Product Design).

Design School Publishes Anti-Gun Violence Children’s Books

89.3 KPCC Southern California Public Radio (blog)
May 2013
by Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

Public radio station KPCC covers the Uncool Children’s book reading and illustration workshops.

Alleviating Poverty With A Washing Machine Powered By Your Feet

Fast Company
May 2013
by Patrick James

Fast Company interview with GiraDora designers Ji A You (Environmental Design) and Alex Cabunoc (Product Design).

Design and Social Impact Q + A: Mariana Amatullo

Cooper-Hewitt
April  2013
by Cynthia E. Smith

Mariana Amatullo discusses her work with Designmatters, in relation to the findings of the 2012 Social Impact Design Summit white paper that chronicles the Intelligent Coalitions: Design and Social Impact panel discussion she participated in.

Hallowed Ground

Pasadena Weekly
April 2013
by André Coleman & Kevin Uhrich

Catherine Menard (Environmental Design) unveils her design for Pasadena’s Armenian Genocide Memorial.

A Different Model for Design Education

Metropolis Magazine
March 2013
by Sherin Wing

An article highlighting the new Designmatters Media Design Practices Graduate Program.

A Decade That Matters: Leading the Way in Social Innovation

The Dot Magazine
March 2013
by Alex Carswell

An article documenting ten years of Designmatters’ social innovation.

Tears of a Nation

The Pasadena Weekly
February 2013
by Nick Smith

An article featuring Catherine Menard (Environmental Design) and her winning design from the Designmatters, Armenian Genocide Memorial: Design in the Public Space for Reflection and Remembrance studio.

10 Of The Year’s Best Designs for Social Good

Fast Company
January 2013
by Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

Safe Agua Peru outcome GiraDora, designed by Alex Cabunoc (Product) and Ji A You (Environmental Design) listed as 1 of the 10 best Designs for social good by Fast Company.

Public Interest Design 100

Public Interest Design/Impact Design Hub
November 2012
By John Cary and Megan Jett

Public Interest Design posts (first of its kind) infographic representing 100 people and teams working at the intersection of design and service. The infographic features Designmatters Vice President, Mariana Amatullo.

Tech Museum Awards Celebrates Innovators for the Poor

The Mercury News
November 2012
by John Boudreau

An article highlighting the 2012 Tech Awards, featuring a quote by Art Center alumna and Tech Awards Laureate, Mariana Prieto (Product ’12).

Winterhouse Third Symposium on Design Education and Social Change: Final Report

Design Observer
November 2012
by William Drenttel & Michael Mossoba

Leaders from various disciplines, (design, engineering, architecture and management) from across the country convened to share ideas about the future of design education for social impact at the Winterhouse Third Symposium on Design Education.

Safe Agua Peru Team Honored as Global Innovators Using Technology to Benefit Humanity

Marketwire
October 2012

An article about the Safe Agua Peru project, which was recently recognized as a 2012 Tech Awards Laureate.

Exploring Design at the UNICEF Innovation Lab in Uganda

UNICEF/Field Notes
October 2012

A blog post about the MDP/Field Practices students recent research trip to the UNICEF Innovation Lab in Uganda.

Want Transformative Tech That Actually Does Good? Check Out This Year’s Tech Awards Laureates

The Washington Post
October 2012
by Jolie O’Dell

An article highlighting the 2012 Tech Awards Laureates, one of which is the  Designmatters’  Safe Agua Peru project.

The Social Network

Frame Magazine Issue #88
September 2012
by Vera Sacchetti

An article featuring projects from the award winning Safe Agua Peru studio.

Mariana Amatullo Listed in Fast Company's 50 People Shaping the Future of Design

The Fast Company editors describe these 50 individuals as people who are pushing the boundaries of their discipline into promising new directions. And what unites all of them is that their projects will affect not only how we live today but also what life might look like just a few years down the line.

Fast Company is the world’s leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design. Written for, by, and about the most progressive business leaders, Fast Company and FastCompany.com inspire readers and users to think beyond traditional boundaries, lead conversations, and create the future of business.

How A Foot-Powered Washing Machine Could Change Millions Of Lives

Fast Company
July 2012
by Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

An article about Designmatters’ Safe Agua Peru project GiraDora designed by Ji A You and Alex Cabunoc.

8 Student Inventions That Could Change the World

Fast Company
July 2012
by Ariel Schwartz

An article that features Designmatters’ Safe Agua Peru projects Balde a Balde designed by Kimberly Chow and GiraDora designed by Ji A You and Alex Cabunoc, as well as 6 other innovative student designs.

Core77 Design Awards 2012: Meet the Jury, Mariana Amatullo - Educational Initiatives

Core77
March 2012

Core77 interviews Mariana Amatullo, jury captain for the Educational Initiatives category, about her team members and also gets some insight into her thoughts on the critical crossroads facing design education.

Pedal Power Brings Clean Clothes to Poor

Earth Techling
February 2012
by Jeanne Roberts

A short article about award winning Safe Agua Peru project GiraDora designed by Alec Cabunoc and Ji A You.

Demythologizing Design: Another View of "Design with the Other 90%: CITIES"

Change Observer
December 2011
by David Stairs

David Stairs shares his thoughts about the “Design with the Other 90%: CITIES” Exhibit at the United Nations, where the Safe Agua Chile project was recently showcased.

Pasadena Foothills Magazine 50 Creative People

December 2011

The most recent issue of Pasadena Foothills Magazine’s 50 Creative People features several of Art Center’s best and brightest.

Safe Agua Featured on Smithsonian Channel Mini-Series

The Smithsonian Channel

The Smithsonian Channel is currently airing the  Design with the Other 90% documentary mini-series which includes interviews with faculty and students from the  Safe Agua project as well as documentary footage from Broadcast Cinema alumna Elizabeth Bayne’s Safe Agua Documentary.

Simple Gadgets for Fresh, Clean Water

Ashoka, Changemakers
November, 7  2011
by Kristie Wang

Product Design Alumni Jessica Yeh and Narbeh Dereghishian’s award winning Safe Agua, Ducha Halo project is featured in Ashoka’s Changemakers  Idea ExChange blog with other socially innovative products focused on helping people around the world access clean water and use it more efficiently.

Winterhouse Second Symposium on Design Education and Social Change: Final Report

Change Observer
October 2011
by William Drenttel and Julie Lasky

An update on what transpired at the Winterhouse Second Symposium on Design Education and Social Change.

ArtCenter's New Media Design Program Featured in Change Observer

Change Observer
October 2011
by Julie Lasky

Introduction to Art Center’s Media Design program, a new graduate track in social design that combines communications strategies with field work.

Mariana Amatullo Featured in Taped Interview for Diseñadores+1 in Santiago, Chile

October 2011

Designmatters own Mariana Amatullo is featured in a taped interview for Diseñadores+1 and El Diario Diseño.  Mariana discusses design education, social change and how Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design is making a difference through our groundbreaking, award winning and socially innovative project outcomes.

Safe Agua Chile Ducha Halo Featured in New York Times Article

The New York Times
September 2011
by Donald G. McNeil Jr.

An article about recent Art Center Alumni Narbeh Dereghishian and Jessica Yeh’s award winning Ducha Halo portable shower system, which was an outcome of the Designmatters Safe Agua Chile Project in partnership with the Innovation Center, Un Techo Para mi Pais.

The Designmatters Program Profiled by Design Ignites Change

Design Ignites Change
September 2011

Design Ignites Change recently began profiling college and university design programs that are integrating a socially responsible agenda into their curriculum and dedicating resources to support students in their creative efforts to make a positive impact  around the world. Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design is the first to be featured in this new series.

Thinking Beyond Boundaries: ArtCenter’s Designmatters Program

The Huffington Post
May 2011
by Alla Kazovsky

Introduction to Art Center’s Designmatters department as the first design institution to be declared a partner of United Nations as a NGO and its recent projects, including Mpala, Es Tiempo and Safe Agua.

‘The Graying of AIDS’

Pasadena Weekly
by Carl Kozlowski
April 2011

Art Center exhibit focuses on America’s largest group of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Can Schools Teach Designers How to Solve the World’s Problems?

Good Magazine

by Ernest Beck
March 2011

An article about the fast growing trend of social design education at ArtCenter and other top design schools.

Le design social n’est pas si simple

Le Monde
October 29, 2010
By Hubert Guillaud

Designmatters Safe Agua Project is featured in the French Le Monde.

The Designmatters Concentration at ArtCenter College of Design: Q&A With Mariana Amatullo

Core 77
By Core Jr
September 2010

Mariana Amatullo interviews with Core77 regarding the Designmatters Concentration.

Camel Mobile Clinic Update

ChangeObserver
by Ernest Beck
July 2010

An article updates Camel Mobile Clinic filed-testing in Kenya and Ethiopia.

How to Run a Design Firm for Social Change

ChangeObserver
by Ernest Beck
June 2010

Though Catapult Design, a small, nonprofit studio in San Francisco, was founded in January 2009, it’s already helped to electrify seven rural health clinics in Rwanda that serve 120,000 people. In Guatemala, it’s working on developing a low-cost wind turbine. And in Tanzania, it’s involved in an off-the-grid LED lighting project.

Es Tiempo

ChangeObserver
by Ernest Beck
March 2010

A campaign to protect the health of Southern California’s Latinas overturns conventional assumptions of why these women fail to seek preventive measures.

Solar Powered Camel

Greenz Magazine, Japan
By Yukiko Matsuoka
January 2010

Using camels to deliver health care in rural Africa

Huffington Post
by  Craig and Marc Kielburger
January 2010

Six Solutions for Saving Water and Saving Lives

Fast Company
By Alissa Walker
December 2009

As part of its role as the non-government advisor for the United Nations, Pasadena, California-based Art Center College of Design teamed up with another NGO, Un Techo Para Mi Pais, and embarked upon a humanitarian design charrette to help bring safe, clean water to the slums of Chile.

Reflections: The Designers Accord Global Summit on Sustainability & Education

Core77
By Andrea Mangini
December 2009

An article about global summit activities and reports focused on sustainability and education, which was held by Designers Accord.

Aspen Design Summit: Designmatters Report

DesignObserver
December 2009

Mariana Amatullo reports on the Aspen Design Summit.

Book Review: The L.A. Earthquake Sourcebook

Core77
By Robert Blinn
January 2009

A review of The LA Earthquake Sourcebook, which was released in collaboration with “The Great Southern California ShakeOut.”

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Earthquakes, But Were Afraid To Ask

Curbed L.A.
By Marissa Gluck
January 2009

Art Center is referenced here in this article about “The L.A. Earthquake Sourcebook.”

The Writing on the Wall

Pasadena Weekly
By Joe Piasecki
December 2008

ArtCenter’s exhibit “Human Rights: Student Voices” was featured in the Pasadena Weekly.

Rehearsing for California’s Big Earthquake

Time Magazine
By Amanda Ripley
November 2008

Mariana Amatullo and ArtCenter are mentioned in this article about the Southern California Shakeout.

A Conversation with Mariana Amatullo

Oberholtzer Visual Culture
November 2008

An interview with Mariana Amatullo regarding “The Los Angeles Earthquake: Get Ready” project.

Crying Wolf About the ‘Big One’ Hasn’t Worked, So Let’s Party

Wall Street Journal
By Gabriel Kahn
November 2008

This article references Designmatters’ role in organizing the “Get Ready Rally.”

L.A. Preps for the Big One With Massively Multiplayer Earthquake

Wired
By Alexis Madrigal
November 2008

This post showcases the earthquake response game “Aftershock.”

When Designers Anticipate the Next Big One

Core77
By Mark Vanerbeeken
November 2008

This article places Aftershock within the context of the larger design initiative “The Los Angeles Earthquake: Get ready.”

Deserve Your Dream: Design Education and Advocacy

Core77
By Mariana Amatullo
October 2008

Mariana Amatullo, Vice President of Designmatters, speaks about design education for social change.

Blowing Competitions Up, and Other Acts of Good Citizenship

Design-Altruism-Project
By David Stairs
March 2008

Designmatters mentioned in this article on education as good citizenship.

Projects & Principles

Metropolis
By Stephen Sacks
April 2007

The Color Guard Mosquito Net developed in the GE Healthcare: Anywhere studio is featured in this article on product and industrial design work by students in the U.S. and Europe.

Designmatters: Let artists and intellectuals be an antidote to the consistent barrage of ‘what doesn’t work’

Pasadena Weekly
By Ellen Snortland
September 2005

An article profiling the Designmatters initiative.