"Because this was not just an academic exercise, I learned so much about messaging, keeping things consistent, and understanding the psychology of a real campaign."
Liz Levin, Advertising, Student

"Because this was not just an academic exercise, I learned so much about messaging, keeping things consistent, and understanding the psychology of a real campaign."
Liz Levin, Advertising, Student
"All of a sudden, I wasn’t a student working in a classroom in Pasadena, but a person with responsibility and potential to change the world."
Jonathan Goldman Advertising, Student
"All of a sudden, I wasn’t a student working in a classroom in Pasadena, but a person with responsibility and potential to change the world."
Jonathan Goldman Advertising, Student
"Cultural production and design must go hand in hand as we seek to improve the condition of our world."
Najeeba Syeed-Miller, Western Justice Center Foundation
"I learned how to work with and for others and how to put the client’s needs above my own. I had to know everything about my target user and create with them in mind."
Jie Gu, Student, Interaction Design
Created by - Yuki Nori and Grant Higa
“Though the fields of design, art, social work, advertising and journalism use different languages to describe their process, when we're at our best we're all trying to accomplish something similar: with every creative act, we push people in a purposeful, positive direction. We leave the world better than we started.”
Wendy MacNaughton, Illustration Alum & Faculty
Video created by Ricardo Imperial Jr. & Isaac Ruiz.
A short film documenting a studio challenge to imagine design in the 2025 product year for lifestyle brand Vans.
"Being part of this program helped remind me of the importance of the design process, and ultimately why design matters."
Greg Philpott, Founder and President, mDialog
"Because this was not just an academic exercise, I learned so much about messaging, keeping things consistent, and understanding the psychology of a real campaign."
Liz Levin, Advertising, Student
A behind the scenes of the Fall 2014, Vans sponsored trans-disciplinary studio and the design challenge of consumer-driven customizations.
"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)
This book documents the third iteration—in Altos del Pino, Bogotá—of the award-winning Safe Agua project addressing water poverty.
"In a time when we are bombarded with imagery, it was an amazing experience to really understand the power of design as a vital communication tool."
Christina Nizar, Graphic Design, Student
"A designer’s desire to change the world can be incompatible with empathy, which necessitates relinquishing the impulse to remake the world as it should be in favor of grasping the world as it is for others."
Arden Stern, Faculty, Humanities & Sciences
A short film detailing the innovative Designmatters-led anti-gun violence curricular program, Where’s Daryl, and its pilot rollout in the Los Angeles Unified School District in spring 2013. A short film detailing the innovative anti-gun violence curricular program and its rollout in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Written and Directed by Benjamin Weiss, Shot and Edited by H.R. McDonald
A witty PSA produced in partnership with the United States Geological Society to raise awareness about tsunami dangers and safety measures.
“Innovation emerges out of a deep partnership between design students and community members.”
Penny Herscovitch and Dan Gottlieb, Associate Professors, Environmental Design
A documentary short about the creation of “Mark & the Jellybean Monster,” part of the Uncool Children’s Book Library Series.
A documentary short about the creation of “Amos' New Life,” part of the Uncool Children’s Book Library Series.
A brochure developed in a design-led studio, Project Coastal Crisis, focusing on public education and action strategies to address rising sea levels.
"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)
"As artists and designers, we are in a unique position. What we choose to say with this voice that defines us as human beings."
Patrick Hruby Illustration, Student
Safe Agua Peru Documentary directed by Erik Anderson
These solutions are indeed subjective – this isn’t solving a clear-cut math problem – and that proved to be the most difficult aspect of the project. The solutions, however, do address all the key elements, massaged by the student’s vision.”
Dennis Lee, Faculty, Advertising
This multiple award-winning film (Cannes, Art Directors Club) celebrates the 50th anniversary of the aid organization Project Concern International.
A moving PSA highlighting the work of the Organization of American States as part of their 100th anniversary celebration.
Short film profiling the unique social impact design methodologies and project solutions behind the 2010 Safe Agua Chile studio.
“The two-week experience on the ground in Chile was instrumental. We all felt the same thing; we all saw and experienced the same realities together. We all lived the same moments. And that really helped us later as a design team, as we related our ideas and concepts back to our shared experience.”
Andres Zavala, Student, Environmental Design
"The chance to work with real people with real needs is an invaluable learning experience for students."
Simon Johnston, Graphic Design, Faculty
An animated short calling for the empowerment of girls and women, in support of the United Nations Population Fund.
"I learned how to work with and for others and how to put the client’s needs above my own. I had to know everything about my target user and create with them in mind."
Jie Gu, Student, Interaction Design
A touching short in support of young people the world over and the United Nations Population Fund.
A humorous but cutting look at the way Americans use water, highlighting the need to conserve.
A heart-wrenching look at the need to conserve, and how we might set our water-use priorities.
"As designers we need to remain accountable, with measureable outcomes and ways of making small moves to create big impacts."
Stephanie Dhillon, Environmental Design, Student
“Innovation is deliberate. It’s about solving problems without creating new ones. To innovate is to enable one to share our natural empathy and be able to allow others a new means for expression. Innovation is something humans and other creatures have been doing forever, be it by instinct or experimentation. We innovate to survive and to create positive solutions to simplify and better our lives.”
Mari Nakano, Grad Media Design '09, Visual Design Lead, UNICEF Innovation Unit
A multiple award-winning PSA (ADDY, Telly, Cannes) asking us all to take our share of responsibility for climate change.
A chronicle of the Mpala Integrated Health Mobile Clinic for Remote Communities in Kenya project.
“Each student brings individual life experiences, diverse cultural upbringings, varied interests and perspectives to the subject displaying the many ways see and converse about a problem.”
Krystina Castella, Faculty, Product Design
One of a series of PSAs for the UNFPA calling attention to the somber global statistics and consequences of maternal fatalities in childbirth.
One of a series of PSAs for the UNFPA calling attention to the somber global statistics and consequences of maternal fatalities in childbirth.
This PSA is one of a series taking a pointed approach to earthquake preparedness in Southern California.
“Though the fields of design, art, social work, advertising and journalism use different languages to describe their process, when we're at our best we're all trying to accomplish something similar: with every creative act, we push people in a purposeful, positive direction. We leave the world better than we started.”
Wendy MacNaughton, Illustration Alum & Faculty
“We do not design in a vacuum; we design for the world, in the world.”
David Mocarski, Chair, Environmental Design
A humorous, multiple award-winning PSA (ADDY, Cannes) on the subject of family obesity.
An animated short for the AIDS Institute promoting safe sex in the Caribbean through a combination of sensible lifestyle choices and condom use.
"It’s not about me saying, 'Here’s what to do.' It’s about all of us deciding, 'What can we do together?'."
Guillaume Wolf, Graphic Design, Faculty
An animated short for the AIDS Institute promoting safe sex in the Caribbean through a combination of sensible lifestyle choices and condom use.
An animated short for the AIDS Institute promoting safe sex in the Caribbean through a combination of sensible lifestyle choices and condom use.
A PSA raising awareness of progress toward realization of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
"The students confronted important issues from personal vantage points, ultimately ensuring that others would care about them, too."
Sherry Hoffman, Humanities & Sciences, Faculty
"This class strengthened my work by helping me express my personal voice through content with meaningful impact."
Ashley Pinnick Illustration, Designmatters Concentration, Student
This book documents a project to explore digital story-sharing in the developing world, with field projects in the Philippines and the Caribbean.
This book documents concepts in enhanced mobility design as developed in the Johnson Controls-sponsored “Driven Environment in 2015” studio.
The students were engaged in very sophisticated research, debate and discussion in this studio, but what really impressed me, in the final production push, was that they were intelligently talking through the options, weighing each decision carefully. The final push was a very mature and professional working team. They worked like a real studio.
Todd Masilko, Associate Professor, Interaction Design
One of an eye-opening series of PSAs about alcohol marketing, on behalf of the Pan American Health Organization.
A PSA commissioned by the United Nations Development Fund for Women addressing domestic violence.
A PSA warning of the impact of domestic violence on children, distributed by the Pan American Health Organization.
"This class strengthened my work by helping me express my personal voice through content with meaningful impact."
Ashley Pinnick Illustration, Designmatters Concentration, Student
“Each student brings individual life experiences, diverse cultural upbringings, varied interests and perspectives to the subject displaying the many ways see and converse about a problem.”
Krystina Castella, Faculty, Product Design
A pointed PSA in support of gender equality, on behalf of the UNFPA.
The Nyumbani Village Concept Cards were developed to document research, findings and outcomes of the Nyumbani Village: Kenya project.
"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
A parable addressing the topic and tragic consequences of drunk driving among youth.