"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
Library
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Short Film - SAFE NIÑOS: Co-creating Innovative Healing Environments for Children
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Game On: Shine LA Campaign
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Game On! Inspiring a Healthy L.A. for 2028
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Socially Engaged Art - Art in Urban Community Green Spaces
Designing for Kids Book Launch and Panel Discussion
“When I see really powerful student projects happen it’s because the students have genuinely become interested in and care about who will be using, seeing or encountering their design. It’s an exercise in empathy.”
Arden Stern, Humanities & Sciences, Faculty
Imagining the Dreamhouse for the Future: A Designmatters Studio in Partnership with Barbie
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Future Craft China: Design Education Bridging Local Cultural Heritage and Global Contemporary Design
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Documentary - Qualified Self: Designing Next Generation Technology for Health & Wellness
Trailer | Qualified Self: Designing Next Generation Technology for Health & Wellness
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
Eco Research Lab: Sustainable Futures
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SAFE NIÑOS: ENVISIONING CHARITY RETAIL SYSTEMS: DOCUMENTARY TRAILER
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Imagining the Future of the Barbie Dreamhouse Documentary
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Eco Research Lab: Pure Life
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The Healing Tree Storybook
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“I have been impressed with our student’s ability to create thoughtful design narratives, that can literally change the trajectory of people’s lives, whether it’s on a humanitarian level, or emotional, psychological level.”
James Meraz, Environmental Design Faculty
Fresh Eyes Cuba Book
The Designmatters Minor in Social Innovation Campaign
"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
Aquaculture and Jobs
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Aquashorts
Created by - Yuki Nori and Grant Higa
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#BeWellSaMo: Community Art Installation/Game
Santa Monica Community Portrait: We are Family
"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
Designmatters Prospectus
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Fresh Eyes Cuba Event Promo
Video created by Ricardo Imperial Jr. & Isaac Ruiz.
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Safe Niños - Design for Holistic Healing
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Healing Trauma: a Public Awareness Film for EMDR Therapy
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Vans 2025
A short film documenting a studio challenge to imagine design in the 2025 product year for lifestyle brand Vans.
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“We do not design in a vacuum; we design for the world, in the world.”
David Mocarski, Chair, Environmental Design
Unleashing the Girl Effect
Connective Tissue: Arthritis Foundation Book
"The students confronted important issues from personal vantage points, ultimately ensuring that others would care about them, too."
Sherry Hoffman, Humanities & Sciences, Faculty
Es Tiempo Book
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Where's Daryl Educational Toolkit (Excerpt)
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Behind the Scenes Video: Customization
A behind the scenes of the Fall 2014, Vans sponsored trans-disciplinary studio and the design challenge of consumer-driven customizations.
Behind the Scenes Video: Sustainability
"The students were able to grasp the need and the reality of vulnerable communities and translate that information into creative yet realistic ideas. This was a great example of how design can contribute to furthering a cause."
Bianca Lomell, Regional Director for North America, Project Concern International (PCI)
The UNCOOL Book Project
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Stand With Us (Short Film)
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The Safe Agua Colombia Book
This book documents the third iteration—in Altos del Pino, Bogotá—of the award-winning Safe Agua project addressing water poverty.
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Real Change Movement PSA
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The Uncool Process Book
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“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
Santi Y La Plancha
LEAP Symposium: The New Professional Frontier in Design for Social Innovation
“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
Living Home India Documentary
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"Where's Daryl?" Short Film
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
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The First Sue Nami Film
A witty PSA produced in partnership with the United States Geological Society to raise awareness about tsunami dangers and safety measures.
Uncool Children’s Book Library Series: “My Imagination Book”
“We do not design in a vacuum; we design for the world, in the world.”
David Mocarski, Chair, Environmental Design
Uncool Children’s Book Library Series: “Zoarmax 133′s Big Question
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Uncool Children’s Book Library Series: “Mark & the Jellybean Monster”
A documentary short about the creation of “Mark & the Jellybean Monster,” part of the Uncool Children’s Book Library Series.
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Uncool Children’s Book Library Series: “Amos’ New Life”
A documentary short about the creation of “Amos' New Life,” part of the Uncool Children’s Book Library Series.
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Home of the Brave
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Aquarium of the Pacific Brochure
A brochure developed in a design-led studio, Project Coastal Crisis, focusing on public education and action strategies to address rising sea levels.
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“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
Where's Daryl? Original PSA's
Garden in the Sea
"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
Hands in the Mist: 90sec Trailer
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Hands in the Mist
Safe Agua Peru Documentary directed by Erik Anderson
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The Teen Art Park Book
We Are Youth: UNFPA Motion Piece
“It is one thing to know and design for an ‘end user’, but it’s another to sit across from someone in their own living room and hear their personal story. It humanizes the work we do and gives it meaning and value.”
Narbeh Dereghishian, Product Design '10,
The ARkStorm, a short film
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Voices from the Field
This multiple award-winning film (Cannes, Art Directors Club) celebrates the 50th anniversary of the aid organization Project Concern International.
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OAS 100 COMMON VALUES ON COMMON GROUND
A moving PSA highlighting the work of the Organization of American States as part of their 100th anniversary celebration.
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The Harry Gota Story
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Safe Agua Chile Documentary
Short film profiling the unique social impact design methodologies and project solutions behind the 2010 Safe Agua Chile studio.
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"This class strengthened my work by helping me express my personal voice through content with meaningful impact."
Ashley Pinnick Illustration, Designmatters Concentration, Student
The Safe Agua Book
MIXED-USE LIVING
"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
GREEN CITY INFRASTRUCTURE
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Transportation
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The Wall
An animated short calling for the empowerment of girls and women, in support of the United Nations Population Fund.
Rewind
"One of the best ways to change public perception is to combine art with science.”
Dr. Jerry Schubel, President & CEO, Aquarium of the Pacific
Preparedness Now
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Forest
A touching short in support of young people the world over and the United Nations Population Fund.
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5 Gallons a Day
A humorous but cutting look at the way Americans use water, highlighting the need to conserve.
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Sweaty Man
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Circle
A heart-wrenching look at the need to conserve, and how we might set our water-use priorities.
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"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
Moving Day
Blowing Smoke
"One of the best ways to change public perception is to combine art with science.”
Dr. Jerry Schubel, President & CEO, Aquarium of the Pacific
Apathy
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The G.G. Meeting
A multiple award-winning PSA (ADDY, Telly, Cannes) asking us all to take our share of responsibility for climate change.
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Images Speak
A chronicle of the Mpala Integrated Health Mobile Clinic for Remote Communities in Kenya project.
The L.A. Earthquake Sourcebook
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
Look at Her Before it’s Too Late
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Mother Died, the Family Fell Apart
One of a series of PSAs for the UNFPA calling attention to the somber global statistics and consequences of maternal fatalities in childbirth.
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Every Minute, a Mother is Dying
One of a series of PSAs for the UNFPA calling attention to the somber global statistics and consequences of maternal fatalities in childbirth.
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Brick Showdown
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Seismograph
This PSA is one of a series taking a pointed approach to earthquake preparedness in Southern California.
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"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
Dominos
Stigma
"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
Say Something
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Fat Lane
A humorous, multiple award-winning PSA (ADDY, Cannes) on the subject of family obesity.
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Condom News
An animated short for the AIDS Institute promoting safe sex in the Caribbean through a combination of sensible lifestyle choices and condom use.
Condom Carnival
"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
Aids Affects Us All
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Snapshots
An animated short for the AIDS Institute promoting safe sex in the Caribbean through a combination of sensible lifestyle choices and condom use.
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Pharmacy
An animated short for the AIDS Institute promoting safe sex in the Caribbean through a combination of sensible lifestyle choices and condom use.
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MY FIRST EXPERIENCE
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Helping Humanity Heal
A PSA raising awareness of progress toward realization of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
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"The students confronted important issues from personal vantage points, ultimately ensuring that others would care about them, too."
Sherry Hoffman, Humanities & Sciences, Faculty
A Stand for Dignity
She Wishes
“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
Protection
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From Hi-Fi to Lo-Fi
This book documents a project to explore digital story-sharing in the developing world, with field projects in the Philippines and the Caribbean.
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The Driven Environment in 2015
This book documents concepts in enhanced mobility design as developed in the Johnson Controls-sponsored “Driven Environment in 2015” studio.
Seeing One Thing, Hearing Another
"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
Substance Hostage
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Channel Surfer
One of an eye-opening series of PSAs about alcohol marketing, on behalf of the Pan American Health Organization.
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A Better Tomorrow
A PSA commissioned by the United Nations Development Fund for Women addressing domestic violence.
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Open
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Helpless Victims
A PSA warning of the impact of domestic violence on children, distributed by the Pan American Health Organization.
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"The students confronted important issues from personal vantage points, ultimately ensuring that others would care about them, too."
Sherry Hoffman, Humanities & Sciences, Faculty
Fencing
What If?
"This class strengthened my work by helping me express my personal voice through content with meaningful impact."
Ashley Pinnick Illustration, Designmatters Concentration, Student
Hurt
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Always Second
A pointed PSA in support of gender equality, on behalf of the UNFPA.
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The Nyumbani Village Concept Cards
The Nyumbani Village Concept Cards were developed to document research, findings and outcomes of the Nyumbani Village: Kenya project.
Cell Phone Driver
"One of the best ways to change public perception is to combine art with science.”
Dr. Jerry Schubel, President & CEO, Aquarium of the Pacific
Why?
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Prelude #2
A parable addressing the topic and tragic consequences of drunk driving among youth.
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LEAP Dialogues: The Educators' Guide | Ep 3: How to Use It
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LEAP Dialogues: The Educators' Guide | Ep 2: What it is
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LEAP Dialogues: The Educators' Guide | Ep 1: Why We're Here