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Graduate Programs

ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN / 20112012

Art Center offers graduate degrees through four distinct programs: Art, Broadcast Cinema, Industrial Design and Media Design. Built on intensive studio practice and rigorous academic coursework, the Graduate Art program prepares artists of all genres to successfully enter the contemporary art arena. With creative freedom and experimentation as its hallmarks, the Graduate Broadcast Cinema program encourages filmmakers to invent new forms of programming and methods of storytelling. Practicing a systems-level methodology that balances the human, business and technological aspects of any challenge, Graduate Industrial Design students conceive and develop resilient business model-based opportunities. By following their curiosity and developing new expertise, Graduate Media Design students explore the future of communication within a context of cultural and technological change.

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Graduate Media Design

ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN / 20112012

WHY LOS ANGELES? 91 LANGUAGES SPOKEN, INCLUDING ENGLISH, SPANISH, KOREAN, FILIPINO, ARMENIAN AND CHINESE. WHY LOS ANGELES? THE PORT OF LOS ANGELES IS THE NATIONS LARGEST IMPORT/EXPORT PORT. We prepare designers for a world in which virtually anythingfrom sensor networks to interactive surfaces to entire citiesmay be the next medium or platform of communication.
Anne Burdick
Department Chair

Art Centers graduate program in Media Design offers a two- or threeyear Master of Fine Arts curriculum that helps ambitious designers from a variety of backgrounds become design leaders and researchers in emerging fields. We are looking for risk-takers with hybrid interests who can integrate innovative design with intellectual investigation, who can synthesize theory and practice, and who can pursue their research and making with depth, intelligence and passion. At the start of the 21st century, we named the program Media Design, because our students projects no longer conformed to the disciplines of the time. Some projects were graphics-based, others were objects; some engaged, others performed; some stayed still, others movedand some you moved through. We invented the program name because the old ones no longer fit. In the process, we created an entirely new discipline. Media Design is now a recognized field, but still young enough that our graduates can define it on their own terms. Our students are guided by a faculty of design visionaries and thought leaders who bring knowledge, experience and rigor to their critiques. We challenge our students to push design in new directions by following their curiosity, refining their expertise and inventing new practices within a context of cultural and technological change. This adaptability is essential as we prepare designers to lead in amazingly diverse contexts, from scientific research labs to futurist think tanks, from leading corporations to nonprofits to design studios. In 2009, our department moved into a 14,000-square-foot former supersonic wind tunnel at Art Centers South Campus. A dramatic setting conducive to inspiration and experimentation, this dedicated space houses our students workstations, a digital lab, the New Ecology of Things research laboratory and the Wind Tunnel gallery.

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GRADUATE MEDIA DESIGN FACULTY DESIGN GRADUATE INDUSTRIAL

Full-Time Faculty and Staff Anne Burdick, Chair Sean Donahue Tim Durfee Ben Hooker Phil van Allen Kevin Wingate Adjunct Faculty and Thesis Advisors Rob Ball Brad Bartlett John Brumfield Elise Co Shannon Herbert Garnet Hertz Shona Kitchen Norman M. Klein Lisa Krohn Thea Petchler Holly Willis
FOR ONE OF MY CLASSES, I DEVELOPED AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE AUTOAUTO MOTIVE SEAT. THE ASSIGNMENT WASNT TO INVENT SOMETHING COMPLETELY NEW. IT WAS TO TAKE AN EXISTING PRODUCT AND UNDERSTAND IT FULLY. SO FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, THE PROJECT PREPRE ACTU SENTED LIMITATIONS, WHICH I ACTULIMITA ALLY FOUND INSPIRING. THOSE LIMITATIONS TURNED THE ASSIGNMENT INTO A PUZZLE TO SOLVE. A SUSTAINABLE CAR SEAT. HOW DO YOU ACHIEVE THAT? HOW DO YOU BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE LAYERS OF COMPLEXITY? YOU NEED TO START BY SEEING WHATS INSIDE. SO I TOOK THE SEAT COMPLETELY APART TO SEE ALL ITS COMPONENTS AND MATERIALS. I THEN DID IN-DEPTH RESEARCH ON ALL THE MATERIALS I FOUND AND EXPLORED ALTERNATIVES THE INDUSTRY COULD USE. THAT ASSIGNMENT TAUGHT ME THAT BEFORE DESIGNING, YOU HAVE TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM. I ENJOYED GOING THROUGH THAT PROCESS SO MUCH THAT I NOW FOLLOW THOSE STEPS WITH EVERY PROJECT. MAGDALENA PALUCH TERM 5

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Graduate Media Design

ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN / 20112012

We prepare designers for a world in which virtually anythingfrom sensor networks to interactive surfaces to entire citiesmay be the next medium or platform of communication. Anne Burdick
Department Chair

Art Centers graduate program in Media Design offers a two- or threeyear Master of Fine Arts curriculum that helps ambitious designers from a variety of backgrounds become design leaders and researchers in emerging fields. We are looking for risk-takers with hybrid interests who can integrate innovative design with intellectual investigation, who can synthesize theory and practice, and who can pursue their research and making with depth, intelligence and passion. At the start of the 21st century, we named the program Media Design, because our students projects no longer conformed to the disciplines of the time. Some projects were graphics-based, others were objects; some engaged, others performed; some stayed still, others movedand some you moved through. We invented the program name because the old ones no longer fit. In the process, we created an entirely new discipline. Media Design is now a recognized field, but still young enough that our graduates can define it on their own terms. Our students are guided by a faculty of design visionaries and thought leaders who bring knowledge, experience and rigor to their critiques. We challenge our students to push design in new directions by following their curiosity, refining their expertise and inventing new practices within a context of cultural and technological change. This adaptability is essential as we prepare designers to lead in amazingly diverse contexts, from scientific research labs to futurist think tanks, from leading corporations to nonprofits to design studios. In 2009, our department moved into a 14,000-square-foot former supersonic wind tunnel at Art Centers South Campus. A dramatic setting conducive to inspiration and experimentation, this dedicated space houses our students workstations, a digital lab, the New Ecology of Things research laboratory and the Wind Tunnel gallery.

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GRADUATE MEDIA DESIGN

1 STUDENT HYUN JU YANG TITLE PARTICIPATORY UNIVERSE

Working with scientists from Seoul National University and California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Yang developed a visual language to translate the complex and sometimes counterintuitive theories of particle physics, quantum mechanics and cosmology. Yang designed diagrams, animations, display panels and an interactive kiosk. Yang is currently the Media Design Program Post-Graduate Fellow.
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ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN / 20112012

2 STUDENT YU-SEUNG KIM TITLE DISCOVERIES IN DISPLACEMENT

Discoveries in Displacement uses interface design to restructure the world we know into worlds we want to know more about. Kims work turns informationfrom the content of dreams to flight schedulesinto textual and visual narratives whose poetics stand in contrast to the neutral tone of many data visualizations. Kim is currently a User Experience Designer at Yahoo!
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GRADUATE MEDIA DESIGN

3 STUDENT HANNAH REGIER TITLE SWITCH CRITTERS WATCH VIDEO TINYURL.COM/3YECRTK

With behaviors influenced by data flows, Switch Critters can be persuaded to perform everyday tasks such as turning on lights or starting a car. Regier invited writers to create short stories after living with the working prototypes for a week. She then made animated shorts as a way to design interactions defined by imagination, behavior and personality. Regier is currently a Design Analyst at Frog Design, San Francisco.
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ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN / 20112012

4 STUDENT JULIA TSAO TITLE CURIOUS DISPLAYS WATCH VIDEO TINYURL.COM/2WHTPCL

At first glance, Curious Displays is a proposal for a new product a future display technology whose robotic pixels move about the house autonomously. But Tsao has created a powerful piece of design fiction, a three-dimensional experiential prototype that allowed her to explore how the physical and the virtual may interact in the future for better or worse. Tsao is currently the Creative Executive at yU+co, Hollywood, and is Co-Founder of Fair Enough, Los Angeles.
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GRADUATE MEDIA DESIGN

5 STUDENT YU-MING CHO TITLE TRANSBEHAVIOR WATCH VIDEO TINYURL.COM/2WZ92JO

In a world of ubiquitous computing, Chos thesis explored the role of biology and culture in our understanding of the things that surround us. Cho designed a set of interactive objects that adopted the behaviors of pets, embodied cultural rituals and extended the users senses in unexpected ways. Cho is currently a Creative Director at McCann Worldgroup, Shanghai, China.
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ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN / 20112012

6 STUDENT JONATHAN JARVIS TITLE CRISIS OF CREDIT VISUALIZED WATCH VIDEO TINYURL.COM/3A2GEFE

An 11-minute visual story that uses graphic symbols and diagrams to clearly communicate the origins of the recent economic crisis, Jarvis Crisis of Credit Visualized went viral, appearing on a variety of sites from Motionographer to Forbes.com. The spread of the video supported Jarvis argument that designers are needed to communicate the complexity of todays world. Jarvis is currently a Designer at Google Creative Labs, New York.
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Course Requirements
MEDIA DESIGN2 YEAR PATH
CONCEPT YEAR MDP-502 Media History & Theory MDP-534 Design Research Practices 1 MDP-553 Productive Interaction MDP-543 People-Knowing MDP-577 Objects, Spaces, & Media MDP-529 Authoring Critical Media MDP-558 Colloquium 2A MDP-559 Colloquium 2B MDP-610 Thesis Gateway
3 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 0

GRADUATE MEDIA DESIGN

MEDIA DESIGN3 YEAR PATH

DEVELOPMENT YEAR FND-159 Comunication Design 2 OR GPK-201 Type 3 3 CGR-251 Interactive Design 1 OR CGR-301 Interactive Design 2 3 CGR-211 Motion Design 1 OR CGR-261 Motion Design 2 3 GPK-151 Type 2 3 GPK-301 Information Design 3 MDP-510 Dev Core 3 MDP-517 Transmedia Design 3 MDP-522 Visual Narrative 3 MDP-508 Colloquium 1A 1 MDP-509 Colloquium 1B 1 MDP-502 Media History & Theory 3 Academic Elective 3 CONCEPT YEAR MDP-534 Design Research Practices 1 MDP-553 Productive Interaction MDP-543 People-Knowing MDP-577 Objects, Spaces, & Media MDP-529 Authoring Critical Media MDP-558 Colloquium 2A MDP-559 Colloquium 2B MDP-610 Thesis Gateway

1 3 3 3 3 3 3 0

Elective Credits MDP Topic Studios 9 units minimum, topics may change: MDP-575 Material Worlds 3 MDP-578 Data Stories 3 MDP-579 Good Living in Mixed Reality 3 MDP-537 New Ecology of Things 3 MDP-574 New Modes of Reading & Writing 3 MDP-591 Ubiquitous Moving Image 3 MDP-589 Visualizing Dynamic Systems 3 Summer X Term (choose one) MDP-975 Research Internship MDP-975 Studio Internship Art Center Lite Term

Elective Credits MDP Topic Studios 9 units minimum, topics may change: MDP-575 Material Worlds 3 MDP-578 Data Stories 3 MDP-579 Good Living in Mixed Reality 3 MDP-537 New Ecology of Things 3 MDP-574 New Modes of Reading & Writing 3 MDP-591 Ubiquitous Moving Image 3 MDP-589 Visualizing Dynamic Systems 3 Summer X Term (choose one) MDP-975 Research Internship MDP-975 Studio Internship Art Center Lite Term

6 6 6

THESIS YEAR MDP-584 Design Research Practices 2 MDP-611 Thesis Workshop 1 MDP-612 Thesis Workshop 2 MDP-581 Histories Of The Future MDP-618 Knowledge-Sharing Workshop MDP-608 Colloquium 3A MDP-609 Colloquium 3B
Total Required Units

2 6 9 3 3 3 3 66

6 6 6

THESIS YEAR MDP-584 Design Research Practices 2 MDP-611 Thesis Workshop 1 MDP-612 Thesis Workshop 2 MDP-581 Histories Of The Future MDP-618 Knowledge-Sharing Workshop MDP-608 Colloquium 3A MDP-609 Colloquium 3B
Total Required Units

2 6 9 3 3 3 3 95

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Student Voices

ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN / 2011-2012

MY WORK USES VERY SIMPLE TECHNOLOGY AND IS MORE A REACTION TO THE MEDIA AROUND US. BUT THE GREAT THING ABOUT MDP? IT SUPPORTS YOUR CHOICES.
HAELIM PAEK THESIS YEAR

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GRADUATE MEDIA DESIGN

AS A CHILD GROWING UP IN MEXICO, ONE OF THE BEST PRESENTS MY DAD EVER GAVE MY BROTHER AND I WAS A TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TI-994A PERSONAL COMPUTER. BUT HE WOULDNT BUY US ANY GAMES. MAKE YOUR OWN GAMES, HE SAID AND GAVE US A BOOK ON BASIC PROGRAMMING. I WAS INTRIGUED. I THOUGHT, HOW DOES THE COMPUTER WORK? HOW DO I MAKE IT DO SOMETHING? LEARNING HOW TO MOVE THE CURSOR WAS EXCITING. HOW DO I DESCRIBE MEDIA DESIGN? THE ELEMENTS OF SPACE, SOUND, SOFTWARE AND OBJECTS ALL PLAYING TOGETHER TO CREATE SOMETHING MEANINGFUL. IN MY WORK, IM EXPLORING THE DISJUNCTION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETY, AND HOW WE FILL THAT VOID WITH DISTRACTIONS. IM ALSO ASKING MYSELF, HOW IS MY WORK GOING TO FIT INTO THE WORLD? ARE MY DESIGNS JUST GOING TO FEED INTO SOCIETY OR A MARKET? IVE LEARNED TO EMBRACE THAT TYPE OF QUESTIONING. DANIEL LARA CONCEPT YEAR

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Graduate Alumni

ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN / 20112012

GRADUATE ART PAE WHITE MFA 1991 TITLE UNTITLED, STILL, 2010 COTTON TAPESTRY

Art Center changed the way I thought about art making in terms of being a professional. It isnt necessarily about tossing around art materials and having fun in the studio. It is about thought and form and responsibility. Responsibility to the viewer, and everything that implies, but alsoand sometimes more importantresponsibility as a viewer, especially in terms of agility. Pae White

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GRADUATE ALUMNI WORK

GRADUATE BROADCAST CINEMA ZACK SNYDER BFA 1989 & MFA 1992 TITLE 1 LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS 2010, WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2 SUCKER PUNCH 2011, WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3 WATCHMEN 2009, WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1

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ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN / 20112012

GRADUATE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN DAN WINGER MS 2007 TITLE SKILLERS

Employing CAD, rapid prototyping and classic sculpting techniques from the auto industry, Winger developed Skillers, an integrated ski goggle and audio/communications system. The system features hidden noise-cancelling speakers, an MP3 player, a two-way radio and Bluetooth technology that allows users to listen to music, make phone calls and connect to an online music service. Skillers are inspired by rock culture, says Winger. Theyre bold, aggressive and not afraid to offend the timid.
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GRADUATE ALUMNI WORK

GRADUATE MEDIA DESIGN 1 NIKOLAI CORNELL MFA 2004 TITLE THE CUELIGHT POOL TABLE, OBSCURA STUDIO 2 DAVID SCHWARZ MFA 2004 TITLE SONY ERICSSONS BIG SCREEN PHONE, HUSH STUDIO

The CueLight Pool Table, featured at the Paradise Tower Penthouse, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, uses Obscura Digitals projection, sensor and tracking system to reveal images and animations that follow the movements of pool balls as they are hit around the table.

Still from a promotional video for Sony Ericssons new Big Screen phone shows one piece of a campaign that included video ring tones, demo movies, wallpapers and more.

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