OtisGraduateGraphic Design

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The limited-residency MFA in Graphic Design provides a rigorous and challenging academic and studio environment for candidates interested in enhancing their current professional practice. Participants select from three individual themes or tracks: social responsibility of the designer in society, typography and type design, or advancing the discipline through theory and innovation. Each track speaks directly to educating conscientious individuals who recognize the value of design and its role in society.

Coursework is comprised of research, readings, studio projects (assigned and self-directed), and a final project. The department provides students with instruction by core faculty, visiting lecturers, and visiting artists who are recognized nationally and internationally in their design and art practice.

STUDENT BODY

Our students come from a variety of backgrounds in various disciplines, (graphic design, engineering, fashion, product, and fine art) and pursue projects that confirm the value of merging personal histories, design philosophy, and social relevance.

WORkShOPS

Each summer, visiting artists from within the Los Angeles area, across the country and abroad host workshops ranging from one to three days in length. Students may be handed instructions beforehand to research information or prepare specific materials before the workshops begin. Guests often take advantage of the city and its surrounding areas as a staging ground for individual and group projects.

MENTORShIPS

During the two spring sessions, MFA candidates work with mentors in one of two ways: producing texts that are historical, critical, and/or theoretical; or designing an original typeface. In both scenarios, work researched and produced must be relevant to their goals as a future practitioner and intended for publication or production.

Communications via digital technologies, telephone, or face-to-face meetings all contribute to the mentorship process.

PROGRAM SChEDULE

The program is two years and two months running for three consecutive summers with two part-time spring semesters that can be completed on or off-site. Incoming students begin the program at the start of each summer session.

SYMPOSIA

MFA students assist in the promotion and organizing of two symposia. “Untitled” is a bi-annual event. “What Matters” is a tri-annual. Both host internationally recognized guests and attendees whose practice exemplifies alternative practice and unique collaboration.

LECTURES

The program hosts weekly lectures, open to the public, by artists and designers from Los Angeles and beyond. All students are required to attend. MFA 2s spend the day in conversation with each visiting artist in a group setting or in one-on-one studio visits.

STUDIO INTERACTION

Studio spaces during intensive summer sessions promote strong relationships among our MFA candidates. This environment promotes experimentation and cross-over between students who enter the program with expertise in various disciplines.

MEG CRANSTONChAIR BFA F INE ART, PROFESSOR

MFA CalArts, performance and installation artist. Numerous international solo shows. Recipient COLA Individual Artist’s Grant, Architectural Foundation of America Art in PublicPlaces Award, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.

YASMIN khANADJUNCT PROFESSOR

MFA CalArts, partner in Counterspace, an LA-based design studio focused on design for cultural institutions and branding/identity in Web, broadcast, and print media. Recent clients: MOCA, the Orange County Museum of Art, Imaginary Forces, Arthur Magazine, harperCollins, REDCAT.

MAJA BLAzEJEWSkASENIOR LECTURER

MFA CalArts, currently designer for LACMA for publications, marketing materials, special exhibition graphics and exhibitions’ visual identities. Recognition from AIGA, awards from Art Directors Club, :output.

2010 FACULTy BIoS

kALI NIkITASChAIR, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

MFA CalArts, Principal of Graphic Design for Love (+$). Co-programmed international symposia: “Just the Type,” “What Matters,” and “Untitled: Variations in Design Practice.” Lectured internationally, received awards from the ACD, AIGA, Graphis, and Type Directors Club.

STUART BAILEYSENIOR LECTURER

University of Reading, Werkplaats Typografie. Co-founder of the arts journal Dot Dot Dot, Since 2006, he has worked together with David Reinfurt as Dexter Sinister. Dexter Sinister has exhibited at the Centre d’Art Contemporain in Geneva, the 2008 Whitney Biennial, The kitchen in New York, and Somerset House, London.

JULIET TE BELLOCqSENIOR LECTURER

MFA CalArts, prior studies in design and typography in Paris and the Netherlands. Designer at handbuilt Studio and osborn Architects. Published New York Times, ID Magazine. Recognition from the AIGA, Graphis, Spark Awards.

RENEE PETROPOULOSASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

MFA UCLA, artist. Recent exhibition Museum of Modern Art in San Salvador, El Salvador. Grants include a Durfee Foundation Fellowship and a COLA Individual Artist Grant. Represented by the Rosamund Felsen Gallery in Los Angeles.

DAvEY WhITCRAFTASSISTANT PROFESSOR

MFA UCLA. Recognized by AIGA: 50 Best books 2006, Graphis, Art Directors Club NYC, Print Magazine, SXSW Interactive, Altpick, Eisner American Museum of Advertising and Design and EvoMUSART.

kERRI STE INBERGASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Ph.D. Art History UCLA. Interests include visual culture, graphic design history, theory, design citizenship, advertising, and American Jewish visual culture. Currently working on a manuscript provisionally titled, Advertising the American Jewish Experience.

ChRIS OATEYCOORDINATOR, LECTURER

MFA Otis, Exhibitions include CB1 Gallery, Los Angeles; Kent State University, Ohio: Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles; Cranbrook Academy of Art; Recipient of Durfee Foundation Grant and Ucross Foundation Fellowship.

ARAM MOShAYEDILECTURER

MA, Art history, USC, current doctoral candidate in Art History. Assistant curator, 2008 California Biennial at the Orange County Museum of Art. Published in Art in America, Art Lies, Reading Room: A Journal of Art and Culture, Art Papers, Bidoun, and Artforum.com.

LAUREN MACkLERSENIOR LECTURER

MFA RISD, Graphic designer, artist and curator whose practice includes making catalogs for exhibitions, posters, artist edition prints, videos, installations and curating group exhibitions in New york and Tokyo. Founding member of the Museum of Public Fiction.

SELECT vISITING ARTISTS

ÅbäkeDoug AitkenMark AllenCOMAEames Demetrioskeetra DixonJori FinkelApril GreimanFritz haegkarrie JacobsJohn knightSophie krier

vinca krukzak kyesharmen Liemberghenri Lucaskate MorossMarlene McCartyLeigh OkiesFlorian PfefferStephen Prina Erica RothenbergLouise SandhausErik Spiekermann

Jon SuedaCarolina TrigoAlice TwemlowUnderwareJeffrey vallanceDaniel van der veldenCarol WellsPae WhiteLorraine WildJan WilkerMario ybarra Jr.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

SEMINAR I/I I/I I I

In this three-term course sequence, all graduate students, work on project-specific assignments. Faculty and visiting artists provide the opportunity for in-depth discussion, conceptual and formal investigation. The intention of this course is to find focus and specialization in the program.

TYPOGRAPhY AND TYPE DESIGN

The projects assigned, use theory, methodology, and personal interests to expand student‚ knowledge of typography and its role within graphic design. Each section will host a visiting type designer who will workshop with the students and establish the beginnings of designing a typeface.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF ThE DESIGNER IN SOCIETY

This course defines “social responsibility” as a nuanced and contextual idea, one whose meaning is constantly evolving and whose manifestations shift between cultures and generations. Specific project topics and themes rotate by semester. All projects will involve an intensive research component that includes both informational and formal/visual research (collecting and making).

ADvANCING ThE DISCIPLINE ThROUGh ThEORY AND INNOvATION

Students will cultivate personal working methodologies and develop and test them throughout the course. Careful examinations of current/previous design vanguards with particular attention to the relationship between method and form. Students will produce a series of projects and will be critiques throughout the semesters by peers and faculty/guest faculty.

vISIT ING ARTIST CRIT IqUE

This course offers one-on-one studio critiques with visiting artists. The focus is on the individual student’s practice. In-depth discussion with artists and designers give students the opportunity to strengthen their conceptual and aesthetic development.

DIRECTED STUDY: MENTORShIP

Students produce academic texts related to design that are historical, critical, and/or theoretical. Through mentorship, students will begin to establish a body of work that can and should contribute to contemporary design discourse. Communication via digital technologies, telephone, or face-to-face meetings all contribute to the mentorship process Publication material in digital or analog form is required.

DIRECTED STUDY: DEvELOPING A TYPEFACE

Students interested in designing typefaces, will work closely with a type designer over the Spring session to create their own typeface. Research, thorough formal investigations, and conceptual development play a critical role. Students are encouraged to choose a mentorwhose thinking, work ethic, and craft are inspirationaland will undoubtedly shape their own practice.

CONSIDERING F INAL PROJECT

A diversity of critical approaches to twentieth and twenty-first century design are situated historically while introducing current themes and debates in contemporary design practice and related disciplines.

F INAL PROJECT

This course focuses on assisting students as they research, produce, and complete their final project. Guided by faculty, classmates, and visiting artists, all MFA candidates seek to solidify their place in the field of graphic design by initiating a project that redirects, re-establishes, and challenges the practice as it is today.

GRADUATE GRAPhIC DESIGN — PRIMARY

FIRST YEAR SUMMER SPRING

Seminar I 6 — History + Theory: Cont. Theories in Design 3 — Studio Topics: Typography and Type Design 2 — Studio Topics: Social Responsibility of the Designer 2 — Studio Topics: Advancing the Discipline 2 — Directed Studies — 7.5 Total credits per semester 15 7.5

SECOND YEAR SUMMER SPRING

Seminar II 6 — Visiting Artists Critique 2 — history of Graphic Design & visual Culture 1 3 — Studio Topics: Typography and Type Design 1 2 — Studio Topics: Social Responsibility of the Designer 1 2 — Studio Topics: Advancing the Discipline 2 — Directed Studies — 7.5 Total credits per semester 15 7.5 1. Students must choose two of these courses

ThIRD YEAR SUMMER

Seminar III 6 Final Project 4 Considering Final Project 3 Studio Topics: Typography and Type Design 2 2 Studio Topics: Social Responsibility of the Designer 2 2 Studio Topics: Advancing the Discipline 2 2 Total credits per semester 15 2. Students must choose one of these courses

GRADUATE GRAPhIC DESIGN —ALTERNATE

FIRST YEAR SUMMER SPRING

Seminar I 6 — Studio Topics: Typography and Type Design 2 — Studio Topics: Social Responsibility of the Designer 2 — Studio Topics: Advancing the Discipline 2 — Seminar III — 3 Directed Studies — 9 History + Theory: Cont Theories in Design 3 — Total credits per semester 15 12

SECOND YEAR SUMMER SPRING

Seminar II 6 — Visiting Artists Critique 2 — Studio Topics: Typography and Type Design 1 2 — Studio Topics: Social Responsibility of the Designer 1 2 — Studio Topics: Advancing the Discipline 1 2 — Seminar III — 3 Directed Studies — 6 History of Graphic Design & Visual Culture — 3 Total credits per semester 12 12

1. Students must choose two of these courses

ThIRD YEAR SUMMER

Final Project 4 Studio Topics: Typography and Type Design 2 2 Studio Topics: Social Responsibility of the Designer 2 2 Studio Topics: Advancing the Discipline 2 2 Considering Final Project 3 Total credits per semester 9

2. Students must choose one of these courses

GRADUATE GRAPhIC DESIGN —ACCELERATED 1

F IRST YEAR SUMMER FALL 2 SPRING

Seminar I 6 — Studio Topics: Typography and Type Design 2 — — Studio Topics: Social Resp. of the Designer 2 — — Studio Topics: Advancing the Discipline 2 — — Visiting Artist Critique 2 — — History + Theory: Cont Theories in Design 3 — — Directed Studies — 8 7 Seminar II — — 6 History of Graphic Design — — 3 Studio Topics: Typography and Type Design — — 2 Total credits per semester 17 8 18

SECOND YEAR SUMMER

Seminar III 6 Studio Topics: Typography and Type Design 3 2 Studio Topics: Social Resp. of the Designer 3 2 Studio Topics: Advancing the Discipline 3 2 Final Project 4 Considering Final Project 3 Total credits per semester 17

1. Must be recommended by MFA portfolio committee

2. Off-site

3.

Students must choose two of these courses

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otis.edu/ggd