Otis College of Art and Design

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14
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Innovation and Real-World PrepaCtion
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Otis’
Digital Media and Toy Design departments. At
their inception, both programs were considered
highly innovative. Toy Design today remains
one of only three such programs in the country.
The rise of these departments to the top of their
respective fields within a decade is remarkable.
Digital Media students have routinely swept top
prizes at national and international competitions,
and young Toy alumni have created industry
trend-setting toys. This issue of OMAG features
a look at Digital Media and Toy Design at ten,
as well as success stories from our graduates.
Several Otis trademark factors underpin
the achievements of these departments: strategic
development of new programs that respond to
the needs of industry and society; a pedagogical
balance between blue-sky creativity and workplace know-how that enables young professionals
to innovate in a real-world setting; and active
partnerships with industry leaders to provide our
students with top faculty mentors, internship
opportunities, and employment upon graduation.
In addition to connecting students with
professional opportunities, Otis is committed to
providing students with a socially aware and
diverse educational experience. This fall, Otis
launches a new graduate program in Public
Practice that explores new artistic strategies and
practices based on social engagement and activism.
At the undergraduate level, Otis’ Integrated
Learning (IL) curriculum extends the classroom
boundaries by requiring students from various
departments to work collaboratively on sitebased community projects that involve experts
from fields other than art and design.
The undergraduate Fine Arts department
offers the Artists, Community and Teaching (ACT)
program for students interested in careers in
art education. In addition, the Otis Teenagers
Educators Artists Mentors (O TEAM) initiative
offers low-income Los Angeles youth an afterschool academy in digital media that provides
skill-based media arts education and a
path toward higher education. These and other
efforts have earned Otis a place in the inaugural
group qualified for the Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of Teaching’s Community
Engagement Classification — as the only art
and design college to be included.
Otis’ educational mission and impact are
recognized by major funders. Recent grants from
the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and
the Annenberg Foundation provide resources
to offer scholarships to financially challenged
students. The James Irvine Foundation has
also awarded the College a grant for leadership
advancement, including the research for a
strategic diversity plan.
An Otis education is distinguished by a
fruitful combination of innovation, optimism,
diversity, and opportunity.
—Samuel Hoi, President
Otis prepares diverse students of art and design to enrich
our world through their creativity, their skill, and their vision.
Founded in 1918, Otis is L.A.’s first professional school of visual arts. Otis’ 1100 students pursue
BFA degrees in advertising design, architecture/landscape/interiors, digital media, fashion design,
graphic design, illustration, interactive product design, painting, photography, sculpture/new
genres, and toy design. Graduate Studies are offered in fine arts, public practice and writing. Alumni
shape contemporary visual culture—from fine arts to the Hollywood screen, from the clothes we
wear to the toys that engage our children.
2007 Vol.3 In This Issue:
President Samuel Hoi with Scholarship Benefit Honorees
Jaque Hall and Paul Fitzpatrick of Macy’s
02 Digital at Ten
12
Toy at Ten
18
24
Alumni Around the World
Otis Monitor
What Matters?
Creative Economy Report
Recipe for Collaboration
Three Spots
26 College News
Editor: Margi Reeve,
Communications Director
Co-editor: Sarah Russin,
Alumni Director
Photography: Kristy Campbell,
Mark Caneso, Scott Canty,
Jessica Hayes, Lee Salem, James Stiles
Front Cover: Eric Urquhart (’07)
Veggie Land, 2007, digital color print from
the exhibition in the Ben Maltz Gallery,
“SIMS: In the Hands of Artists,” July 14August 11. Students created work inspired
by the popular game for a competition
sponsored by Electronic Arts.
Back cover : Commencement ’07
ACT Lessons
More on Wikis and Podcasts
Squint
A Constant Presence
Student Awards
Commencement ’07
Public Programs
Paliknoa in Kosrae
The Story of Relics
32 Class Notes
Entrepreneurs, Award-Winners,
Cool Designers, Soloists, Entertainers,
Alumni In Print, In Memorium
Contributing Writers: Susan Martin and
George Wolfe, Freelance
Creative: Intersection Studio
Design Direction: Greg Lindy
Design: Mark Caneso (’04)
© Otis College of Art and Design
Publication of material does not necessarily
indicate endorsement of the author’s viewpoint
by Otis College of Art and Design
Otis College of Art and Design
Tenth Anniversary of the DigiAl Media DepaBment
Digital Media has evolved over the last ten years as the industry changes and grows.
The department’s primary goal is to strike a balance between traditional art and
technology, and individual vision and teamwork. Video Game Design, the most recent
addition to the curriculum, trains concept artists, modelers and animators.
Motion Graphics express personality in all aspects of the entertainment industry.
Visual Effects enhance narrative and immersive experiences. 2D Design emphasizes
image and text manipulation, and 3D Design encompasses animation and model
making. Together, these five elements of the curriculum prepare students to respond
to rapid changes in technology.
F E AT U R E
F E AT U R E
Chair Harry Mott interviews Lord of the Rings
visual maDermind Jim Rygiel
Making
All audiences, even soap opera viewers, are used to the fantastic.
Where do you think special effects are going?
With the advent of boxtop renderers (PS3, Xbox, Wii), hardware is getting faster and faster, so that soon I can see sharing of assets around
the globe, to create a virtual YouTube of real time animation ongoing in
real time.
What can the visual effects houses and artists do to keep wowing
people? Has the industry reached a plateau?
Software and houses come and go—it’s the artist and the idea that keep
wowing us. It essentially all boils down to “a vision or idea,” and with
digital filmmaking that vision is literally right at our fingertips.
What would you recommend to students here and afar who want
to become visual effects artists?
Too often students come looking to learn software. We try to get them
to learn the concepts and principles of art, design and storytelling.
Real
What would you tell students to learn in and out of school? What
kind of studies should they undertake? Where should their concentrations be? What kind of people skills should they develop?
Give me a piano, and I would be the worst piano player you could ever
imagine; give the same piano to Chopin, and he would play a masterpiece. The point is the software is just a tool that can be technically
mastered by anyone; it’s the internal visual concepts that are of greatest
importance. Analyzing a shot in a movie to determine what is or is not
working, in terms of its look, is where the concepts of design, color, and
composition come into play.
Alex Alexieff, who developed pin screen animation with his wife,
Claire Parker, commented “You will find more inspiration, more
suggestions in all fields outside your own. Look to poetry, science,
music, psychology, astronomy. Anything. Anything. From these
alien fields may come inspiration unexpected by you, which will
enrich you and give you more raw material than thousands of
screenings of your colleagues’ works.”
I completely agree with this and, in fact, have based my life on it. I take
this even one step farther. Apart from looking to the arts and sciences
for inspiration, I also look to my everyday mundane tasks of gardening,
cooking, cleaning, and paying bills, and attempt to find the aesthetic
aspects. Art is Everywhere and Everything!
What distinguished Lord of the Ring’s visual effects in the history
of our industry?
When I first met with Peter Jackson, I told him that I wasn’t a huge
fantasy film buff, but that my goal would be to make the fantasy
worlds real enough so that the viewer would wonder how to book an
airline ticket to the world we were creating. It was a pivotal point in
time where technology was advancing enough to allow us to create the
level of worlds that we wanted. Gollum was a good example of this,
where software and hardware allowed us to achieve a character not
previously realized.
Are sound and music areas for growth and cooperation?
Sound and music certainly give the effects that we do the necessary
impact needed to enhance the shot. For instance, if you saw a clip of
an explosion, with ground-shaking sub woofer bass, and saw the same
shot with the sound turned off, your experience of that clip would be
enormously different! In terms of a component of visual effects, I rely
on it but don’t necessarily utilize it.
What are you working on now and what is in the future for you?
I am currently directing commercials, and have just signed on as
visual effects supervisor for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the 3rd in
the Chronicles of Narnia series.
What are some recent films that you especially enjoyed?
Pirates, Casino Royale, and I am very excited about seeing Transformers!
What are your all-time favorite films?
2001, Mad Max, Road Warrior, Shawshank Redemption, Fargo, Sling Blade
and of course the Lord of the Rings trilogy!
Nostalgia question from Sarah Russin: Can you share some of
your early Otis experiences with video? Didn’t you collaborate
with classmates Bruce Yonemoto and Jeffrey Vallance?
We had the luxury of using the fantastic reel-to-reel portable. (pg. 2)
I can’t remember a day that we weren’t helping each other out preparing
for a show. When I went into digital animation, Jeffrey Vallance wanted
a little help on a video he was putting together called Blinky the Friendly
Hen, based on a book that he produced, so I was doing a little digital
video animation for him on a $15 million Cray XMP supercomputer!
Where does innovation come from in this field?
Innovation is always driven by the idea. If films didn’t push the envelope in terms of effects and looks, technology would probably be 10
years behind. With almost every film I have embarked upon, we went in
having no idea of how we were ever going to accomplish some of the
things at we intended. But put a bunch of brilliant and creative artists
and scientists together, and it’s magic!
Jim Rygiel (’81, MFA)
OMAG 04
05 OMAG
F E AT U R E
F E AT U R E
Gaming for EduAinment
By Brock Ramirez
Gilbert Martinez, Brandon Martynowicz, Mike Lee, Chin Ko
Geeks No More
By Gilbert Martinez
It’s been a little over a year now since I came up north to the Bay Area to work at
LucasArts, and it feels great to be able to share my post-graduation experiences.
LucasArts is the game development arm of Lucasfilm Ltd, located in the beautiful San
Francisco National Park Presidio that overlooks the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.
I am currently a 3D artist on the environments team for the game Star
Wars: The Force Unleashed. Before this I spent a year working on the
Indiana Jones game for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 (release date to
be announced). My primary role as an environment artist is to create
the digital 3D environments that players immerse themselves in when
they play our games. For SW: TFU this means making the futuristic
worlds of the Star Wars Universe: enormous imperial factories, deadly
battle arenas, alien worlds and the artifacts that inhabit these spaces. I
model them, paint them, light them, and place them in the game to
ensure that they look good, feel right, and run efficiently. This is the
most unique part of our jobs as game artists; we need both an artistic
eye and a savvy technical left brain to ensure that we do not exceed the
limitations of the engines that run our games.
I have been a gamer since my early teenage years back in the days
of Pong and the Atari 2600, and I have been playing games steadily
ever since. The only time I stopped playing games was while I attended
Otis so that I could stay focused on my studies. I classify myself as an
old school gamer. I enjoy quirky action and puzzle games that don’t
rely heavily on photorealistic graphics. Some of my recent favorites are
Katamari Damacy, God of War, Bully, and the latest Zelda game on the
Wii console.
In the early days of games, being a gamer was considered geeky.
Things have changed in the last few years. Everyone is enjoying interactive entertainment whether it’s on a PC, a home console, a handheld
device, on the web, or even on a cell phone. The business has grown
from the days when two guys in a garage could create a blockbuster.
It can now take one hundred people, two-to-three years of incubation,
and over 20 million dollars to create a headliner game title. What this
means is that many of us can now make a decent living as game devel-
OMAG 06
opers. Games have gone corporate! Although we don’t wear suits
and ties, we do work in offices, have 401(k)s, make salaries, and have
medical benefits.
Otis was crucial in preparing me for life in game development. I
came to Otis knowing next to nothing about what it took to be a working artist in this business. In fact, all I knew when I enrolled was that
I wanted to learn 3D and work in games. I didn’t know what kinds
of job opportunities were out there or what it took to get in the door.
Throughout my stay at Otis I had a chance to read about, meet, and
be taught by professionals from many different media companies who
shared their experiences and advice. These individuals and their
feedback helped me learn what it takes to be successful at what I do.
At Otis I learned a mix of creative, technical and social skills
necessary to perform my daily duties here at LucasArts. Beyond simply
learning graphics programs, we were also taught how to problem
solve and work together as a team—how to speak up, share, and listen
became second nature.
I have returned to campus each year with company representatives
to recruit talent from the graduating classes. Last year I staged a major
coup by referring three of the top graduates—Mike Lee, Chin Ko, and
Brandon Martynowicz—who went on to make it, with flying colors,
through LucasArts’ rigorous hiring requirements.
Like Otis, this company is composed of individuals from all over the
world and all walks of life. It will continue to grow as the medium of
interactive gaming grows. And we are growing along with it. The opportunity to watch the company expand and the responsibility of working
on two of the world’s most well-known franchises is both exhilarating
and frightening at the same time.
“I classify myself as an old
school gamer. I enjoy quirky
action and puzzle games
that don’t rely heavily on
photorealistic graphics.”
When I graduated from Otis in 2005, my main focus of study was character animation.
Currently I work for a company called Knowledge Adventure (KA) in Torrance, CA. I have
been there since October 2004 of my senior year. KA is an edutainment company that
produces products that contain elements of today’s platform games mixed with educational and learning content. Major current titles include Math Blaster and Jump Start.
Past titles include Barbie Fashion, Jurassic Park, and American Idol.
I am one of three animators, and act as the senior technical director, which puts
me in charge of setting up rigs so that the other animators and I can properly animate the
characters. A day in the life here at work can range from extremely laid back and goofy to
energetic and stressful. We are all properly equipped with Nerf dart guns to execute office
justice to unsuspecting coworkers, or (if team members prefer the non-human variety)
inflatable animals and objects that are available for target practice. Also, every Friday ends
with an all-out match on Counter Strike Source.
The benefit of working on children’s games is that as an animator, I am greatly influenced by animation as a 2D cartoon medium. Most adult audience games require realistic
animation that makes me yawn. With cartoon games, not only do I get to avoid unnecessary violence, but I also create fun, energetic, bouncy characters. There are no limits
to realism when I want to make them do something. I am a huge advocate of pushing
animation to make things seem “more alive” than reality. The only downside that I
find in a child-oriented company is everything has to be politically correct to the extreme
in order to avoid offending anyone.
During the three years I have been here, I have hired four Otis alumni: three from
my graduating class and major (Ty Viveiros, Chris Marsh, and Suzan Kim) and one from
Communication Arts (Lance Thatcher). I have worked on four titles that have been
released, and am currently working on four more. In all titles I am credited as animator
and rigger.
The greatest thing about my work is that I am one of the few people who, when
asked what I do, can honestly respond with a smile and say that I love going to work each
and every day (or at least I never regret going to work due to the type of work I do). Be
sure that fact rings true with you.
Chris Marsh, Suzan Kim, and Brock Ramirez, all ’05
07 OMAG
OTIS MONITOR
OTIS MONITOR
Recipe for
CollaboCtion
by Parme Giuntini, Director, Art History
Take two Otis faculty members: one art historian trained in 18th-century portraiture,
gender and social history (but enamored with fashion and pop culture), and one fashion
illustrator who is also a fine artist, a writer, and equally interested in fashion. Mix lightly
at various Otis events for a few years, giving the two time to discover their mutual
interests, time to bridge the gap between studio and Liberal Studies boundaries, and time
to develop and team-teach a course on fashion and art.
Add one large dose of creativity, three years of research and writing,
and a commitment to collaboration. The result is "GARB: A Reader
on Fashion and Culture," which features the combined work of Parme
Giuntini and Kathryn Hagen, as well as a host of essayists (many of
whom are Otis faculty members).
Collaboration and interdisciplinarity are currently two key buzzwords on college and university campuses, and for good reason:
They enrich our understanding of any issue in a globalized world that
embraces a multiplicity of positions and options. Theoretically, faculty
from different departments and disciplines should spend significant
time engaging their colleagues in discussion pertinent to their interests
— this will invigorate both their work and their students’ work. That is,
of course, an ivory tower myth. The reality of faculty life anywhere is a
haze of prepping for classes, teaching, working with students, participating in meetings, and handling ongoing departmental responsibilities;
opportunities for faculty to indulge in purely intellectual conversation
are rare indeed — and that’s within one department. It’s doubly difficult
to find time to engage colleagues in other departments. So when it
does happen, we cherish the interaction.
From initial conversations about fashion, the myriad meanings that
clothing can communicate, and the intriguing crossovers that we saw
between fashion, design, culture and fine art, Kathryn and I proposed
a team-taught art history elective that addressed these issues. Teamteaching is expensive — two salaries for a single class but, at its best,
it offers some undeniable benefits: the opportunity to bring divergent
points of view into the classroom and engage both each other and the
students in a lively exchange of ideas. When it works, it is extraordinarily
successful; but it depends on the ability of the instructors to share the
classroom, to play off each other’s ideas and personalities, and to
disagree in a collegial manner. Kathryn and I found it an exhilarating
experience. We enjoyed the give and take and, after two years of teaching
the class, we realized that many of the issues we were raising dovetailed with concerns that the students had about fashion and culture.
We hatched the actual idea for the book at one of our innumerable
breakfast meetings in the summer of 2003, and within a few months
we pitched the idea to Kathryn’s publishing contact at Prentice-Hall.
Although we made some changes in the conceptual framework of the
book, we always intended to invite outside essayists from a variety
of disciplines. Our writers ranged from poets to art critics, illustrators to
art historians, folklorists to practicing artists. We decided on the title
OMAG 22
GARB at our first meeting; and when I first walked into Kathryn’s house
and saw her painting Armored Figure hanging on the wall, I knew that
we had our cover art.
Writing and editing a book together is a bit like co-habitating:
To be successful living with someone else’s mind, there has to be sufficient space for sharing as well as independence, an ability to recognize
and capitalize on each other’s strengths and expertise, and the flexibility
to blend divergent positions into a cohesive whole without jeopardizing
the critical (and often divergent) points. These factors are doubly
important when the collaboration is interdisciplinary because incorporating different areas of expertise always means a negotiation of
interests and priorities. I suspect that is why when we look back over the
past three years of working together, our fondest memories — and the
reason that we want to collaborate again — will always be those summer
days when we pushed back from the computer and talked through
different issues. They were challenging discussions and we often disagreed, but we always came to better conclusions as the result. “GARB:
A Reader on Fashion and Culture” is a testament to our shared belief
and determination that the ivory tower myth can become a reality.
Parme Giuntini and Kathryn Hagen
Three Spots
Yamandú Canosa, born in Uruguay and now living in Barcelona, was the Jennifer Howard
Coleman Distinguished Artist in Residence in Fine Arts in fall 2006. Otis thanks the
Samuel Goldwyn Foundation for its support of this residency. Canosa's exhibition, “Three
Spots,” at the Ben Maltz Gallery, included a site-specific wall mural as well as paintings
and drawings that depart from his concept of landscape as perceptual experience.
Below are excerpts from an interview done for Otis’ Web site, and responses from some of the Fine Arts students whose studios he visited.
Where are you from?
After years of living in Barcelona, the subject of identity has become
more important. If you ask me if I feel like a Latin American artist living
in Spain or a Catalan artist in Barcelona (since I have been there for 30
years), I don’t have an answer. I am always thinking about it. People in
Barcelona notice something Latin American in my accent, and when I
visit Uruguay, people think I am from Spain. Perhaps my accent comes
from a big boat in the middle of the Atlantic! This could be a good
metaphor of my experience and that of other artists who are immersed
in a variety of cultural contexts.
What music do you like?
I listen to a lot of Brazilian music like Caetano Veloso’s, also flamenco
music with jazz. I like the complexity that comes from mixing styles.
What do you think of Los Angeles (since this is your first visit)?
L.A. has this very mixed culture, but Barcelona is also a Babylon. All the
big cities in the world are starting to have a multicultural atmosphere
with immigrants from around the world, and it brings problems but it
also produces a vital culture that grows. Here you have other populations that we don’t have in Europe, but I think it’s helpful for the immigrants to find their place. I believe that making sense in another place
by asking big questions is what great artists do. What are the questions
the work is asking you, and what is the quality of the questions?
Fine Arts student responses
• Yamandú brought an external perspective into my studio, and was
able to focus on certain problematic aspects of my practice. All Otis
students would benefit by more dialogues like this one, which introduce variety in context and substance.
• Seeing Yamandú’s drawings and how simple and beautiful they were
encouraged me to begin drawing again. He gave me feedback about
how to push one of my unfinished pieces further. I also became interested in the idea of translation; how to make my ideas understood
when there is a language barrier.
• Yamandú spoke about painting as having a reference outside itself;
the larger idea that is the context for work.
• Our discussion of space and perception was of much use to me since
I am also an installation artist.
• I appreciated the fact that he is Latino, has lived in Europe, and is
very worldly. He has a wise, informed, international point of view.
• I was lucky to have a two-hour, one-on-one critique with Yamandú.
His interpretation of my work was extremely helpful, and his words of
wisdom and objective looking confirmed that I am right to follow my
instincts. His thoughts and discussion as well as his reaction to my
work in progress gave me confidence and helped cast away my shadow
of self-doubt.
• In five years, this was the first time I met with a Spanish-speaking
professional artist about my work. It helped me to communicate eloquently to Spanish speakers.
Yamandú Canosa (center) installing the exhibition “Three Spots” in the Ben Maltz Gallery.
To purchase this exhibition catalogue ($25) and others, call (310) 665 6905.
23 OMAG
F E AT U R E
Sleepless in L.A.
By George Wolfe
“All those years of not sleeping are definitely paying off now.” So says 2002 Digital Media
alum Amy Kaufman Levy, who has recently been promoted to Head of Production at awardwinning bicoastal creative production company Stardust.
But at times during her schooling, in addition to the
18 units she was pulling at Otis, Amy was also working 30-35 hours as a junior animator at a place
called Hornet plus nine hours of interning at Fox
Sports Net.
Having already received a Liberal Studies degree
at Grossmont College, and as a transfer student
from Cal State Northridge (as opposed to coming to
Otis fresh out of high school), Amy says her goal was
to avoid a non-paying internship after graduating.
She’d always had a sense that it was important to
get to work early. And that’s exactly what she did.
Taking a liking to sports graphics, she built her
senior thesis around a Fox Sports Net 3D promo.
With plenty of experience under her belt at two
companies over the span of two years, she was in a
prime position in terms of employment. Within two
weeks of graduation, Fox promoted her to Graphics
Coordinator/Producer. “It all sort of trickled into my
lap,” she recalls.
“I would recommend getting an internship early
on. With me, sometimes I’d be learning things at
work, and be ahead of the class; it would definitely
help me problem-solve by simply applying what I’d
learned in the workplace. I’d also advise students to
focus on design that uses software as a tool—develop
a strong background in design. Otis was an amazing
experience. They teach you everything; but there’s
a danger of spreading yourself too thin. Even though
OMAG 08
the demand right now is high for animators and
designers, if you want to do 3D animation, really
just focus on that. Sometimes I hear people say ‘I
want to design and edit and do sound and get talent
and do motion graphics, etc.’ But it’s important to
focus on your passion.”
Then came the choice to freelance or stay with
a staff job. Amy moved on to freelance work at
3 Ring Circus (as Graphics Producer), Exopolis, and
Stardust (as Senior Producer). She got to the point of
juggling roughly five commercials at a time, each
with several million dollar budgets, sometimes composed of as many as 20 promos, and often filming
around the world.
“I just kept getting great jobs at Stardust, and
getting the work done on time and within the budget. They finally hooked me in January ’06 as a fulltime employee, and I’ve been working there ever
since. Over my freelancing years, and since, I’ve
recruited a lot of talent and built a huge roster,
many of them from Otis.”
As Head of Production, her job no longer entails
producing directly; rather, she makes sure things
go smoothly, production-wise, in terms of creative.
Or as she says, “Basically, I kind of have my nose in
everybody’s projects.”
Stardust’s particular appeal seems to come from
the fact that a large number of employees are art
school grads who deliver work that’s organic in
nature, and which focuses on the fundamentals of
color, design and composition. A lot of the resulting
imagery is still hand-drawn and scanned in, creating
a magical, ethereal quality that happens to be hot
right now.
As far as the future goes, despite the challenge
of constantly adapting to new technology and software, Amy sees a constant appetite for advertising
that’ll continue to propel jobs in this market.
“Companies will always need to get product out
there. In the next year or so, everything will be HD.
A lot of work is going onto cell phones, like little
promos and downloads onto iPods, and of course
the Internet, and also in-demand. That opens up all
kinds of doors since what we do can be useful with
many different multimedia tools. In the next 10-15
years, we might not have magazines and fliers
because everything will be online, but I don’t see
motion graphics going the way of print.”
“KorpenfeDer” Tours the
Cosmos and the World
Student Michael Tavarez, a Digital Media junior,
created this animation, inspired by the typography of
Phillip von Rhoden. He used simple neon-like shapes
to explore the processes of decay and regeneration,
expanding from the human molecular level outward
to encompass the entire sweep of the cosmos.
It was selected from 2,200 entries for Resfest, an
international festival of pioneering film and digital
arts which traveled to 43 cities and six continents.
www.michaeltavarez.com/portfolio/Animation/
korperfenster_med.html
09 OMAG
y
o
T
at
n
e
T
Tenth Anniversary of the
Toy Design DepaBment
OMAG 12
by
Deborah Ryan, Chair
Over the past 10 years, the Otis Toy Design program has gained worldwide recognition
as the place to go to find talented toy designers. Los Angeles, the hub of the toy industry, is home to Mattel, the world’s largest toy maker, and has spawned hundreds of
other Southern California toy companies.
As a result of the close proximity, the department faculty members are
industry professionals who are experts in their field. The comprehensive
design curriculum includes all the major toy design categories of plush,
preschool, dolls, action figures, toy vehicles, and games. Classes in child
psychology and development, marketing, engineering, model making,
digital design, computer rendering, packaging, presentation, and conceptual drawing and illustration complement the design curriculum.
Students use the newest technology available in the industry, including
rapid prototyping, whereby they draw on the computer and a machine
prints the actual model. The students also receive valuable practical
experience in summer internships at toy companies. When they graduate, they have an extensive portfolio of work, and display their work
at the end-of-the-year exhibition in a showroom setting much like the
New York Toy Fair. Otis’ Toy Design Department has such a powerful
reputation that hundreds of toy industry representatives come to this
exhibition to recruit graduating seniors. With graphic, product, and
digital design skills, the toy design graduates are prepared to work in
almost any area of children’s product design. Some other colleges
have offered classes in toy design, but they cannot compete with the
comprehensive curriculum that Otis offers, combined with a liberal
arts education.
As the toy industry has grown in its size and the vast array of categories and types of products, there is a need for designers who have
specialized skills. I began my career in toy design more than 20 years
ago. Like others in the industry at the time, I did not go to college
intending to be a toy designer. I graduated from the University of
Cincinnati, College of Design, Architecture and Art, with a Bachelor of
Science in Design. One of my internships was at Kenner Toys, where I
designed plush characters and fashion dolls. After graduation, I had the
amazing experience of designing women’s clothing for Gianni Versace’s
ready-to-wear line. The job required that I travel to Los Angeles, and
on one of my visits I saw an ad for a designer at Mattel. I applied for
the position and was hired as a toy designer. There I was able to use my
fashion design and industrial design skills to create toys with features.
None of the designers I worked with at Mattel were trained as toy
designers, nor did they think that this might be their career when they
were in college. They came from a variety of backgrounds including
automotive design, industrial design, fine arts, fashion design, graphic
design, and engineering. We were self-taught or learned from each
other, sometimes saying we were at “Mattel College.” In the past
it took many years on the job to acquire the skills that toy designers
at Otis have upon graduation.
A career as a toy designer carries a great deal of responsibility
because of the important role toys play in children’s lives. At Otis, we
teach students that social consciousness is an important part of being
a toy designer. Toys are an important part of our history and culture,
and have existed since ancient times. Imaginative play is not only fun,
but psychologists have proven that it is also crucial for the development of high-level human skills such as decision-making, socialization,
and creativity. In primitive cultures where no manufactured toys
are available, children play with everyday objects and make them into
imaginary friends and enemies, and create games and puzzles.
At the turn of this century, MGA introduced an ethnically ambiguous doll line called “Bratz,” which captured a huge market share of the
A career as a toy designer carries a
great deal of responsibility because
of the important role toys play in
children’s lives. At Otis, we teach
students that social consciousness
is an important part of being a
toy designer.
fashion doll business. The culturally and ethnically diverse student population at Otis is well prepared to express cultural and societal shifts in
the toys they design. Our toy design students are an almost equal mix
of males and females as well, and their designs reflect changing ideas
about gender in our society. In the action figure class, students design
female action figures that are strong, empowered heroes, equal to their
male counterparts.
Modern toys vary from the simple to the technologically complex,
and provide children with fun and fantasy, while teaching social norms.
The modern toy industry produces products that reach a worldwide
audience, creating new trends in toy design.
13 OMAG
F E AT U R E
Dream Job:
Q
By Scott Derman (’05)
From Santa’s
Workshop to
Pixar Cars
Turbo Max Steel figure
Press the buttons on his back to
punch for lights and sounds.
Build up his power and watch him
unleash his Turbo strength!
OMAG 14
quality and engineering. LEGO bricks that are generated today
will stack with a brick produced in 1960. The secret is the high
quality and attention paid to the tolerances in the molds.
Design and production are done within a few square miles of
each other to allow communication and synchronization with
the factory.
My everyday duties included wandering the two giant
storehouses which house virtually every design of LEGO brick
ever made. I stockpiled what I needed for the day, went back
to my desk, ate some cake, and proceeded to build for the rest
of the day. I learned that most designers do not sketch their
ideas; they build them. When designers develop a new adventure play set, they create revision after revision of construction until the set is just right, altering colors, number of
pieces, how fast it can be built and the way everything fits
together. The time I spent in Denmark was some of the best
of my life. I traveled a lot within the country while I was
there. I even spent a week in London by myself while everyone
at LEGO was on holiday. It truly was the life-altering opportunity I sought.
The following year, I was offered an internship in Mattel’s
games and puzzles department. I was eager to experience a
company that is wildly different from the two previous ones.
For me, internships were like dating. You get to know a company without any real commitments: Get in, test the water,
poke around, learn a few things, and get out. If it happens to
be a match made in heaven, you sign the marriage papers and
earn a salary. When my Mattel internship was over and I was a
college graduate, I stayed on as a temp. I began touring the
design center and exploring other Mattel opportunities, and
was offered a full-time position in the entertainment design
group. Since my tour of duty began, I have worked on six different brands, received two patents, and have seen roughly 15
A
with faculty members
Mark Taylor & Candace Lavin
What is unique about the L.A. toy design industry?
CL To support L.A.’s toy companies and their designers, there are many model making
and prototype studios. A toy design can quickly go from a thumbnail on a scrap of
paper to a working sample in a matter of weeks.
MT Toy design in the Los Angeles area differs from the Midwest and East Coast toy
businesses largely because of the influence and proximity of the entertainment industry.
Ruth and Eliot Handler, founders of Mattel, were the first to exploit this relationship
by blitzing the American toy demographic with products from Disney’s Mickey Mouse
Club TV show. These brands quickly outstripped the “old line” toy company products.
The concept of designing brands instead of items was an outgrowth of this partnering with entertainment properties. Mattel, with their advertising agency Ogilvy
Mather, led this trend, but all toy companies got on the licensing, branding and crosspromoting bandwagon. This partnership dominated the market through the late ’50s,
’60s, ’70s and into the early ’80s.
The predominance of marketing throughout the toy development process (design)
is stronger on the West Coast than anywhere in the nation. Toys are primarily designed
for maximum visual appeal rather than extended play pattern. Every feature must pay
its way in advertising results. Other toy companies see the product as the innovative
core and depend on promotion (advertising) to find a way to sell it.
Ten years ago I knew I liked to make art, but I really had no idea what realistic options I had to pursue my artistic ambitions. It wasn’t until my senior
year of high school that I finally chose a path that would ultimately lead to
my “dream job.”
My teacher and mentor Barbara Katchen worked with me to
develop my portfolio, and came to me one day with a
brochure for Otis’ toy design program. Needless to say, I was
very intrigued by the idea of combining my love of toys with
my passion for design. After I was accepted, it didn’t take
much convincing for me to pack my bags and drive 18 hours
from Aurora, Colorado to Los Angeles.
From day one, I knew my time at Otis would be an arduous journey that would test my devotion to the design process
and the goal of a rewarding career. Early on, I saw firsthand
just how exciting the toy design industry could be. Between
sophomore and junior years, I took a summer internship
with Art Asylum, an action figure company in New York. I felt
somewhat like a small child wandering through Santa’s
Workshop. I had learned a few things the year before, but this
was certainly an eye-opener. The designers who worked
at Art Asylum were amazingly talented. And the deep well
of knowledge they offered me whetted my artistic palette for
things to come.
The true excitement came when the internship postings
came around the next year. As I perused the corkboard of
job listings, I couldn’t help but feel like I was shopping for
life-altering opportunities. I noticed one that only graduating
seniors were applying for: a summer abroad working for
LEGO in Denmark. After weeks of preparation and stressing
through mid-morning downtown L.A. traffic, I learned that
I had been offered a position at the top three companies
on my list, including LEGO. Before I knew it, I was winging
my way to the land of Tuborg beer and colorful stacking
construction bricks.
Living in Billund, Denmark was probably a lot what I
imagine life was like in 1956: Everyone rode bicycles and was
super nice. The company itself was an amazing machine of
&
of my designs make it to the shelf. I am currently working on
Pixar’s Cars and helping to develop new exciting brands that are
still in the works.
Overall, my experience at Mattel has been an enormously
positive one. This is a company that is brimming with talent, and
simply being a part of it has taught me more than I could possibly convey. I am truly grateful for having the internship experiences that I did. It allowed me to explore my passion without the
fear of complete responsibility. Having this attitude is what I
think allowed me to succeed. Internships are a learning ground
in which mistakes will teach you more than your successes.
Naruto Quick-draw Kunai set
Strap the satchel of kunai daggers
to your thigh, then use the quick
draw hand strap to fire them out in
rapid succession.
What are the objectives of sponsored projects such as the spring
07 “Hot Wheels” studio with Mattel, both for the students and for
the sponsor?
MT Students were able to work with a large, successful brand while maintaining their
student autonomy, producing state-of-the-art creative, professional and exciting presentations to Mattel Hot Wheels, Matchbox and Tyco management.
1. Mattel management (Matchbox and Tyco) leaders saw fresh new vehicle concepts from designers who were close in age to consumers, with minimal prejudgment
or bias. The designers were from wildly diverse cultural backgrounds. I am proud
to say the girls did more than hold their own in this usually male-dominated brand;
they kicked!
2. The Mattel managers were able to witness up-and-coming talent and judge the
effectiveness and practicality of the methods for their own use.
3. The Mattel design team provided feedback that inspired students to explore
new types of designs and consider new product possibilities.
4. Because the project was based in an educational environment with a “blue sky”
thought process, the Mattel design team could look beyond the basics, and consider
students’ design approaches that would not emerge in a “strictly business” environment. Product innovation and quality of concept were the important goals, without
the myriad of pre-conditions that exist in a large corporate environment.
5. The competitive market research was open and extensive, and students often
discovered and presented surprises and new business opportunities as part of the
problem-solving process.
CL They also meet 20 to 25 toy design students and discover a new, fresh pool of
talent that will eventually be available to them as future employees.
Thanks to the open and helpful attitude of the Mattel (Matchbox and Tyco)
designers and their generous critiques, the students received a gentle touch of toy
reality and a pat on the back. This is invaluable for their practical toy knowledge and
their professional pride, and it served as a very positive boost to their creative spirit.
How is toy design responding to interactive technology?
MT Interactivity is the “Holy Grail” of play patterns and a constantly moving target.
Finding the magic blend between the two camps of interactive technology is the trick.
(The “Tech Nerd” camp values the complex, difficult, chancy to make happen, abstract
and vague but very unique.) The “We kinda been here before” camp premiates features
that have been done before so they can probably be done again (with a few new
wrinkles). This approach evolves into a franchise blending into market mediocrity that
encompasses many entertainment licensed toy products.
continue »
15 OMAG
F E AT U R E
continued
MT Is it magic? Is it fun? Does it have wonder? These are the real questions when
looking for the “Grail.” If we study the digital game business as an interactive
template with its mix of technology, icons and imagination, the standards are
set. The digital game market (yes they are really toys) is so successful that it is
the world’s biggest entertainment business. Why didn’t we all see it? The arcades
were always jumpin’.
What are the most significant innovations in toy design of the last
few years?
CL No longer is a child simply pushing an ON button somewhere on the toy and
waiting till the batteries run down. The new trend is to place chips into toys that
become activated once the child takes the new toy home. The complexity of the
programmed information on the chip depends on the age level of the child. No
matter how innovative the toy is, it must still allow for the child’s imagination to
explore and discover new things.
MT The innovative move toward animatronics and heroic action figures for preschool, and the iPod and iPhone (yes, they’re also toys) and “i” products that will
continue to follow them “outside the nine dots” and beyond
How do American toy companies differ from those in Europe or Asia? How
different are the consumers?
MT To my knowledge, no American toy company is subsidized, assisted by the
government or insulated by import taxes or quota limitations against foreign
competition. American toy companies only have three major retail outlets for
injection-molded traditionally packaged toys: Wal-Mart, Toys R Us or Target.
European toy companies have broader distribution networks from large toy store
chains to “mom and pop” shops, and they sell across seasons. American toys are
considered high priced and low quality by the rest of the world. When they are
purchased, it’s usually because of a very popular license, such as a Disney entertainment property.
American toy companies depend on huge quotas to support their brand marketing, license acquisitions and overhead. Because of the accelerated obsolesce
of styles and demand for new, fresh product on the shelf by the retailers, tooling
budgets are astronomical. European toy companies tend to be rather small, and
they can keep a toy unchanged in their line for years. They sell very small numbers by comparison to the American industry. European consumers also perceive
toys as durable, something to be passed down to another sibling.
European and Asian markets are like our collector market: low profit,
low quantities, high tooling and low A to S (advertising to sales) ratio. They do
not rely on marketing to drive their business but consider point of purchase
(packaging) their advertising.
CL American toy companies design their toys in a manner that follows the latest
trends happening fashion, technology and music. Asian consumers, especially in
Japan, are often the people setting many of the new trends in technology. The
American companies “shop the marketplace” in Japan and in Hong Kong a regular basis, always searching for newest look or idea.
What advice do you give young people who want to become
toy designers?
CL First and foremost, you have to be able to still think like a child, Using your
own imagination and making the emotional connection to remembering when
you were a child and played with toys all the time. Is it fun, do you escape to
another world when you play with it, does the toy keep pulling you back to play
with it again?
MT Feed your imagination with books, film and the internet. Most of all, learn
to really listen and observe, and not just about toys. Let your imagination run
wild and don’t let anything or anyone stop you. Find a good design school and
completely lose yourself in your work. Just do it! Learn some stuff and then do
it again. If you don’t like the doing of it, you’re in the wrong business.
What was your favorite toy when you were a child, and what is your
favorite toy today? If you have children, what are their favorites?
CL Since I was very much the tomboy as a child, I always wanted to be outside
escaping to an imaginary world—the Wild West, a Medieval Castle or Robin
Hood’s Sherwood Forest. So I played with the rocking horse, cap guns, swords
and shields and bows and arrows. I became characters from my favorite stories
and comic books. Now I collect action figures and resin collectibles of my
favorite comic book characters and imaginary creatures like dragons. When I
look at these toys, I sit back, close my eyes, imagine that I “live in the world”
where these characters come from!
The three children I am with all the time are two, nine and eleven.
The two-year-old loves ANYTHING Elmo, from Sesame Street, and Berry Bear.
The nine-year-old loves her new American Girl Doll “Samantha.” She is
even taking a summer school class about dolls. The 11-year-old boy takes his
iPod with him everywhere and regularly downloads new music.
MT When I was a child, it was a pencil and paper. My favorite toy today is
my computer (yes, it’s both a tool and a toy). My all-time favorite toys are the
skateboard, Frisbee, ““Big Wheel,” “Fast Traxx RC,” and “Masters of the Universe.”
I have no children of my own but I have always tried to design wonderful toys,
for all children, all over the world, of all ages.
Toy Design graduates have fun brainstorming, designing, and developing new concepts for toys that
they can see on the shelves at stores across the U.S. Otis thanks Mattel Inc. and Disney for their support
as Otis Corporate Partners who provide important funding and resources to our students and programs.
OMAG 16
Shopping
for InspiCtion
By Meleina Mayhew
Since graduating from Otis in 2000, I have worked with many of the
leaders in the toy industry including Mattel, Lego, Applause, and Equity
Marketing. I have also worked on a vast array of character licenses such
as Hello Kitty, Sesame Street, Scooby-Doo, Finding Nemo and other
Disney licenses.
While at Nakajima USA, I led a team of designers that developed
key art and supplemental products for the Sanrio stores and other
specialty retailers. We developed character stationery, gifts, jewelry
and fashion accessories, even candy and chocolate! I worked with
Gwen Stefani to launch a line of Hello Kitty-inspired accessories for
her brand, Harajuku Lovers, which is sold in Urban Outfitters, Pacific
Sunwear and other trend retailers. I also traveled quite a bit for
Nakajima USA, to New York, Hong Kong, Shenzen, Shanghai, Quingdao,
Seoul, and Tokyo building relationships with factory staff, and solving
development issues.
For the past year, I have been on my own, doing freelance and
consulting work. I love being independent because it allows me to
work on so many different brands and product types. Lately, I have been
designing girls’ and women’s personalized jewelry, revamping a cat
food brand, and helping to launch an empowering accessories line.
My design process stems from what I learned in the toy design
program. I have been able to successfully adapt its principles to
design many other products. Design is like solving a problem, and in
consumer products, it’s the consumer who gets to realize the solution.
So I start out every project by doing tons of research. I scour the
internet, looking at retailer sites, what DIY people are doing, and at
runway fashion show images. I shop where my consumer shops. I skim
magazines related to the subject. And as a sponge of information, I’m
able to deliver to my clients what is on trend and show them where
their product lines should be. From there, I begin sketching or creating
design specifications that can be interpreted by a factory or vendor,
then do several rounds of sampling and commenting back and forth
until the product is suitable for shipping.
As a designer or an artist, it is so important to stay inspired. If I’m
not inspired, I just can’t do my job! So I surround myself with toys that I
think are cool, keep on top of the latest gizmos and gadgets, check out
local art gallery openings, see live music, travel and shop. Still, there is
so much culture in L.A. that I can’t possibly tap into all of it.
It’s hard to imagine that it’s been almost ten years since the toy
program started at Otis. I am eternally grateful for the knowledge and
wisdom that my professors shared with me.
17 OMAG
OTIS MONITOR
What MaHered about WHAT MATTERS?
By Terry Lee Stone and N Silas Munro
What
MaHers?
by Terry Lee Stone, Communication Arts faculty member,
and N Silas Munro, MFA candidate in Graphic Design at CalArts
In March, Otis hosted WHAT MATTERS?, the first triennial symposium produced in collaboration with the :OUTPUT Foundation, based in Amsterdam. Over the course of two days,
professionals, academics, and students of graphic, product, and environmental design heard
lectures presented by internationally recognized designers.
The presentations explored the impact of design
on a changing world and vice versa. In addition, the
symposium featured FiFFteen, an exhibition of FontFont
experimental typography. Following the symposium,
the presenters judged :OUTPUT, the largest international
competition for students of visual communication
(extended to include architecture and product design
student work). The entire event was organized by Kali
Nikitas, Chair of Communication Arts; Steve McAdam,
Chair of Interactive Product Design; and Linda Pollari,
Chair of Architecture/Landscape/Interiors.
The speakers offered a look at some of the provocative ideas that they explore in both their academic and
professional lives.
Laurie Haycock Makela - Graphic design and digital
media designer, and former Director of the Design
Department at Walker Art Center; now living and practicing in Stockholm
Neil Denari - Professor in Residence in the
Architecture and Urban Design Department at UCLA and
principal of NMDA; Los Angeles
Anne Burdick - Acting Chair of the Graduate Media
Design Program at Art Center College of Design, and
Design Editor of Electronic Book Review; Los Angeles
OMAG 18
Fiona Raby - Partner at Dunne & Raby, and
former Senior Research Fellow at the Royal College
of Art; London
Florian Pfeffer - Partner at jung und pfeffer, and
Professor of Visual Communication at Hochschule
für Gestaltung; Karlsruhe, Germany. Creator and Director
of the :OUTPUT Foundation; Amsterdam/Bremen
R.E. Somol - Professor in the Knowlton School
of Architecture at Ohio State University, and
Visiting Professor at Princeton University
Reneé Veenhuizen - Partner with Tejo Remy,
and Professor at Utrecht School of Art, Utrecht
Elliot Earls - Designer in Residence, and Head of
2D Design at Cranbrook Academy of Art; Bloomfield
Hills, Michigan
Volker Albus - Author and curator, Professor of
Product Design at Hochschule für Gestaltung; Karlsruhe
Erik Speikerman - Founder of MetaDesign and
FontFont, San Francisco/Berlin
Florian Pfeffer
Stone: According to Pfeffer, the theme of WHAT MATTERS? was
instantly approved by all of the symposium organizers. They instinctively knew this was the right topic at the right time. A combination of fear
and hope, coupled with ever-evolving issues brought on by technology,
has made this theme the central question in many designers’ minds. At
whatever career stage they are at, and in whatever arena or media they
work, designers are asking themselves, their clients, their community,
and the world “What Matters?” It was exciting to explore this volatile
subject in a public arena, especially since there is clearly not one
answer to the question.
Laurie Haycock Makela
Stone: Haycock Makela has long been a pioneer in the intersection
of graphic design and digital media. It was her job at WHAT MATTERS?
to open the symposium and set the tone. The note she chose was a
pretty gloomy one. She seemed part Delphic Oracle, part Madwoman of
Chaillot as she circled through a poetic reading of Paul Auster, tales of
living in Sweden, and personal revelations about what life is like after
having suffered a brain aneurism, to ultimately tell us: “‘What Matters?’
is relevant. Relevance is contextual. Context changes and changes.”
Anne Burdick On New Modes of Literacy
Munro: Anne Burdick presented several projects including “Writing
Machines,” an interactive site for a book by N. Katherine Hayles that
acts as a kind of index of the theoretical terrain of Hayles’ text. Next
was “Die Fackel,” an online dictionary for Karl Kraus’ literary works that
features an incredibly elaborate xml schema and is a rich source for
linguistic scholars. Finally, she showed “The New Ecology of Things,”
a trans-media publication project done with Art Center students, based
on science fiction author Bruce Sterling’s book.
Stone: What’s interesting is that Burdick is looking at the very
nature of what precisely is a publication in this age of ubiquitous computing. She’s taken the random access qualities of the web and pushed
them, shaping them into a whole new way of experiencing content, the
act of absorbing information, and the use of the Web itself. Her active,
complex databases create interplay in a dynamic environment. These
are definitely not your father’s Web sites.
Munro: Yes, but she’s also striving for an old fashioned editorial
voice. Her question: “When do design choices become editorial
choices?” really made me think. www.electronicbookreview.com
Fiona Raby
Stone: For me, Raby’s abstract product designs are all about the
contradictory nature of human beings and the potentially scary results
of tampering with nature through technology. www.dunneandraby.co.uk
R.E. Somol
Munro: Somol’s ironic presentation of the practice of architecture
looked at life versus lifestyle, genetic versus generic factors, and a series
of processes versus found cartoons as a metaphor for architecture itself.
He observed that what matters in architecture has been an obsession
with an idea of difference. Somol contrasted the “cool architecture” of
architects like Rem Koolhaas in his Seattle Public Library with the “hot
architecture” of geometric-obsessed practitioners like Peter Eisenman.
Overall, I thought that he presented fresh notions, but his arguments
got a bit muddled in over-theoretic language.
Elliot Earls
Munro: Earls’ audio/video performance illuminated his concept of
“design as a post-disciplinary practice.” His advice to keep “analytical
thesis second, and make work first” was affecting. I liked that he posed
questions rather than providing answers in the interwoven films, musical performances, and (at times uncomfortably hilarious) spoken word.
Stone: Although I found Earls’ refreshingly authentic, I didn’t
appreciate this presentation at all. It felt like “The Emperor’s New
Clothes” to me. I figure that if you come to L.A. and intend to show us
films and music, you better bring your best game. Earls’ development
and exploitation of his own mythical persona was tiresome. Sorry.
On the other hand, isn’t it amazing that technology makes this stuff
possible for an individual to do?
Munro: Earls recently came to CalArts for another presentation
that focused more on his new body of work, “Bull and Wounded
Horse,” and his way of teaching at Cranbrook. More controversy
ensued. I think you’ve just got to decide for yourself.
www.theapolloprogram.com/
The bottom line on WHAT MATTERS?
Munro: It was great to see visions of the cutting edge and the
future of the practice from a broad range of design practitioners and
educators. It was intellectually stimulating during the presentations
and in the conversations between (and the spread was great, too).
Stone: It was a mind-bending experience for me. The symposium
allowed us to step away from the day-to-day practice of design, and
imagine what it could be in the future. It’s great to have this high level
of discourse happening at Otis.
Stone: What was interesting to me was Raby’s exploration of the
role of design in the debate about the future of human interaction with
biotechnology. Her firm’s products, especially the “Hide Away” furniture that provides fearful people a place to hide while at home, had a
terrible beauty.
Munro: Her firm’s work is deeply human, and at times, irrational.
Viewing it is a complicated pleasure. In the “Bone Ring” project, her
Royal Academy of Art students explored the idea of commitment, as in
marriage, to create a symbol for two people’s lasting union. The product they developed was a ring grown from the cloned bone of each
lover (e.g. extracted wisdom teeth) or a tree implanted with their DNA.
Stuff like this is a pretty sensational idea of what the discipline of product design may become in the future.
19 OMAG
OTIS MONITOR
OTIS MONITOR
Groundbreaking Report shows Artists and
Designers Drive the Largest Segment of Jobs
and Sales Revenues in the Region
L.A.’s Creative Economy
by Susan Martin
A ShoB liD of Products “Born” in L.A.
Los Angeles’ creative economy has produced trends and ideas that
have reached to Tokyo, London, and beyond:
Audio-animatronic figures
The modern bathing suit
The fortune cookie
SR-71 (high-altitude super
sonic reconnaissance
plane)
The F-117, the first “stealth”
fighter
The B-2 “stealth” bomber
(a flying wing)
The Douglas DC-3, the first
commercially viable
passenger plane
The Mars Exploration
Rovers: Spirit & Opportunity
The Space Shuttle
The Internet
The domain name convention for the Internet
Cross-interleaved ReedSolomon coding
(CD error correcting)
OMAG 20
Bugs Bunny
The new VW “Beetle”
The Mazda “Miata”
Talking movies
“Snow White & the Seven
Dwarfs,” the first feature
length cartoon
Barbie
The first commercially
successful TV station—now
KTLA, Channel 5
Valet parking
Tooth-whitening toothpaste
Modern make-up (Max
Factor’s pancake make-up)
Implantable collamer
eye lenses
Epogen/Neuprogen (biotech
blockbuster drugs)
“Dancing” fountains
Celebrity PR
The electric guitar
The multi-channel
recording process
Arc welding of natural
gas pipelines
The skateboard (Venice)
The Cobb salad
The Hula Hoop
The strapless bra
Shoulder pads (Adrian for
Joan Crawford)
Rhinestone and spangled
western wear
Nudies
Bare midriffs
Neoprene as sportswear
(evolved into surf wear)
The sarong (designed by
Edith Head for Dorothy
Lamour)
The “stylist”
Hot Wheels
He-Man and Masters of
the Universe
Bratz Dolls
All Disney characters that
have become dolls,
figurines, etc.
The Plastic Frisbee
The Eames Lounge Chair
and Ottoman
The Aeron Chair
The “magic” 8-ball
The modern theme park—
Disneyland (the work of
John Hench (’28), pioneer
of Disney Imagineering
See’s Candy (there was a
Mary See, who moved to
Los Angeles from Canada)
The modern T-shirt
(for USC in 1932)
Otis commissioned the Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region, which was released on
March 1 to approximately 300 regional education, cultural, business, and political leaders. Prepared by Jack
Kyser, Chief Economist of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (laedc), the key findings are
stunning, including one million direct and indirect jobs generated by the creative industries in Los Angeles
and Orange counties. Far from being a “supporting player” in the L.A. economy, the creative industries lead
the pack, surpassing the two longtime “traditional” leaders: international trade and tourism.
The Report puts real numbers to creativity. In 2005, the creative economy accounted for 894,000 direct
and indirect jobs in Los Angeles County alone and generated $140.5 billion in sales/receipts and more than
$3.4 billion in state tax revenues. The data also has far-reaching public policy and business implications.
Centered on new ideas and new approaches, it is clear that education is critical to maintaining competitiveness in a global economy increasingly built on innovation, sustainability, and good design.
The Report offers a new, more accurate and useful economic definition for creative industries:
Architecture and Interior Design; Art Galleries; Communication Arts; Digital Media; Entertainment; Fashion;
Furniture and Accessories; Product and Industrial Design; Toys; and Visual and Performing Arts Providers
(theater and dance companies; museums; performing arts companies).
The Report also offers a deeper understanding of how creative industries form the hub around which
the very fiber of the Los Angeles regional economy revolves. Until now, the perception has been that the
creative industries’ strength and numbers lie in “Hollywood.” The Report indicates that the entertainment
industry accounts for only 37.5% of the creative jobs. Another key finding is that Los Angeles leads New York
as a creative economic center, with the advantage coming from fashion, toys, furniture, and the entertainment industries. Los Angeles County was first in the number of creative establishments with 27,121 in 2005,
13% higher than the 23,934 establishments in the New York Primary Metropolitan Area. In employment,
Los Angeles was comfortably ahead with 346,000 creative workers, about 47% above such jobs in the
New York area.
Other key findings, by industry segment, indicate the total economic impact of the creative economy:
Entertainment
Architecture
(including film, TV,
and music)
(including interior,
422,300 jobs $152.7 billion
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
265,200 jobs $72.3 billion
$
$
$
$
$
$
33,200 jobs $14.6 billion
$
$
$
Toys
$
$
21,400 jobs $9.9 billion
$
$
$
Art Galleries
2,500 jobs $463.2 million
58,000 jobs $8.2 billion
$
Visual/Performing
Arts Providers
(including game design)
$
Communication Arts
graphic design, and display)
$
108,200 jobs $25.4 billion
$
(including advertising,
34,300 jobs $14 billion
Digital Media
Fashion/Accessories
Furniture/
Home Furnishings
landscape design)
$
$
$
54,000 jobs $20.4 billion
$
$
$
$
$
Product/
Industrial Design
1,800 jobs $299 million
$
However, even these numbers don’t tell the full picture, as large numbers of people working in the creative
industries are self-employed independent artists, writers, designers, and performers.
Otis thanks Merrill Lynch, the California Community Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation,
and the Department of Cultural Affairs of L.A. for their support of this project.
21 OMAG
COLLEGE NEWS
ACT
Lessons
L.A. Culture
Commencement 2007
Make
MiEkes
Artists, Community and Teaching
Graduates its First Class
Mayuka Thais Nagasawa and her painting of Billy
Fred Guzman, Martini Birds
By Jerri Allyn, Fine Arts faculty member
In July 2004, I became Director of a new program in Fine Arts known as ACT:
Artists, Community and Teaching. I started recruiting students by asking
why they were interested in teaching. I wondered how many might tell
me they wanted to minor in art education as a back-up to being an artist,
but found myself incredibly moved to discover that they all had a story
about teachers in their lives who made such a profound impact that they,
too, were inspired to teach—or work in a variety of educational pursuits.
Fred Guzman (’07)
Fred, voted as commencement senior class marshal for his communitymindedness, created his own version of a the 2007 yearbook in a unique
comic style. After graduating, he returned to the Imperial Valley to apply for
an art teacher position at a continuing education high school. “Because of
ACT, I go out of my way …(to do) …group projects that facilitate creativity.”
Art projects that relate to students’ lives have been instrumental in reconnecting alienated teens to school and assisting with the development of
life goals. Along with team-building through drawing and painting classes,
Fred will introduce “The Art of Comics,” contemporary art lessons he
developed during ACT.
Abby Cosio (’07)
Abigail Cosio, a Sculpture/New Genres major who is also a musician, has
created inventive sculptures of instruments out of all kinds of soft and hard
materials. “The coolest thing about the ACT Program is that is showed me
how connected the art community really is, through internships. Some
might not even consider art education part of the art community, but it has
broken open the art world for me.” In her senior internship with the Los
Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), she developed art lessons that relate to
the chamber music concerts for four elementary schools in different neighborhoods. She has been invited to apply for a museum educator position at
the Getty Museum as a result of her successful internship. Abby also plans
to continue touring with her band.
Mayuka Thais Nagasawa (’07)
Mayuka Nagasawa came to Otis with three years of teaching at an international pre-school in Japan under her belt, wanting to be a painter and a
teacher. She has worked consistently as a teaching assistant, challenging
herself to work with different age groups, but harboring a nagging desire to
work with young ones, through children’s book illustration or children’s
television (which she did in Japan), along with painting.
While Mayuka has a history of serving various communities, she did not
define herself as an “activist” until she met Billy, the sole surviving elephant
at the L.A. Zoo, during an animal painting course there. His isolation and
unhappiness have resulted in a neurosis that causes him to rock back and
forth constantly. Mayuka spent a year painting portraits of Billy, and sold
buttons of her portraits to support his release, as part of a long-standing
campaign to free the elephant. Through funders she met at an Otis scholarship-winners luncheon who were impressed with her orating skills, she was
invited to participate as the “artist activist” on an animal rights panel at the
Reagan Library. This event resulted in a $100,000 donation, which has
launched a campaign to build a ranch for Billy and others like him. She has
been accepted to graduate school in animation, which will allow her to
combine interests in art, education, book illustration, and children’s television. The career that will unfold for her will undoubtedly be informed by
her social commitment as a world citizen and her critical eye to the equality
and tolerance of all creatures in our increasingly interconnected world.
Janice Yu (’07)
In a moment of grace during her junior year, Janice Yu developed a highly
imaginative conceptual art project about community gardens. It included
an “artist’s book” of instructions on growing one’s own food, as well as
a bartering market where community members could trade services and
food with one another. This marked her transition, accompanied by a wellreasoned argument, from a career in the arts that she perceived as too
self-serving, to a career in social justice.
The sequence of integrated courses that Janice has traveled through
gave her a broad view of creativity and education, incorporating a study of
religions in graduate school through an anthropological lens. One possible
future she envisions is that of curriculum designer in developing countries.
She imagines drawing on the arts and indigenous spiritual beliefs as an
empowering strategy for self-expression, and implementing innovative, student-centered education strategies for personal liberation. “My interest in
the ACT Program is my belief in education. It’s a very important and fundamental part of self-liberation. Figuring out what is really right for you is
something that everyone deserves.”
On May 12, 255 students received BFA and
MFA degrees. Honorary degree recipient
Cheech Marin and alumnus guest speaker
Khoi Vinh (’93) spoke to the graduates. Vinh,
currently design director for www.nytimes.com,
advised the new alumni to launch a rich
and satisfying life by taking risks and learning
from making mistakes.
(honorary degree citation for Cheech Marin )
Your creative work as an actor, director,
writer, musician, and comedian are legendary
and celebrated throughout the world. Wideranging and sometimes provocative in nature,
your sustained body of work has enriched and
entertained millions.
Students, educators, and community leaders
have found leadership and inspiration in your
humanitarian work and your continued support
of the arts. Your important collection of art,
which has been widely exhibited and published,
has helped promote the voice of diversity in our
culture. The dissemination of the collection has
enabled you to share your life’s passion and contribute to the growing awareness of Chicano art
and cultural identity.
(excerpts from speech by Khoi Vinh. Complete text at
www.otis.edu/vinh)
When I look back at my career at Otis, I
think I was a good student, but I probably wasn’t
a spectacular student. I never would have
dreamed that I would have been invited here to
speak to you today, especially when I remember
all the extremely talented people with whom I
graduated at the time. (So that’s a little bit of
encouragement for those of you out there who
are as unspectacular as I was—there’s hope!)
When I think about what got me here
though, I can say with some certainty that I know
at least part of the answer. That is: I know that I
wouldn’t be here today, standing in front of you,
if I’d just done everything right since I graduated from Otis.
Which is to say that I’ve made a ton of mistakes. I graduated in 1993, so in a sense, you can
think of this moment as the culmination of
fourteen years of failure. Let me explain what I
mean by that….
These are just some of the failures of judgment that I’ve made over the years. When I look
back at them, I’m kind of astounded by my
naiveté, or my bullheadedness, or my cowardice,
or my general inability to see the forest for the
trees. But I also realize that it was the mistakes
that got me where I am today, just as much as it
was that effort at making good, sound decisions.
Mistakes teach you lessons that you might not
have learned otherwise. Mistakes lead to opportunities that you might not have ever encountered, and they give a shape to your life that is
richer and more satisfying than any premeditated plan could determine.
It was my willingness to go out on a limb, to
do things that I wasn’t sure about, to follow my
instincts or to make rash decisions, right or
wrong — and to have those decisions FAIL that
allowed me to get to a point where, now, I feel as
if finally, I’m doing the work that I was really
meant to do.
Led by Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty
member Jori Finkel, students looked at Los
Angeles and conducted research and interviews
on topics of interest, including architecture, fine
art, fashion and design. Working with graphic
design students, they identified their audience
and journalistic style for Squint. Experiencing the
real world back-and-forth of writing and design,
the writers collaborated with the designers to edit
their content during the design phase. The full
publication (pdf ) is posted at www.otis.edu/squint.
Design by Brooklyn Brown (’07, Communication Arts)
with Communication Arts Faculty Advisor Erin Hauber
President Hoi, Cheech Marin and Khoi Vinh
OMAG 26
27 OMAG
COLLEGE NEWS
Student Competition Winners
AdveBising Design
Elaine Goldsmith:
A ConEnt Presence
by George Wolfe
More than 900 guests attended the annual Scholarship Benefit
Fashion Show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in early May, raising over
$1 million for student aid. Recipients of the creative vision award
were Paul Fitzpatrick and Jaque Hall of Macy’s. This year marked
the show’s 25th anniversary, prompting Board of Trustees Chair
Emerita Elaine Goldsmith to reflect on its history.
Twenty-five years ago, Elaine Goldsmith, who joined Otis’ Board
of Trustees as a young sculptor, joined forces with Founding
Chair of Fashion Design Rosemary Brantley to create the first Otis
[Scholarship] Fashion Show, thus beginning a fruitful professional
relationship spanning more than two decades.
As Mrs. Goldsmith recalls, “Rose and I sold tickets for that
first show [1982] at the new Hard Rock Café. The school made the
runway out of tables with red checked cloths to match the Café.
I think we charged about $100, and had about 100 people; we had
box suppers, and it was a great show.”
The following year, the fashion show was at The Palace, a
Hollywood nightclub, and catered by Wolfgang Puck — one of his
first catering jobs. After that, the venues generally shifted to hotels,
with The Beverly Hilton being in the schedule for the last 22 years.
“In the beginning [of the fashion shows],” says Mrs. Goldsmith,
“Helen Rose was wonderful for us. She showed a lot of her clothes,
as did Jean Louis and James Galanos. We did mostly designers at
first; later, we tended toward companies — one of the first being
Georges Marciano of GUESS?. He underwrote the whole dinner and
took a few tables. And there were others like Nike, Mossimo,
Nordstrom, Mattel and Rampage. Fred Hayman was honored, but
has also been a generous friend of the school for some time. Michael
Gould has been a big friend — he was head of Bloomingdale’s here,
and after he was honored, he went to his clients and they helped us
raise money. Dan Romanelli brought in his whole Warner Brothers
team and did a great cocktail party. When Bob McKnight
[Quiksilver] was an honoree, lots of people were there. Everyone
loved Bob; it was a rousing evening — he came on our Board after
Communication Arts ’07 graduate Jesse Kersey won the Heineken
USA/American Advertising Federation Public Service Advertising
Competition, a national program for advertising students that
addresses underage drinking prevention by developing a public
service announcement advertising campaign for print, radio and
Internet. Her winning campaign was based on traditional games—
word search, mazes and trivia—that reinforce how judgment and
cognitive skills are impaired by alcohol. Campaign elements
included tear-off cards, coasters, online pop-up ads and a radio
public service announcement. Student Arlene Fontanilla won an
honorable mention.
Elaine Goldsmith, Trustee, (left), with model and student award winner at the annual Scholarship Benefit
that. And then Bob brought in Dick Baker [Ocean Pacific], who’s also
become very involved. Same with Susan Crank [Lunada Bay], who’s
now on the Board and helping the school so much.”
“[The honorees] often end up helping us. And anything that
helps the kids is what I care about. Once these fantastic people get
on the Board, they see what goes on and want to help more and
do what’s best for the school. Their hearts just really go out to the
students. It’s a lovely circle.”
A Benefit Committee (led by Lisa Janian and Joyce Arad) now
oversees the event. But as Elaine humbly sums up her original working relationship: “Rose still does the fashion show. I can’t rave about
her enough; no one has a more buoyant personality. She’s brilliant, a
real pied piper. I work with the Committee — along with the Board —
on the fundraising. I’m kind of there as a backbone consultant.”
Personal philanthropy aside, “consultant” is certainly an understatement for Mrs. Goldsmith’s stalwart, tireless dedication. In fact,
she is yet to miss a single year of the fashion show. Then again, who
could stand to miss out?
“Each year has just been so fantastic,” beams Elaine. “And at the
end of each event, we always say ‘Oh, my goodness. What can we
possibly do to equal it?!’ Last year the mentor Cirque du Soleil
helped make it a truly memorable year, but each year gets better and
better. This year, of course, we’ve got Bob Mackie again, who never
disappoints. Each time he’s been involved, it’s been very dramatic,
and there have been beautiful clothes. One year, he featured each of
the twelve months, and Wolfgang Puck’s wife, Barbara, bought the
month of April, which was gorgeous: a picket fence with flowers,
which she ended up wearing to Spago.”
And as for the future of the fashion show, say, 25 or 50
years from now? “Well I’m sure it’ll be the current fashion, very
au courant, and I assume by then we’ll have people underwriting
everything so there isn’t a student in the school who can't get a
scholarship to go to Otis.”
Architecture/
Landscape/Interiors
Seniors Matt Gilio-Tenan and Eunice Yoon won second place and
a $6,000 scholarship in the 2007 Los Angeles AIA Interior
Committee’s “1:2” Student Competition. Competing against teams
of students from eleven other schools, they created an interior
design for a 17,000 square-foot truck stop in a six-hour charrette.
A/L/I students also won three of five prizes awarded in
the 2006 “Launch Your Career in Exhibit Design” International
Competition hosted by the Exhibit Designers and Producers
Association. Gary Garcia, Kevin Lee, and Jesus Aguilar won 1st, 3rd,
and 5th prizes respectively, and will receive tuition scholarships.
They designed an exposition booth for the debut of a hand-held
gaming device.
EPDA Competition entry by Jesus Aguilar
OMAG 28
29 OMAG
CLASS NOTES
EXHIBITIONS
Stuart Arends (’81, Fine Arts)
Sonia Boyajian (’01, Fashion Design)
Zdenek Balcarek (’98, Fine Arts)
Scott Zaragoza (’03, Fine Arts)
photos courtesy of LA Louver
Camille Rose Garcia
(’92, Fine Arts)
“Doomcave Daydreams,” Merry
Karnowsky Gallery, L.A.; “Tragic
Kingdom,” San Jose Museum of Art
www.sanjosemuseumofart.org
Alex Donis
(’94, MFA Fine Arts)
“Pas de Deux,” Sherry Frumkin
Gallery, Santa Monica
www.frumkingallery.com
Trine Wejp-Olsen
(’94, Fine Arts)
Nancy Margolis Gallery, N.Y.
www.nancymargolisgallery.com
Yong Sin
(’95, Fine Arts)
“This is the Same but Different,”
Andrew Shire Gallery, L.A.
www.andrewshiregallery.com
Gajin Fujita
(’97, Fine Arts)
“Zephyr: Paintings by Gajin Fujita,”
Kemper Museum of Contemporary
Art, Kansas City, MO; “Twilight
Blush,” LA Louver Gallery, Venice
www.lalouver.com
Scott Zaragoza
(’03, Fine Arts)
“Detached,” The SaLon Gallery,
London www.salongallery.co.uk
Zdenek Robert Balcarek
(’98, Fine Arts)
COMA Gallery, California State
University, L.A.
Entertainers
Joe Sola
(’99, Fine Arts)
“3’s,” p|m Gallery, Toronto,
Canada; “let’s go do some watercolor painting,” Bespoke Gallery, N.Y.
www.pmgallery.ca/
Sandow Birk
(’89, Fine Arts)
Dante’s Inferno, puppet-animated
film with voices by Dermot
Mulroney and James Cromwell,
screened at Silverlake and Newport
Beach Film Festivals
www.dantefilm.com
Robert Rainey
(’03, Digital Media)
“Two Way,” Chicago Cultural
Center, Chicago, IL
www.robertrainey.com
Timothy Tompkins
(’03, Fine Arts)
“Leftovers,” Studio La Citta,
Verona, Italy www.studiolacitta.it
Anita McLaughlin
(’71, MFA Fine Arts)
Senior Artist: Buena Vista Games
Joe Strasser
(’95 Communication Arts)
Look Development Lead: SONY
for Matrix 2 & 3, The Polar Express,
Open Season, and Beowulf (Look
Development = realizing 2D concept
art in the 3D computer world)
Diana Miao
(’97 Env. Arts - now A/L/I)
Color and Lighting Supervisor
(Visual Effects): CIS, Hollywood, for
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,
X-Men: The Last Stand, and Poseidon
Bao Tranchi
(’99, Fashion Design)
Costume Designer: Journey from the
Fall (Imaginasian Pictures); Prince’s
2007 Superbowl appearance,
and Kelly Clarkson concert tours.
Included in Smithsonian
exhibition featuring VietnameseAmerican designers
www.journeyfromthefall.com
Chris Payne
(’02, Digital Media)
Digital Effects Supervisor: Hydraulx,
Santa Monica. Supervised a team
of 13 people for Frank Miller’s 300
and Fantastic 4 2
In Print
Kim Gordon
(’77, Fine Arts)
Member of indie band “Sonic
Youth,” artist and curator. Author:
Kim Gordon: Chronicles Vol. I and
Vol. II (Nieves), December 2006
Steve Rachwal
(’87, Communication Arts)
Graphic Designer of over twenty
titles including Jon and Nancy
WIllkman’s Picturing Los Angeles
(Gibbs-Smith), 2006
Bao Tranchi (’99, Fashion Design) (costume design, Journey from the Fall)
OMAG 34
Andrew Brandou
(’90, Communication Arts)
Kathryn Hagen
(’99, Fine Arts)
Fashion Design Faculty Member.
Co-Editor with Parme Giuntini and
Illustrator: GARB: A Fashion and
Culture Reader (Prentice Hall), 2007
Mario Ybarra
(’99, Fine Arts)
“Reflecting the Street”, Los Angeles Times
(Hugh Hart), September 3, 2006.; “First
Take: Mario Ybarra Jr.” ( Jens Hoffman),
Artforum, January 2007.
Exhibitions: California Biennial 2006,
Orange County Museum of Art,
Newport Beach; “Bring me the head of…, ”
Anna Helwing Gallery. L.A.
www.annahelwing.com
Robert Dobbie (aka Rob Dob)
(’01, Communication Arts) Bob Dob:
Painting Collection Volume One (Murphy),
2006 www.murphydesign.com
Rogue Wave 2007
Top: Eduardo Sarabia, A Thin Line Between
Love and Hate, installation, 2007
Bottom (L - R): Timothy Tompkins, Eagle;
Sandeep Mukherjee, Burnt Sky
Of the twelve emerging L.A. artists selected for this annual
exhibition, three are Otis alumni: Sandeep Mukherjee (’96),
Eduardo Sarabia (’99), and Timothy Tompkins (’03)
LA Louver Gallery, Venice, CA, June – September 2007
Tofer Chin
(’02, Fine Arts)
Flaunt magazine, cover and four-page
spread, November 2006
Blaine Fontana (Hogg)
(’02, Communication Arts)
“Blaine Fontana’s Vision Quest”,
Juxtapoz magazine cover story,
August 2006; “Sedimental Promises”
(Upper Playground), 2006
In Memoriam
Anthony Kwan
(’95, Communication Arts) lost his
battle with lung cancer on December 22,
2006. He is survived by his wife, Mimi,
and 6-year-old daughter, Leslie. He passed
away at San Gabriel Hospital, CA, with
his family at his bedside. Those interested
in donating to a fund for Leslie can contact
Sarah Russin in the Alumni Office for
more information.
Multiple VanAge Points: Southern
California Women ABiDs 1980-2006
Otis women artists were well represented in “Multiple Vantage Points: Southern California
Women Artists 1980-2006,” curated by Dextra Frankel, at the LA Municipal Gallery, Barnsdall
Park, February 16-April 15. It included work by alumnae Alison Saar (’81 MFA) Carrie Whitney
(’96 MFA), Camille Rose Garcia (’92), Pattsi Valdez (’85 Fine Arts) and Sarah Perry (’83)
along with work by faculty member Carole Caroompas and former faculty members Lita
Albuquerque and Betye Saar.
Installation view with sculpture by Alison Saar,
courtesy of LA Municipal Art Gallery
35 OMAG
CLASS NOTES
This is a small sampling of recent alumni accomplishments. To keep up with Otis’
ever-active alumni, and to see the fully illustrated monthly news archive, click
on “Class Notes” at www.otis.edu/alumni. To submit news and images, contact
Sarah Russin, Director of Alumni Relations at [email protected]. To receive a
monthly message with a link to the most up-to-date news and Class Notes, click
“Register”at www.otis.edu/alumni. It’s easy and we don’t spam you! Also, feel
free to call Sarah in the Alumni Office at 310.665.6937. Regular readers of the
online alumni news reconnect with old friends, and take advantage of opportunities for professional development. If you haven’t already, we hope you will join
the Otis alumni online community!
Digital Media Alumni Participants: Natasha Lee ’04, Manasi Patel
Ashish ’06, and Levan Tkabladze ’05
Jeunes Talents
Ruben Ochoa (’04 Fine Arts)
photos courtesy of Susanne Vielmetter
Los Angeles Projects
Mario Ybarra (’99, MFA Fine Arts)
Entrepreneurs, Award-Winners,
Cool Designers, SoloiDs,
EnteFiners, In Print, In Memorium
Entrepreneurs
Eunice (Jo) Feller
(’90, Fine Arts)
Chef/Owner: Bread & Chocolate
Bakery Café, Newton, MA.
www.breadnchocolate.com
Amber Noland
(’90, Fine Arts)
Co-founder: Artslant Web site and
online community
www.artslant.com
Jennifer Eckstein
(’91, Fine Arts)
Owner: Milo Gallery, L.A.
www.milogallery.net
Keryn (Glendenning) Dizon
(’95, Fashion Design)
Owner/Designer: “Elijah,” N.Y.
www.elijahfemme.com
Eric Stevens
(’97, Communication Arts)
Owner: Vintage Chrome Tours,
Sonoma, CA (wine country
tours in classic cars)
www.vintagechrometours.com
Koh Byoung Ok
(’98, Fine Arts)
Owner: S1F Gallery, L.A.
(MacArthur Park).
www.s1fgallery.com
OMAG 32
Sonia Boyajian
(’01, Fashion Design)
Jewelry designer
www.soniabstyle.com
Allison Whitney
(’04, Fine Arts)
Owner: Sixteen:One gallery,
Santa Monica www.16to1.com
Award-Winners
Gary Macheel
(’81, MFA Fine Arts)
Sound Editor: "Men in Trees”
(ABC Thursday night), starring
Anne Heche. Motion Picture
Sound Editor award for Stephen
Spielberg’s Into the West
Ruben Ochoa
(’97, Fine Arts)
Rockefeller Fellowship: New Media,
2006. Creative Capital Projects:
“Extracted” Billboard Project (La
Cienega Blvd. between Venice and
Washington) and Public Project
(Eastbound on the 10 Freeway)
www.laxart.org
Manasi (Patel) Ashish
(’06, Digital Media)
Film Anuttara selected for KCET’s
student film competition
“Final Cut,” www.kcet.org/finecut
(Episode 4)
Cool Designers
Angie Furlong
(’83, Fashion Design)
Design Director: Morphine
Generation, L.A.
Silas Hickey
(’91, Communication Arts)
Filmmaker and Producer: Happy
Ending Productions, Toyko, Japan.
www.happy-ending.tv
Justin Reed
(’96, Env. Arts - now A/L/I)
Project Manager and Designer: St.
Louis architecture firm, working on
GUESS? flagship stores in Toronto
and Vancover, and Boogaloo, a
Cuban/Creole restaurant, St. Louis
www.boogaloorestaurant.com
Kassie Maurer
(’97, Fashion Design)
Snowsports Product Developer:
The North Face, a division of VF
Outdoor, Inc., San Leandro, CA
Henry Steingieser
(’97, Fine Arts)
Co-founder: Backward Heroes
Recent Projects:
www.number23 movie.com and
www.battlestargalacticadvd.com/game
David Sams
(’98, Communication Arts)
Lead Designer: Graphic design
team, iTunes Store
Henry Escoto
(’99, Communication Arts)
Senior Information Architect:
Yahoo!, Santa Monica
Mikki Tam
(’99, Fine Arts)
Designer: TPG Architecture, N.Y.,
working on graphic design,
tradeshow/exhibition design, architectural design and advertising and
retail branding projects. Owner:
“Yutopi” design business
www.tpgarchitecture.com
Mark Caneso
(’04, Communication Arts)
FontFont designer. Three upcoming
typefaces to be published and
distributed by FSI International
Maria Troconis
(’04, Communication Arts)
Senior Designer: mun2 (NBC
Universal) www.holamun2.com
Andrea Ehret
(’05, Toy Design)
Product Designer, Design & Development, Girls Toys, Hasbro, RI. “Littlest
Pet Shop” toys at Toys'R'Us, Target,
Limited Too, WalMart, Kmart, Kay
Bee Toys
Sarah Coon
(’06, Fashion Design)
Senior Assistant Designer: “Roxy
Girl,” Quiksilver
Anthony Zepeda
(’73, MFA Fine Arts)
"I have seen things,” ANDLAB, L.A.
www.ANDLAB.com/art
Ryan Ford
(’06, Communication Arts)
Senior Designer: Strata, Costa Mesa
Font design reached bestseller status
on MyFont and will be released
soon with Veer.
www.myfonts.com/fonts/ryanford/
fonce-sans-pro/www.liquisoft.com/
portfolio.html
Stuart Arends
(’81, Fine Arts)
“Wedges,” Bjorn Ressle Fine Arts,
N.Y. www.ressleart.com
Jammie Fung
(’06, Communication Arts)
Content designer for TV and
Movies: iTunes, Cupertino, CA
Traci Larson
(’06, Communication Arts)
Design and Production Assistant:
April Greiman/Made in Space, L.A.
www.madeinspace.la
Marcus LeBlanc
(’06, Fashion Design)
Assistant Designer: John Varvatos,
N.Y.
Soloists
Stanley C. Wilson
(’71, MFA Fine Arts)
“Stanley C. Wilson: Retrospective
1973-2007,” W. Keith and Janet
Kellogg University Art Gallery, Cal
Poly, Pomona
www.csupomona.edu/~kellogg_gallery
Alison Saar
(’81, MFA Fine Arts)
“Duped: Prints by Alison Saar,”
Delaware Center for Contemporary
Art, Wilmington, DE
www.thedcca.org/saar.html
This year twelve young filmmakers from Southern California and New
Orleans were invited to France for two weeks to seek inspiration from
the regions of Alsace, Brittany and The Midi-Pyrénées. Students and
recent graduates were selected from four American schools: Otis College
of Art and Design, Art Center College of Design, California Institute of
the Arts and University of New Orleans. Since their return, these young
artists have created short films, expressing their vision of the regions
they visited. The trip was sponsored by Maison de la France USA/The
French Government Tourist Office and the Cultural Services of the
French Consulate in Los Angeles.
Cynthia Harper
(’87, Fine Arts)
“Applied Landscape,” The Gallery at
Penn College, Pennsylvania College
of Technology, Williamsport, PA
Bari Kumar
(’88, Communication Arts)
“In Absentia,” Jehangir K.S.
Nicholson Gallery of Modern Arts,
National Centre for the Performing
Arts, Mumbai, India
www.barikumar.com/2006/inabsentia
Andrew Brandou
(’90, Communication Arts)
“As A Man Thinketh, So He Is,”
Cory Helford Gallery, Culver City
Monica J. Brown
(’91, Fine Arts)
“The Cycle and the Search,”
African-American Cultural Center,
U.I.C., Chicago, IL
www.monicajbrown.womanmade.net
Corrie Gregory
(’91, Fine Arts)
“Tales from the Root Cellar,”
Metro Gallery, L.A.
Sarah Perry
(’83, Fine Arts)
“The Bird and Bone Art of Joyce
Cutler-Shaw and Sarah Perry,”
USC Fisher Gallery, L.A.
www.fishergallery.org
Patssi Valdez
(’85, Fine Arts)
“Turn the Tables,” Patricia Correia
Gallery, Santa Monica; “The
Enchanted Worlds of Patssi Valdez
and ‘Majgu’”, Carlotta’s Passion
Fine Art, L.A.
http://carlottaspassion.com
Cindy Kolodziejski
(’86, Fine Arts)
“Reversal of Fountain,”
Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
www.franklloyd.com
Lawrence Gipe
(’87, MFA Fine Arts)
“Zirkus und Varieté,” Hunsaker
Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica
Mark Caneso (’04, Communication Arts)
33 OMAG
COLLEGE NEWS
Visiting Artists and Designers
2006-07
Chicago & Lacy
Speaking to a sold-out crowd, Chair of the new Graduate Studies: Public
Practice program Suzanne Lacy and artist Judy Chicago continued a student/
teacher conversation that began in 1970 at Fresno State. As Chicago characterized
it, “Hope and change were in the air” when she moved from L.A., after receiving
her graduate degree in fine arts from UCLA, to start the Feminist Art Program. Her
goal was to reunite her impulses as a woman with a professional art practice by
helping young women reconnect to their own femininity and create a new kind of
art-making. Lacy was a 25-year-old Psychology major who joined the Program.
Chicago and Lacy recounted stories of the costumed “Cheerleaders” greeting
NOW President Ti-Grace Atkinson at the Fresno airport as a group of Shriners
observed; the move to Cal Arts; and the launching of feminist art practice
through Women House and the Women’s Building in L.A. — all underscored by
dozens of performances and the wearing of work boots.
As Lacy explained, “We developed courage as women became more powerful. Private experience became public, used as a subject for art.” The shared goal
was to build a feminist iconography, putting women at the center, as counterrepresentation—not to critique male art. “Our intention was not to replace
patriarchy with matriarchy, but we didn’t mind being given a chance since the
boys had messed things up pretty badly,” Chicago posited.
Both artists spoke of their projects in terms of the responsibility to share
their gifts in order to give voice to feelings and experiences of people around
them who lack a platform to speak and be heard. Chicago sees her “Dinner Party”
in the continuum of work that seeks to expand the role of artists to create
different kinds of art. Lacy’s work uses the city as a frame, transforming public
awareness, and equating art and life.
In closing, Chicago mentioned what she now sees as the error of the ’70s:
“We should have cast the dialogue on values rather than gender, and as a result
we alienated a lot of men who could have been our friends. Moving into the future
requires men and women working together to build a different kind of society.”
In fall ’07, things came full circle when Lacy launched Otis’ new MFA Program in Public
Practice in the same Santa Monica 18th St. studio in which Chicago and hundreds of
other women artists collaborated to create The Dinner Party, thirty years ago. In Lacy’s
program, graduate students will develop new strategies and approaches to artistic production in the public realm.
Inside the Designers Studio
Francisco Costa (rear, fourth from right), Creative Director, Calvin Klein Collection for Women,
joined Fashion Design Chair Rosemary Brantley for “Inside the Designer’s Studio,” co-sponsored
2007 Fashion Design Mentor Francisco Costa spoke with Fashion Design
Chair Rosemary Brantley about his youth in Brazil, where his family had an
apparel business. He had dreamed of becoming a designer in America, and
arrived in New York in the early ’90s. Beginning with only enough money
for English lessons and a few fashion classes, he embarked on a rapid journey to success. His first stops in N.Y. included designing for Bill Blass, and
he went on to spend five years in Paris with Oscar de la Renta and Pierre
Balmain, and then four years with Tom Ford at Gucci before finally joining
Calvin Klein in 2003. Costa has been compared to an architect for his fine
tailoring and precision, which result in classic lines and refined dresses in
geometric grids and patterns. When the Council of Fashion Designers of
America (CFDA) awarded him Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2006,
they cited his “skillful tailoring and attention to minutest detail on dresses
ranging from power suits to chiffon gowns.”
Otis Speaks Public Lectures
Yamandú Canosa, artist
Judy Chicago, artist
Roger Gastman, author
Guillermo Gómez-Peña,
performance artist
Nico Israel, theorist
Charles Kriel, DVJ
Suzanne Lacy, public artist
Legacy Project, photographers
Dalia Levin, museum director
Guy Maddin, filmmaker
Yvonne Rainer, artist
Julien Robson, curator
Steve Roden, artist
Alexis Smith, artist
Smadar Sheffi, critic
Susan Silton, artist
Cindy Smith, artist
subRosa, feminist art practice
Joan Tanner, artist
Architecture/Landscape/
Interiors
Steven Ehrlich, architect
Elias Torres, architect
Matthew Coolidge,
environmental educator
Hagy Belzberg, architect
Communication Arts
Sean Adams, graphic designer
Philippe Apeloig,
graphic designer
Brad Berling, graphic designer
Kathy Bleck, illustrator
John Boiler, art director
David Clayton, graphic designer
Sean Donahue,
graphic designer
Agustin Garza, graphic designer
Savoy Hallinan, marketing/
advertising creative manager
Erin Hauber, graphic designer
James Jean, illustrator
Geoff Kaplan, graphic designer
Joe Leadbetter, illustrator
Harmen Leimburg,
graphic designer
Harmine Louwe,
graphic designer
Henri Lucas, graphic designer
Tony Luna, consultant,
new media
Mark Murphy, designer
Yuko Shimizu, illustrator
John Stein, marketing/
advertising consultant
John Sueda, graphic designer
Davey Whitcraft,
graphic designer
Nancy Popps, video artist
Alison Saar (’81, MFA), sculptor
Alan Sekula, photographer/
writer/critic
Bruce Yonemoto (’79),
video artist
Fine Arts
Edgar Arceneaux,
installation artist
Jessica Bronson, video artist
Yamandú Canosa, artist
Carter, artist
Sean Duffy, artist
Lauri Firstenberg, curator
Andrea Fraser,
performance artist
Charles Gaines, artist
Alexandra Grant,
installation artist
Katie Grinnan, sculptor
Emilie Halpern, artist
Michelle Jager, artist
Soo Kim, photographer
Alice Konitz, installation artist
Joey Kotting, artist
Graduate Studies: Writing
Brian Blanchfield, poet
Ann Cefola, author/translator
Jeff Clark, poet
Ben Ehrenreich, journalist/critic
Lynn Emanuel, poet
Andrew Sean Greer, author
Paul La Farge, novelist
Suzanne Jill Levine, author
Michael Lowenthal, author
Carol Maier, author
John McManus, author
Maggie Nelson, author
Claudia Rankine, poet/editor
Elizabeth Robinson, poet
Hélène Sanguinetti, poet
Aaron Shurin, poet/essayist
Paul Vangelisti, poet/
translator/editor
Catherine Wagner, poet
Marianne Wiggins, author
Matthew Zapruder, author
Charles Kriel, DVJ
Jonathan Levine, gallery owner
Monica Mayer, artist
Ann Meredith, artist
Renaud Proch, curator
Adam Putnam, artist
Alma Ruiz, curator
Paul Shambroom, photographer
Cindy Smith, artist
Monique van Genderen, artist
Tyler Vlahovich, painter
Lisa Wainwright, educator
and artist
Amir Zaki, photographer
Graduate Studies: Fine Arts
Linda Bessemer, painter
Yamandú Canosa, artist
Tami Demaree (’03), painter
Mari Eastman, artist
Alex Farquharson, curator/critic
Judy Fiskin, photographer/
videographer
Ken Gonzalez-Day, artist
Colin Gardner, film historian
Doug Harvey, critic/curator
Lisa Lapinski, sculptor
Tania Mouraud, video artist
Kori Newkirk, installation artist
“Social Change and Media”
(Perry Chasin, Liberal Arts and
Sciences faculty coordinator)
Ed Begley, Jr., actor/activist
Ian Ruskin, writer/
producer/actor
Jefferson Miller,
director of photography
Sherry Simpson, producer
David Leaf, writer/director and
Arlene Wszalek, coordinating
producer
Ken Kragen, entertainment
lawyer/activist
Judy Arthur, publicity director
Vicki Beck, health
communication specialist
Rafael Agudelo,
media consultant
Rosemary Welden,
casting director
More on Wikis
and iTunes
The Library’s Faculty Teaching and Learning Center has
spearheaded two recent initiatives in applying new technologies
to teaching: hyperlink wikis and iTunes podcasts. At its annual
conference in July, The New Media Consortium recognized these
achievements by presenting Otis with a Center of Excellence
Award for “demonstrated excellence and outstanding achievement in the application of technology to learning or creative
expression.” At the end of May, the iTunes Store added a new
feature, iTunesU, prominently featuring podcasts on color and
design created by faculty member Christian Mounger. Apple
reported that viewership to iTunes U skyrocketed from 38 to
5,001 views in its first week on line.
Faculty member Guy Bennett’s “Hyperliterature” course,
focused on electronic literary works featuring hypertext and/or
hypermedia technologies, was the perfect subject for a wikibased class.
“With a technology grant from the Library’s new Teaching
and Learning Center, supported by the Fletcher Jones
Foundation, I presented the wiki project to my students on the
first day of class. I told them that they could contribute as much
or as little as they liked to any of a number of pages, provided
they reached the required word count. For the most part students
had no trouble inputting their information and formatting it
correctly. One of the benefits of the wiki is that it does not disappear at the end of the semester, like term papers, and the student
work remains online as a resource for the Otis community and
the public, and could be expanded in future courses.” Bennett
concluded that the students were excited about exploring this
relatively new technology, and stimulated by the opportunity to
do scholarly work collaboratively.
by ELLE magazine at the Pacific Design Center.
OMAG 30
31 OMAG
The first faculty interview in the series The ‘O’ Files, produced by the
Library’s Faculty Teaching and Learning Center, includes the following quote.
For the full interview, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2qt5n0hdhU
“But the work that I am most proud
of is my work as a professor. I think
that I have affected more lives, in more
ways, over a number of years, and it
comes back to me in nice ways. My
students have won academy awards,
and shown in the best museums…
Karmically, being a professor, and
doing good work, and having people go
out and be successful, that’s the best.”
Eden’s Edge:
FiGeen L.A. ABiDs
Grieger’s humor
on April Fool’s Day
Ken Price (’57), Rebecca Morales (’86), and Liz Craft (’94) (banner
above, Ballad of the Hippie, 2003, bronze and peacock feather) are
represented in this exhibition, which includes a range of generations
and methods of working. Organized by Gary Garrels, Chief Curator
and Director of Exhibitions and Programs.
installation at Patricia Faure Gallery
Hammer Museum, L.A., May 13 – September 2, 2007
www.hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/120/
(comments from alumni)
Otis celebrated Scott Grieger, one of its most
beloved faculty members, on the occasion
of an exhibition of his work from 1969 to the
present at Patricia Faure Gallery in Santa
Monica. Currently Painting Program Director,
Greiger has mentored alumni for more than
30 years, and many of them attended this
closing reception.
The event took place on April Fool’s Day,
underscoring the comments of Los Angeles
Times art critic Christopher Knight, whose
review compared Grieger’s ability to combine
humor and potent social meaning to the work
of comedians Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and
Sid Caesar, all of whom “embrace unadorned
entertainment as an artistic vehicle.”
OMAG 36
I wish I had been there to honor Scott. Most of
the stories I have about him shouldn’t be shared
with the public! But I will say that, whenever I could
make the time, I loved to drop in on Scott’s painting
crits. Even at my ripe old age, I always walked away
with something to think about. I especially admire
the way that Scott can find something positive
to say about any piece of work. He always leads the
student to a deeper approach, finding meaning that
the student often never intended.
River Montijo (’76), Registrar, Va. Commonwealth Univ., Doha, Qatar
Way back in the ’80s he would challenge us,
both in what and how we thought. He once asked
the class: Did a male or female make this painting?
Needless to say, it made everyone think.
Ed Engel, (’88)
The one thing that sticks from my classes
with Scott Grieger was his ubiquitous advice during
painting class: “If you keep pick'in at that thing,
it’ll never heal!” He was always a positive influence
during my education at Otis, and one of a handful
of teachers that inspired me to continue.
John Haines (’87)
I remember something Scott said very well:
There are NO Art Police!!! That statement has kept
me loose in my art all these years, and I quote
him often. He was a great teacher. Also, my very
first day in class, I was timid and we had a model.
He said: He’s got a penis, draw it!
Janet Makare (formerly Sorell) (’84)
Ken Price
Rebecca Morales