In 2011, SVA won more Type Directors Club Awards than all other institutions combined, claiming 24 out of the 36 awards given for student projects. SVA also took home more TDC Awards than all professional firms in the running. The Type Directors Club is an international organization that promotes excellence in typography and awards are given annually in recognition of outstanding typeface design.
The Golden Ass of Lucius Apuleius (David R. Godine, Inc. 2011), story by M.D. Usher and illustrations by BFA Illustration and Cartooning faculty member Tom Motley: Adapted for children by Usher, this classic tale centers on the misadventures of a young man obsessed with magic who mistakenly turns himself into a donkey. According to the publisher, “Motley’s lively, thoroughly contemporary drawings capture the boisterous, see-sawing plot, while wittily quoting any number of graphic predecessors.”
Orcs: Forged for War (First Second 2011), story by Stan Nicholls and illustrations by Joe Flood (BFA 2002 Illustration and Cartooning): Through highly detailed drawings, Flood brings to life the brutal warrior orcs that inhabit the fantasy landscape of Nicholls’ graphic novel, which has drawn comparisons to Frank Miller’s 300.
Life Dressing: The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas (self published, 2011) by current MFA Illustration as Visual Essay student Joana Avillez: As part of a semester-long project at SVA, Avillez focused her attention and cartooning skills on style icons The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas, whose motto is “Growing Old with Verve.” The result is Life Dressing, an illustrated book that chronicles the adventures of the art-loving duo.
Current MFA Design students Lizzy Showman and Kathleen Fitzgerald have created an ideal gift for NYC bus drivers—a customized seat cushion. A video of the students handing out the padded presents to unsuspecting drivers on the M15 line, which runs from East Harlem to South Ferry in Manhattan, was recently featured on CNN iReport and has been making the rounds online. The project, entitled I Heart M15, was conceived by the up-and-coming designers for faculty member Stefan Sagmeister’s course“Can Design Touch Someone’s Heart?”
“Not only is the M15 line the second busiest in the nation, it is also a big part of our own daily commute,” Showman said. “Witnessing the long hours and sometimes hectic atmosphere the M15 bus drivers experience is part of the reason we connected with the bus line and decided to do something to show our appreciation.”
Ali Eng (BFA 2011 Advertising) and Virgillio Tzaj (current student, BFA Advertising and Graphic Design) recently joined forces to form Citizens for Optimism, a team made up of over a dozen up-and-coming designers from the SVA community with the goal of promoting happiness through design. For their debut exhibition at Type Directors Club over the summer, the group asked New Yorkers to provide words they associate with optimism, which were then used as inspiration for the typographically illustrated posters created for the show.
On Friday, December 9 from 6 – 9pm at Brooklyn Collective, 212 Columbia Street, Brooklyn, Citizens for Optimism returns with a new exhibit of positive prints. Included in the show are works by Michelle Alvarez (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), Jason Arias (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), Julia Coelho (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), Phil DiBello (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), Colin Kinsley (BFA 2011 Graphic Design),Alex Kirhzner(BFA 2002 Graphic Design), Devin Washburn (BFA 2011 Graphic Design), and Leen Sadder (current student, MFA Design), as well current BFA Advertising and Graphic Design students Santiago Carrasquilla,Min Choi,Pedro Delkan, Joe Hollier, Aimee Hunt, Pedro Messias, and Rachel Willey.
Members of the SVA community were invited to participate in a recent Lands’ End launch party for the clothing brand’s Spring/Summer 2012 Canvas collection. With a soundtrack provided by Boston pop rockers The Wandas inside the walls of the Highline Stages in New York City’s Meatpacking District, MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department faculty member Carl Titolo, alumnus Daniel Fishel (MFA 2011 Illustration as Visual Essay), and current MFA Illustration as Visual Essay students Keith Negley, John Malta and Cecilia Ruiz captivated the fashion-forward crowd with live painting on one of the walls of the giant space. For highlights from the event and more photos, visit District L or Tineey.
Scores of creative costumes were on display at Ripley’s Believe It or Not in Times Square on October 27 as SVA students gathered for the annual Visual Arts Student Association (VASA) Halloween Party. DJ Ross Rosco provided an eclectic soundtrack for the colorful cast of characters, which included everything from zombies, mythical creatures and the Geico Gecko, to lookalikes of Beyonce, Charlie Chaplin, and Amy Winehouse. But the award for best costume went to current BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Department student Julius Reyes, whose “Hey Arnold” getup earned him a brand new MacBook Pro and bragging rights for the next year. Second place went to current BFA Film, Video and Animation Department student Josh Wein for “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” followed by current BFA Cartooning student Kendra Wells for her “Unicorn” costume.
To view dozens of photos from the party, visit our Facebook page.
Image: Halloween costume contest winner Julius Reyes. Photo by Pari Valad.
The latest edition of SVA’s bi-annual Visual Arts Journal is now available online, and among the many highlights are:
>>An exclusive interview with Joe Quesada (BFA 1984 Media Arts), chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, who talks about how he first fell in love with comics, the challenges of translating popular characters from one medium to another, why he never gets tired of drawing Spider-Man, and much more.
Mark Twain’s Autobiography 1910 – 2010 (Fantagraphics Books) by Michael Kupperman (BFA 1988 Fine Arts): Having already paired Mark Twain with Albert Einstein as a superhero duo in his hilarious Tales Designed to Thrizzle comic series, Kupperman focuses solely on the current “life” of Twain in his absurdly satirical new book. To read an interview with Kupperman, visit SF Weekly.
D-Crit Chapbook #2: Dress (self-published) written and edited by students in the MFA Design Criticism Program: The second installment of this series turns a humorous eye on the fashion choices of public figures in the world of pop culture. Alan Rapp ponders Metallica frontman James Hetfield’s “bogus descent to Armani-toting sellout,” while Stephanie Jönsson critiques the wardrobe of Pope Benedict XVI. Eleven essays in all, with illustrations by Peter Arkle.
Immersion Into Noise (Open Humanities Press) by Joseph Nechvatal (MFA Computer Art faculty member): In his latest book, digital explorer and sound artist Nechvatal redefines “noise” as that which addresses us outside of our preferred comfort zones, and applies that audio understanding to the visual, architectural and cognitive domains to better understand “cultural noise.” To read the book online, click here. Part of Open Humanities Press’ “Critical Climate Change” series.
Just a little over two weeks ago, Alex Lee, a student in the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department, released a video called Tokyo Slo-Mode on Vimeo. It’s already been viewed over 450,000 times and grabbed the attention of sites like Hypebeast, The Huffington Post, and Buzzfeed, to name just a few. The Briefs caught up with Lee recently over email to chat about the project.
How long did it take you to make Tokyo Slo-Mode? Were there any challenges?
It took me about three months to shoot. I could have done it faster—maybe in two weeks—but it was summer, so I decided to take as much time as I could. It was just a personal project at first. Editing took quite a while, only because I was converting footage to super slow motion. It was an extremely time-consuming process which required a lot of my patience and attention. The biggest challenge was definitely choosing which shots to use. By the end of the summer, I had about 24 hours of footage.
What do you hope people take away from the video?
I love it when people take away something totally different from what I expected. I had a few comments from people where they just came up with such different ideas and had totally different perspectives. I want this video to produce different emotions and thoughts. I also want people to take away the fact that Tokyo is a beautiful place—but I’m sure people already knew that anyway.
Were you surprised that it went viral?
Very surprised. I am my own worst critic, and since I edited for so long, I was starting to feel like it wasn’t any good. I didn’t re-watch it for a long time, maybe a week or two—only then was I able to really appreciate it. Still, I didn’t think it would get featured on some of the big sites that it did. It was crazy when I was browsing Hypebeast, only to find my video there—totally surreal.
What’s next for you?
I have many upcoming projects, it’s amazing. I was just asked to join the team for the BMW Guggenheim LAB, and I’ll be working on a promotional video that is going to be premiered on a massive projector in Miami. I’m also working on a huge fashion video with Skye Nicolas, and I’ll be flying to Berlin to shoot a coffee commercial. In addition to that, I’m editing a few things here and there for different production companies in New York. However I still need to work on school projects . . . and also make music videos for a few bands. I’m actually really excited for my next short film for my production class.
Students in the MFA Social Documentary Film Department at SVA present a weekend of thesis film screenings, September 16 – 18 at the SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street, New York City. Curated by Department Chair Maro Chermayeff, the series kicks off with Sasha Friedlander’s feature Where Heaven Meets Hell (watch an excerpt below), which details the struggles of impoverished sulfur miners working at Kawah Ijen, an active volcano in Indonesia.
La Roca by Raul Santos examines the complicated history surrounding the Rock of Gibraltar. Through archival footage and personal interviews, the film traces the fallout over the decision by Francisco Franco of Spain—the only fascist dictator to survive World War II—to close the entrance to the British colony of Gibraltar in 1969, cutting off 30,000 people from access to food, water, and telephone lines.
On the lighter side, Rachel Loube’s Every Tuesday: The Work and Community of The New Yorker Cartoonists offers a tableside seat with Drew Dernavich, Emily Flake, Sidney Harris and Zach Kanin, four cartoonists for the esteemed magazine that meet each week for lunch and share stories, inspirations, and their own personal neurosis, as well as food.
During the three-day series, more than 20 films will be screened in all. For more information and showtimes, visit SVA.edu.
In 2011, SVA won more Type Directors Club Awards than all other institutions combined, claiming 24 out of the 36 awards given for student projects. SVA also took home more TDC Awards than all professional firms in the running. The Type Directors Club is an international organization that promotes excellence in typography and awards are given annually in recognition of outstanding typeface design.
