Author: sara

1999 – Gracyn (Robinson) Whitman (Interior Design), who for years has carried on a thriving design business as Gracyn R. Whitman Design, has opened a new interior design atelier on the North Shore. Located in Wenham, A Casa Design (www.acasadesign.com) specializes in “project management, procurement and a destination point for the ABC’s of Interior Design: Architects, Builders and Clientele”. (A Casa Design website) With 15+ years experience as a designer, coupled with her academic training at NESADSU and three years studying and working in Italy, Gracyn is well placed to provide client-centered design services for any taste. In addition to a thriving business, Gracyn is busy raising three daughters, now 5, 8 and 10. You can get in touch with her at gracyn@acasadesign.com.

 

 

We’re thrilled to announce that our Interior Design student group, under the leadership of Nancy Hackett, Interior Design program Co-Director, was the winner of the Best Design Show entry for schools at the IIDA Fashion Show on October 25th. This year’s theme was Audacity and our entry certainly fit that bill! Pictured in costume are, from left to right: Sarah Whalen (MA), Luke Tanguay (BFA) and Julie Jaenicke (MA), along with BFA students Krista Osipovitch, Sarah Gosson and Heather Kology. For additional information on the fashion show, please visit the Interior Architecture/Design blog at http://sites.suffolk.edu/interiordesign.

To stay up to date on what’s happening at NESADSU, check out all of these:

NESADSU is on Twitter! Follow updates @SuffolkNESAD

The Interior Design and Graphic Design blogs will tell you everything you need to know about what’s going on in those programs, from exhibitions to faculty news to awards won by our students. There’s even more alumni news there as well. In addition the Fine Arts and Interior Design programs, have current student bloggers who are writing about their experiences, as students and as fledgling artists and designers. Check out all of these at www.suffolk.edu/nesad and click on “blogs”” in the upper left-hand corner. While you’re at it, take a look at the NESADSU website itself. You’ll find out all kinds of things you didn’t know!

 

Kate McLean (Graphic Design 2004), our Overseas Correspondent in the print version of & Then, is taking her life-long fascination with maps to new heights. Having created tactile maps for the blind, topographical maps from strange substances like lard, and fictional but not unimaginable maps, such as The City of the Eternal Itinerant, she has recently moved to mapping cities using smell. Paris, Edinburgh and Glasgow have all come under her nose and, as she’s not an artist who confines her parameters in any way, she has moved on to the States.

This summer, after much research, Kate created the first smell map of Newport, RI, a small city whose non-nasal signatures are many (think of sailing, the Gilded Age mansions, beaches, fishing). Enlisting the noses of Newporters, on bike rides and smell walks, and with the, first, concurrence and then, enthusiastic support, of the Discover Newport Visitors Center, she created a visual representation of the signature smells of the city and then fabricated the smells to go with it. Here’s the story:

Hello. My name is Kate McLean and I graduated from NESADSU in Graphic Design in 2004. I now research urban smell landscapes (smellscapes) and create and design smell maps.

But why?
To sensitize tourists and visitors to a new place to use a largely-ignored sense in their perception of that place.

But why smell?
Because smell has a “do not enter brain processing” connection with our emotions, making smell the supreme retainer of memory over our other senses. We have 100% smell recall after one year but only 30% sight memory after three months. The first time we smell a new scent we automatically associate it with whether we like it or not (positive or negative) and we associate it with the location where we smell it. Therefore I propose that smell can be used in tourism marketing to foster lasting memories of a place.

But why a map?
Because maps are an old graphic device of data visualization. Maps show proximity, range, location – all characteristics of smell that are difficult to explain verbally in any kind of a coherent way. Moreover I have been fascinated by maps since I was a small child. My first book memory is of the map at the start of Winnie-the-Pooh that depicts his small world and I grew up thinking that all books had a map as the end paper. I wanted to make maps but realized, at ten years of age, that the world had already been discovered. So, if the physical, geographical world has been represented then I just had to discover a new territory – my landscape is the smellscape.

Where have you “Smell Mapped”?
I started with Paris because it has astonishing emotion-inducing scents. The Paris smell map is a virtual dérive, a collection of perfumes placed on shelving on a board showing Parisian streets. Audience members walk a pace at a time to sniff as they “wander” the city’s streets. I moved on to Edinburgh. That city has one pervasive smell – identified as malt extract from the breweries – which sweeps the city’s streets, but the secondary smells are equally evocative. For Edinburgh I developed a visual language expressing how the smells move in the prevailing south-westerly winds. In the summer of 2011 I did a swift sniff of New York’s smelliest block and created a different visualization. Representing the larger scale of a couple of blocks instead of a whole city demanded I rethink how the smells move and interact with each other. I moved on to Glasgow, researching in the winter of 2011-2012. Glasgow is only 40 miles from Edinburgh but it has its own damp microclimate which affects how its smells linger in the air and this changed the visual language once again.

Do the maps smell?
The maps themselves do not smell; instead I make up individual scents using only natural ingredients that best reflect the smells I have selected to depict visually. Each scent is stored in its own bottle which is stored in a small cabinet underneath the map. I prefer to keep the contents of the bottles hidden so that the audience cannot rely on visual cues to identify the smells. For this reason I do not label the smells. I make most of the smells myself, trying to capture and hold elusive scents in the small bottles. I have learned how to distill rose petals, to create a perfume of stinky cheese, to depict the smell of penguins at the zoo without harming a single penguin. I can fabricate the smell of a building site and of boy’s toilets in primary schools. Stabilizing the scents but keeping them volatile enough to sniff is another art of the smell mapper and I’m keeping a recipe book to publish when I am famous!

Where in the U.S. did you decide to smell map?
For my first U.S. smell map I approached the tourist board of Newport, RI. While my previous smell maps have been exhibited in science museums, science festivals or art spaces, I want to test the possible links to tourism, to see whether tourists in a visitors’ center would take the time to “explore” a smell map. In a museum setting people are generally willing to engage and participate; there is, in fact, an expectation that they will do so. In a visitors’ center, the role of which is, of course, information synthesis and dispersal, there is no such expectation. Discover Newport’s Vice President of Marketing, Kathryn Farrington, was, after a very brief period of skepticism, incredibly supportive, a rock throughout the summer. Refuting that kind of skepticism is a key skill in a smell map proponent.

How do you research?
Each project varies slightly as I amend my methodology. Initially I decided on the smells based on personal experience. Then I started asking local residents of the city in question to provide me with the smells that they associate with their environments. This progressed to asking for comments via my blog and to asking local media to help solicit responses. Overall there is nothing to beat talking to local people, and in Newport I took time to devise a couple of smell walks and a wonderful smell bike ride. Bikers are keen sniffers! The resulting conversations revealed a vast amount of data including numerous descriptions of the ocean smell from the bikers (ocean, salt, weed, brine, home, fog) and a collection of urban aromas that combined the smell of homes, transport and business with the overall heady aroma of freshly frying bacon just outside the Newport police station.

What does smell mapping show?
I regard each map as a sensory portrait of its city. Smell maps depict a combination of history, biology, meteorology, geography, sociology. Edinburgh’s smell map is a series of dichotomies: urban and rural, rich and poor, historical and modern. The smell map of Glasgow illustrates the city’s ability to constantly re-invent itself. Newport’s smell map indicates the close relationship the city has with the ocean, both recreational and as a source of food.

What, or where, next?
First of all, I need to analyze how the Newport Smell Map is received, find out the general public’s response, and ask the staff of the Visitors’ Center what they observe over the three-week period during which the smell map in on display. This will have a direct bearing on whether I continue to work with the smell maps applied to tourism or whether I treat them more as graphic design/art projects. I have three variations in my mind for the future. One is to create a series of seasonal smell maps for a city based on discovering how the smellscape varies over the course of a year. The second is to create a smell map in every continent working with the tourism industries of either Morocco or Rwanda in Africa, and with cities in Asia, South America, the Arctic or Antarctic and Australasia. The third project is a thought about developing a participatory website of global smells, but first I have a new job as a full-time lecturer in Graphic Design at a university in the U.K. Thankfully I will still have time to research, just not as much as in the past couple of years!

Kate

Email: mcleankate@mac.com
Web: www.katemcleandesign.com
Twitter: @katemclean
Blog: http://sensorymaps.blogspot.co.uk

Photograph of Kate courtesy of Meg O’Neill.

 

 

 

 

Foundation faculty member Lydia Martin has created a new series of paintings, called “Loteria”, which will be exhibited in a one-person show at Chabot Gallery in Providence beginning October 16th. The paintings, inspired by the popular Mexican game Loteria, borrow traditional images from the game, which Lydia has reworked as figure paintings, interiors and still lifes. Her friend and colleague, NESADSU alumna Kseniya Galper (Graphic Design 2003), had a

hand in the project by designing an original set of Loteria cards to serve as labels for the paintings.  Until “Loteria” opens in October, you can also see Lydia’s work in a group show at Chabot, called “Chabot in Retrospect”, which runs until September 15th. For more information on the exhibitions and the gallery, please go to http://www.chabotgallery.com.

 

Several recent graduates of NESADSU’s Master of Arts program in Graphic Design are exhibiting their work in the NESADSU gallery through August 30th. The show, Spot Process, can be viewed Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM. For more information, please go to http://cargocollective.com/spotprocess/About-Spot-Process.

 

Here, in a nutshell, is what’s been happening at NESADSU this past year:

NATIONAL RECOGNITION

NESADSU Interior Design Programs Ranked #3 in Nation for 2012

NESADSU’s undergraduate (Bachelor of Fine Arts) and graduate programs (Master of Arts) in Interior Design were ranked 3rd in the country by DesignIntelligence magazine for 2012, up from 5th and 6th respectively in 2011. This survey of design professionals “who have direct experience in hiring and in evaluating the performance of recent architecture and design graduates” constitutes an accurate appraisal of the preparedness of NESADSU students and alumni.

NESADSU Professor Karen Clarke Named to “Top 25” list of Interior Design Educators

Interior Design Program Co-Director Karen Clarke was named to DesignIntelligence’s list of the “25 Most Admired Educators of 2012”. The recipients of this honor, both educators and administrators, were chosen from the disciplines of interior design, architecture, industrial design and landscape design, based on “extensive input from thousands of design professionals, academic department heads and students”. (Both quotes are from DesignIntelligence magazine.)

SUCCESS IN STUDENT COMPETITIONS

NESADSU Student Wins Angelo Donghia Foundation Scholarship for 4th Time in 6 Years

Interior Design senior Heather Kology (2013) has been awarded an Angelo Donghia Foundation scholarship, which will pay up to $30,000 toward the expenses of her senior year study. Heather is the fourth NESADSU student to be awarded this scholarship in the past six years.

NESADSU Students Compete Successfully in Major Design Competitions:

The IES (Illuminating Engineering Society)’s Student Design Competition was won by Interior Design graduate students Jessie Greenberg (first prize) and Kathryn Goldenoak (second prize), while graduate student Lyuba Sardanova was the City Winner in the Save a Sample! Hand Drawing Competition in Boston, for which she won a scholarship for further study.

Graphic Design graduate student Victor Cabrera won the American Graphic Design Award for a class project advocating vegetarianism, while Steven Plummer won the Pacemaker Award for his design of the Bridge, Bridgewater State University’s literary journal. The Pacemaker Award, from the Associate Collegiate Press, is considered the highest honor given a student publication.  Afraa Gutub’s photography was selected by Aetna for their Global Events & Festivals from Around the Globe 2012 Calendar; Emily Roose’s graduate thesis project, “Slow News”, was featured on the design blog Quipsologies; and Nick DeStefano’s class work in package design was featured on thedieline, a popular packaging design blog.

Undergraduate Graphic Design students, Brigid Griffin and Olivea Kelly took the top prizes in the Say Something poster competition, sponsored by HOW magazine, while Victoria Burnett and Jacquelyn Schaab took first and second prizes respectively in Grand Circle Gallery’s vintage poster competition.

Fine Arts undergraduates Holly Hart and Katia Christakis were accepted into this year’s Copley Society student competition and exhibition.

FACULTY RECOGNITION

Professional Design Organizations

Several NESADSU faculty members hold senior positions within various professional Interior Design organizations:

Jane Hassan, Adjunct Interior Design faculty, President, ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) New England chapter

Nancy Hackett, Interior Design Program Co-Director, IIDA (International Interior Design Institute) New England Board of Directors

Karen Clarke, Interior Design Program Co-Director, IDEC (Interior Design Educators Council) Board Member; CIDA (Council for Interior Design Accreditation) Site Visitor; Historic New England Council Member

Grants

Assistant Professor Anna Gitelman was awarded a $20,000 grant from the Nuckolls Fund for Lighting Education, which enabled her to create a new Advanced Light & Technology course for the MFA program in Interior Architecture.

Illustration Program Director Lisa French was awarded a $10,000 Whitfield Foundation grant for NESADSU’s newly inaugurated BFA program in Illustration.

Art History Professor Afshan Bokhari was awarded a Faculty Research Grant by the Palestinian American Research Council (CAORC).

Public Presentations

Associate Professor and art historian Afshan Bokhari was featured as a specialist in Islamic art on the PBS television program “Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World”, which aired on July 6, 2012.

Interior Design faculty member Sean Solley presented at the Suffolk University Technology Symposium in May 2012.

Adjunct Graphic Design faculty member, Minko Dimov, was invited to speak to Harvard Business School graduates and young professionals in April, on the subject of creative thinking as it communicates social exchange outside the arts-specific discourse. He was also commissioned to create a memorial in honor of the founding director of his own alma mater, the German Gymnasium in Bulgaria, which was unveiled at a ceremony on May 27, 2012.

Publications

In 2011, Afshan Bokhari had scholarly articles published in two journals: the Journal of Persianate Studies, Special Issue: “Imperial Transgressions and Spiritual Investitures: Female Agency in Seventeenth Century Mughal India” (Brill Publishers); and “Between Patron and Piety: Jahan Ara Begum’s Sufi Affiliations and Articulations” in Sufism and Society: Arrangements of the Mystical in the Muslim World 1200-1800 C.E. (Routledge Publications, London and New York).

Foundation faculty member Harry Bartnick’s work was featured in 2011’s 100 Boston Painters, Schiffer Publishing, Lancaster, PA.

ALUMNI RECOGNITION

International (and Historic) Recognition

Master of Arts in Graphic Design alumna Aaliah Al-Aali (2011) is the first woman in history to design a Qur’an (Koran). Her Master’s thesis project, “To Elevate the Aesthetic Value of the Mass-Produced Qur’an”, also appeared in a brochure which took top honors at the Dubai International Print Awards exhibition.

International Internships Awarded NESADSU Students

In 2011, two Graphic Design undergraduate students from NESADSU were selected to take part in post-graduate internships at ICON Worldwide, an international graphic design firm located in Switzerland. This year Bianca Pettinicchi and Eleanor Kaufman (both Graphic Design 2010) took part, as Amy Parker and Lauren DeFranza had the year before. As of this writing, two more NESADSU alums have been chosen for 2012, Jackie Schaab and Hope Reagan, both 2012 graduates of NESADSU. These prestigious positions provide recent graduates with international design experience, cultural exposure, enhanced professional portfolios and everlasting memories.

Suffolk University Alumni Awards

The Suffolk University Alumni Office Awarded a Young Alumni Award to Kodiak Starr (Graphic Design 2002), who is currently the Creative Director of Digital Strategy at the White House, while Marisa Borst (Interior Design 2006) and Eric Heins (Graphic Design 2009) were given 10 Under 10 Awards.

NESADSU Honors Prominent Alumnus

BFA alumnus Michael Moeller (Interior Design 2001) was honored by NESADSU at a gathering at the Montage showroom on March 9th, which also celebrated the DI rankings. Graduate and undergraduate students and alumni came together to hear Michael speak about his experiences as a New York designer with a stint on HGTV’s Design Star and several other design-based television shows.

DEGREES CONFERRED

NESADSU Students Awarded Dual CAS Degrees

For the first time ever in the College of Arts and Sciences, two undergraduate students, both NESADSU BFA candidates, were awarded dual degrees: Janelle Parent, a BFA in Interior Design and a BA in Art History, and Kelly Bushey, a BFA in Interior Design and a BS in Mathematics. The Faculty Assembly voted to grant both students dual degrees at their May 2012 meeting; both graduated Cum Laude.

Statistics

In 2012 NESADSU graduate programs (MAGD and MAID) conferred a total of 46 Master of Arts degrees, second only to the Department of Education and Human Services:

For the years 2009, 2010 and 2011, Suffolk University conferred a total of 91 Master of Arts degrees in Interior Design and 26 in Graphic Design, for a total of 117 graduate degrees awarded, making NESADSU second among graduate programs in numbers of degrees awarded. With the addition of 2012 graduates, Suffolk awarded 163 Master of Arts degrees in the four years from 2009 to 2012.

For the same years, 2009, 2010 and 2011, 149 NESADSU undergraduates were likewise awarded Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees. The combined total of graduate and undergraduate degrees conferred on NESAD graduates comes to 266.

 

For the fourth time in six years, a NESADSU undergraduate in Interior Design has won a prestigious Angelo Donghia Foundation scholarship. Vernon, Connecticut resident Heather Kology is following in the footsteps of Kim Kelley (2006), Kate McGoldrick (2008) and Anna Parfentieva (2010) in receiving one of this year’s thirteen scholarships, which will pay all the expenses of her senior year – tuition, books and supplies – up to $30,000, making this one of, if not the, most prestigious and valuable scholarships available to interior design students.

In the biographical statement that accompanied her scholarship application, Heather described her “passion, from a young age…to find, enhance and create beauty within my surroundings” as her rationale for having chosen design as a profession. “I consider myself to be an extremely versatile designer, and I constantly strive to better myself in all that I do. Whether completing projects for my internship at the residential design firm LHD Interiors, or renovating my own apartment, I apply my intuitive and learned knowledge of design to every aspect of my life.”

In this spring’s Residential Design Studio, Heather designed the interiors for a waterfront home with a seafaring past on the shore of Salem [MA] bay. Drawing her inspiration from the nearby ocean, she created a connection “to the roots of New England’s maritime past” – to award-winning effect.

 

Illustrator John Roman (1974 Graphic Design), whose work was recently shown at NESADSU as part of the “Illustrious Alumni” exhibition curated by Illustration Program Director, Lisa French, has a new article on the Communication Arts website, live as of mid-June (http://www.commarts.com/columns/markets-illustration.html).  John’s article, “45 Markets of Illustration”, is a valuable look at the nearly endless permutations and combinations of career paths available to illustrators.

From the more obvious (medical and editorial illustration) to the less often thought of (military and automobile illustration), John’s list is a fascinating glimpse of the “numerous markets that currently exist for illustrators”. But despite the path chosen, as John says, “In the end, it’s most important to honor what you love to do. Artists should not choose a market simply for monetary reasons, or because one’s peers are influencing a decision. An illustrator’s interests must come from the heart so that love will emanate in the work.”

John (john@johnromanillustration.com) is himself an educator and freelance illustrator who specializes in illustrated map art, as well as architectural and technical work, with clients that include Marriott Hotels, the National Parks Service and Time magazine.