Student billboards on display in Times Square

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:00:19 +0000

Six students from New York City’s High School of Art and Design are being given an opportunity that many designers only dream of – their designs will be featured on Clear Channel’s “Spectacolor HD” digital billboard in Times Square. The billboards were created as part of Create! Don’t Hate., a Design Ignites Change mentoring initiative. Professional designers from the mentoring program of the New York chapter of AIGA worked with students from the High School of Art and Design to create billboard designs addressing the theme of tolerance.

The final student designs address a wide variety of issues such as gay rights, racism and body image. Over the course of two months, the mentors led students through the design process – from brainstorming and sketching to producing the final designs on the computer. Twenty-two students participated, with six of the designs ultimately chosen for display in Times Square on prime advertising space made available through a partnership with Clear Channel Spectacolor.

The winning billboard designs will be unveiled on Spectacolor HD during a launch event at the corner of Broadway and 47th Street on July 6th starting at 10:15 am. The mentors, project coordinators and representatives from Worldstudio and Clear Channel Spectacolor, along with the general public, are invited to celebrate with the students and their families. Additionally, all twenty-two designs will be displayed in an exhibition at the AIGA National Design Center Gallery (164 Fifth Avenue, between 21st and 22nd Streets) through July 22nd.

Mark Randall writes article for CA magazine

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:26:48 +0000

Pick up the latest issue of Communication Arts on newsstands now or download this PDF to read Mark Randall’s design issues article about design as social educator. Learn how designers can go beyond the traditional approaches to social responsibility in their work and become entrepreneurs, developing and executing their own solutions to social problems.

The article presents several case studies of projects implemented by designers that set precedent for creating a sustainable market for socially responsible design including John Bielenberg’s Project M, INDEX and AIGA’s Designing Water’s Future and Worldstudio’s Design Ignites Change and Create! Don’t Hate.

The article also gives tips on what you can do right now. Here is a summary of Mark’s steps to launching your own project to ignite change:

1. Find your passion

2. Start local

3. Go beyond the obvious

4. Find partners, build a coalition

5. Be realistic

6. Raise some cash

7. Execute

8. Measure success

9. Spread the word

Worldstudio » Create! Don’t Hate.

Student billboards on display in Times Square

Mark Randall writes article for CA magazine