Guest Lecture Video: Josh Owen
Josh Owen is an internationally renowned industrial designer, educator, and author. He is the president of his eponymous design studio, Josh Owen LLC, and is the Vignelli Distinguished Professor of Design and Director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at The Rochester Institute of Technology. Owen's projects are produced by major manufacturers and have won many awards. His work is included in the permanent design collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Chicago Athenaeum, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Denver Art Museum, the Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Museum of American Jewish History and the Taiwan Design Museum. He is the author of the book Lenses for Design and the forthcoming book Design for Study.
I fell in love with teaching, and I had no idea I would fall so fast and so hard for it.”
Last month, MFA Products of Design was proud to host Josh Owen, the renowned designer and Director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT. Josh spoke to us about his work as a designer and educator, and how he sees the Vignelli Center as the epicenter of good design. Starting with his personal work, he weaved a throughline from going on archeological digs as a child with his father, to studying fine arts at Cornell. As a working industrial designer in Philadelphia, Josh started teaching as an adjunct professor at Philadelphia University. He reflected, “I fell in love with teaching, and I had no idea I would fall so fast and so hard for it.”
In 2000, Josh accepted a position at Rochester Institute of Technology. He talked about his close relationship with Massimo and Lella Vignelli, and the Vignelli ethos of ‘design is one.’ Josh offered that if you treat students as professionals, they will be able to unlock their true potential in design school. A deep believer in design partnerships, Josh created the metaproject, an attempt to link the industrial design department at RIT to a global venue. Thank you Josh for a wonderful talk!
