Department Blog

Department news, events, and snapshots of student life at SVA in New York City.

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2021 Core77 Design Awards: Helen Chen Wins in Two Categories!
News, Student Projects Allan Chochinov News, Student Projects Allan Chochinov

2021 Core77 Design Awards: Helen Chen Wins in Two Categories!

This year’s Core77 Design Awards were just announced, and Products of Design alum Helen Chen won two awards for one of the projects she created as part of her Masters thesis, Fruiting Bodies: Fungal Futures for Collaborative Survival. The project, Internet of Mycelium was honored with the Student Winner in the Strategy & Research Award category, as well as a Student Runner Up in the Speculative Design Award category. Congratulations Helen!

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Announcing EI8TH: MFA Products of Design Thesis Presentations are May 14!
Events, News Allan Chochinov Events, News Allan Chochinov

Announcing EI8TH: MFA Products of Design Thesis Presentations are May 14!

We invite you to attend the Masters Thesis showcase presentations of the 2021 graduating class of the MFA in Products of Design program on Friday, May 14th at the SVA Theatre from 5-9pm EST. Fourteen graduating masters students will each present their year-long thesis work, comprised of research, artifacts, services, experiences, and platforms.

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BIRTH REBORN: Using Design to Address Barriers to Equitable Maternal Care for Black Women
Student Projects, Thesis Products of Design Student Projects, Thesis Products of Design

BIRTH REBORN: Using Design to Address Barriers to Equitable Maternal Care for Black Women

At a time when the maternal mortality rate in the US is soaring, Victoria Ayo's thesis, Birth Reborn: Using Design to Address Barriers to Equitable Maternal Care for Black Women, aims to give voice and power back to black women and mothers. Her project explores how design can build more awareness, facilitate the integration of ancestral knowledge, leverage the community, and help eliminate barriers to equitable birth outcomes. Victoria proposes new realities for collective care, bringing the wellbeing of mothers out of isolation and into solidarity.

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Grandma’s Teeth: An Exploration of Feminine Voice, Power, and Reclamation
Student Projects, Thesis Products of Design Student Projects, Thesis Products of Design

Grandma’s Teeth: An Exploration of Feminine Voice, Power, and Reclamation

Stephanie Gamble’s thesis, Grandma’s Teeth: An Exploration of Feminine Voice, Power and Reclamation, is an in-depth examination of the physical, verbal, and emotional enforcement mechanisms of misogyny. Drawing from her own grandmother’s experience with the violence of misogyny, Stephanie designed a provocative body of work that interrogates and makes tangible how the enforcement mechanisms of misogyny are used to control and silence women. This thesis work proposes solutions that invert current power dynamics and challenge cultural values as a way to incite dialogue, ignite anger and impress upon men the substantial toll these experiences have on the daily lives of women.

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HOME IN PROGRESS:   Designing Systems of Collective Care for Migrant Communities through Food and Multi-Sensory Experiences
Student Projects, Thesis Products of Design Student Projects, Thesis Products of Design

HOME IN PROGRESS:  Designing Systems of Collective Care for Migrant Communities through Food and Multi-Sensory Experiences

Seona Joung, as a first-generation immigrant, has often dwelled in the in-between spaces of two geographies and cultures. Her thesis, Home in Progress: Designing Systems of Collective Care for Migrant Communities through Food and Multi-Sensory Experience, questions how design constructs and narrates a new relationship between people and multiple locations and thus serves as an ideal site to interrogate how immigrants relate themselves to the place of origin and the place of residence. Looking at the consequences of what migration does to the family relationship and social structure that influence our identity and health, her design work offers multilocal strategies that leverage sensory experiences, specifically triggered by food preparation and consuming.

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BY CHOICE: Designing the Abortion Journey
Thesis, Student Projects Products of Design Thesis, Student Projects Products of Design

BY CHOICE: Designing the Abortion Journey

Pantea Parsa grew up in Iran, where she encountered a confusing dichotomy: traditional Iranian society taught her that motherhood is the ultimate fulfillment for women, but, at home, she absorbed a different perspective. Her mother was an independent and successful woman who refused to be defined only as a mother and a wife. Pantea strived to be like her mother from a young age and ultimately decided that she doesn't want to become a mother in the future. However, should she become pregnant, she couldn't ignore the harsh reality that she would have to find an illegal back-alley abortion. For her thesis, By Choice: Designing the Abortion Journey, Pantea designed a suite of products that address the abortion journey from different lenses—including access, community, activism, and male accountability.

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Transcending Blue: Adolescent Interconnection & Empathy in the Age of Screens
Student Projects, Thesis Products of Design Student Projects, Thesis Products of Design

Transcending Blue: Adolescent Interconnection & Empathy in the Age of Screens

Through her thesis, Transcending Blue: Adolescent Interconnection & Empathy in the Age of Screens, Catherine Weislogel examines how digital technology usage impacts adolescent social and emotional well-being. While all humans are susceptible to the effects of the omnipresence of technology in their daily lives, children and adolescents, in the critical stages of brain development, are the most vulnerable.

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