Department Blog

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

Zoom Info Sessions on December 11th!

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Zoom Info Sessions on December 11th! 〰️

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Student work Products of Design Student work Products of Design

Masters Thesis: In the Running: Human Mobility in a Sedentary World, by Emi Yasaka

Products of Design MFA student Emi Yasaka's thesis, entitled “In The Running,” examines the barriers to physical fitness in contemporary life. The project was inspired by her own running journey, as well as her experience with a local community running program catering to underserved. Developed through environmental, cultural and social lenses, as well as through perceived motivational factors, inner-city youth, the thesis resulted in three principal offerings.

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Masters Thesis: SUPER. Moments of Remarkable, by Richard Clarkson
Student work Products of Design Student work Products of Design

Masters Thesis: SUPER. Moments of Remarkable, by Richard Clarkson

The objective of Richard Clarkson’s Products of Design Thesis, entitled “Super. Moments of Remarkable,” was to help people feel powerful by allowing them to realize their true potential in the face of seemingly impossible obstacles in life. Richard explored this challenge through experience design and positive-cognitive psychology. Inspired by both a childhood fascination with Superheroes and using cartoons as a an outlet to deal with stress of over-exposure to information as an adult, Richard’s initial research focused on trying to identify and define what Superpowers really are. As the research moved into cognitive psychology, the thesis shifted in perspective from a collection of objects to a platform of experience. This culminated in a one-night event at a Manhattan-based gallery space, which took participants on a journey through seven different Superpower simulations.

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MISSION CTRL Goes Live at Wanted Design!

As part of NYCxDesign, the students of the MFA in Products of Design at the School of Visual Arts present  MISSION CTRL, a suite of interactions that explore how we come together to experience and share new design. The interventions turn common gestures of digital, social networking into analog artifacts and performances, critiquing our dependence on new technology and providing alternatives for timely communication and wayfinding. Through a playful series of dynamic, participatory installations, MissionCTRL celebrates the design community at large, and invites visitors to put away their devices and interact with each other in real life (IRL). The work comes out of a 10-week class called Design Performance taught by Sinclair Smith, which explores design exhibition beyond the pedestal, focusing in on interaction, participation, and staging new behaviors.

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