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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FOOD JUSTICE: Through the Power of Knowledge Sharing
After learning of food deserts and food insecurity in New York, Danish designer Gustav Dyrhauge quickly decided to dedicate his thesis, Food Justice: Through the Power of Knowledge Sharing, to food justice and the problem of food insecurity. He designed workshops, services, and experiences in collaboration with Brooklyn youth, towards the goal of job security, food security, and the celebration of cultural heritage through culturally-appropriate food.
POWER PLAY: Designing for Agency and Empathy in Virtual Environments
As it does in the physical world, violence against others occurs in VR spaces. While designers may not be able to expunge this from human nature, Phuong Anh Nguyen believes that we can design tools for victims to gain agency over their harasser. Through her thesis Power Play: Designing for Agency and Empathy in Virtual Environments, she aims to introduce empathy-building products and experiences to shape respectful behaviors in current and future virtual environments.
BEFORE YOU CLICK: Design for Better Decision-Making in Online Shopping
In his thesis, Before you click: Design for Better Decision-Making in Online Shopping, Zihan Chen examines the problems of product design in online shopping, to provide online shoppers with tools of various kinds for making better purchasing decisions. His thesis explores interventions that make online shopping less impulsive, more mindful and more social.
FANTASIES OF OUR INDEPENDENCE: The Role of Civil Society in the Postmodern City
For his thesis, Fantasies of Our Independence: The Role of Civil Society in the Postmodern City, Ben Bartlett spent this year studying Western urbanism and the future of cities. After speaking with experts in urban planning, urban mobility, and counterterrorism, he determined that safety, and the feeling of safety, shape the policy and planning of urban systems. Throughout his research he uncovered two different approaches to creating safer public spaces that will determine how futures cities function and treat their citizens, and designed both speculative and pragmatic interventions to respond to each.
PoD Student Wins NYCxDESIGN AWARD!
PoD recent-grad Antya Waegemann just won one of the NYCxDESIGN Awards presented last week at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. Check out the link to all the award winners, and some photos of the award ceremony below. Congratulations Antya!
Guest Lecture: Ti Chang, Co-founder and Vice President of Design of CRAVE
On March 20th, Products of Design welcomed Ti Chang, the co-founder and VP of Design of CRAVE, a San Francisco-based company specializing in discreet and luxury sex toys. Ti is best known for the design of the vibrator necklace Vesper, one of the most celebrated and innovative sex toys disrupting the adult toy industry and changing the conversation around sex.
Students Win 3 Prizes in International Design Awards!
Products of Design graduates Manako Tamura and Alexia Cohen have just won three awards in this year’s International Design Awards! All three of these projects were created as part of their Masters Thesis, and we’ve pasted links below for you to check them out!
Announcing 6IXTH: MFA Products of Design Thesis Presentations are May 14th!
We invite you to attend the Masters Thesis showcase presentations of the 2019 graduating class of the MFA in Products of Design program on Tuesday, May 14th at the SVA Theatre from 11am - 5:30pm. Twenty graduating masters students will each present their year-long thesis work, comprised of research, artifacts, services, experiences, and platforms.
PAINT App Restores Agency to Women in the Doctor's Office
Paint is an app that allows patients to document and describe their symptoms in more than words. As part of her thesis, Hysterical, second-year student Rhea Bhandari designed Paint to help women advocate for themselves while navigating a healthcare system that often dismisses their symptoms, leaving them misdiagnosed and in avoidable pain.