Students

Our product design students emerge confident, powerful, agile, and skilled.

From Brooklyn to Bangkok, the students of the MFA in Product Design are a diverse group of designers from varying backgrounds, disciplines, nationalities and cultures. Together, they embark on an immersive journey in New York City, exploring multiple design lenses and creating important, thoughtful work. Our students secure positions at some of the most prestigious consultancies in the world, such as IDEO, frog, Apple, SYPartners, R/GA, Google, Fuseproject, Lyft, Pentagram, Vice Media, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, and argodesign.

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Class of 2027

Lauren Wedderburn Lauren is a designer and artist of Jamaican ancestry, born and raised in New York. She works across digital design, immersive installations, and production design, with a focus on world-building, collective care, and portals for

Lauren Wedderburn

Lauren is a designer and artist of Jamaican ancestry, born and raised in New York. She works across digital design, immersive installations, and production design, with a focus on world-building, collective care, and portals for connection. After earning her BA in Computer Science and Interaction Design from George Washington University, she interned with Code and Theory and went on to work as a product designer for startups in New York. Since then, she has designed environments such as A Third Place, a playscape centered on rest and ritual, and served as a production designer on commercial projects, short films, and music videos. Guided by the belief that design is most powerful when it nurtures community, Lauren approaches design as a tool for liberation. At MFA Products of Design, she strives to refine the language around her work and explore different approaches to making tangible impact.

Batu Alpas Batu is a designer and animator from Ankara, Turkey. Raised on Disney, Pixar, and the animated films of the 1980s and 1990s, he developed an early fascination with the power of music and image to shape emotion and story. He earned his

Batu Alpas

Batu is a designer and animator from Ankara, Turkey. Raised on Disney, Pixar, and the animated films of the 1980s and 1990s, he developed an early fascination with the power of music and image to shape emotion and story. He earned his BFA in Animation from California College of the Arts, where his films were featured in international and local festivals and received multiple awards through his collective, +1 Studios. Batu collaborates with rappers and DJs from Turkey on music videos, concert visuals, and immersive live experiences, blending motion design with sound. Beyond animation, he continues to develop thwirteen, a brand exploring objects, furniture, clothing, and environments. Across mediums, Batu approaches his work as a storyteller, creating art that connects people and invites shared meaning.

Manya Swick Manya is a multidisciplinary designer with a background in the sciences, drawn to design that explores the intersections of expression and functionality. She grew up in a small Connecticut town, halfway between New York City and Bosto

Manya Swick

Manya is a multidisciplinary designer with a background in the sciences, drawn to design that explores the intersections of expression and functionality. She grew up in a small Connecticut town, halfway between New York City and Boston, and studied biology at Davidson College, where she also competed on the Division I cross country and track teams. Seeking to connect her scientific background with her artistic instincts, she later attended design school in Atlanta before moving to Brooklyn to begin her professional career. Before joining MFA Products of Design, Manya focused primarily on graphic design, working across a range of environments and industries. Most recently, she worked at Mother Design and in-house at startups including Away and Sakara. Manya approaches her practice with curiosity and open-mindedness, and is exploring what it means to cultivate quietness and intentionality in an increasingly loud and fast-paced world.

Tristan Murff Tristan is a multidisciplinary designer whose work moves between product, interiors, and brand systems. Raised abroad between China and Europe and educated in the Netherlands (BSc, International Business), Tristan has worked across

Tristan Murff

Tristan is a multidisciplinary designer whose work moves between product, interiors, and brand systems. Raised abroad between China and Europe and educated in the Netherlands (BSc, International Business), Tristan has worked across tech, education, and the arts—holding design roles at Mercedes-Benz, tech startups, and later serving as Brand Director for historian Yuval Noah Harari. In New York, he co-founded Graine Studio, where recent projects explore the intersection of furniture, space, and identity. His practice emphasizes form making, ritual, and human experience—creating objects and spaces that invite participation rather than demand attention. Featured in both international and local outlets, Tristan joins MFA Products of Design with the aim of rethinking design, expanding his fabrication vocabulary, and exploring how products and environments can scale thoughtfully from one-off pieces to systems.