In Displaced, a traveling performance piece created by New York City–based transmedia art and design studio Nonstudio, motion sensors and a body-tracking camera follow a modern-day Pandora in the form of an immigrant woman navigating the New World. Graphic design in the 21st century is a multidirectional realm of possibilities. “It’s great that you’re questioning masculinity through objects,” Trigo tells him. In her home office in the back of her house near Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, graduate Graphic Design alumna and freelance graphic designer Ziyi Xu (MFA 18) sifts through her work while reflecting on her journey to the U.S. On her wrist, she wears a bracelet made of red string—symbolizing luck—that her mom gave her. For more information about how you can help encourage, cultivate, and mentor diversity in the field of graphic design, visit AIGA’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force web page. A nearby poster declares “EQUALITY.”. “We would experience discrimination here because we had heavy accents and spoke Spanish,” she says. How does graphic design at ArtCenter compare? In graphic design, about 86% of designers are Caucasian. However, there are two … Text. “There are only 3–5% of working design professionals that are Black,” Arceneaux-Sutton and Munro explain. Weapons of Mass Creation, a design, art and music festival held annually in Cleveland, Ohio, takes great pride in being a festival characterized by it’s dedication to diversity.This past year in particular, 2014, … International students made up 29% and 75% of undergraduate and graduate students, respectively. And so is the future.” In order to represent and reflect that future—and the present—the industry must include women and people of different races, ethnicities, nationalities, cultures, disabilities, genders, sexualities, ages, economic status and religions. Audio. Make your voice heard! 8, no. The title’s font—jagged and pink—resembles graffiti and reflects Moritsugu’s underground films, Xu says. Imagine the days prior to television sets, Universal Product Codes (and now QR Codes), the iEverything, Adobe Creative Suite…because they really weren’t that long ago. Born and raised in Suzhou, China, Xu studied digital art in Shanghai before getting her Graphic Design master’s degree at ArtCenter. But diversity is much more than just race. For years, AIGA chapters around the country have been committed to providing mentorship programs to high school students, college students, emerging designers and seasoned professionals. A poster, part of a 2018 voting campaign she designed, proclaims, “You Have a Voice.” Gamio, who has a green card, reminded coworkers that the campaign should include those not able to vote. Link. I have a fresh point of view.”, Professional Education and Industry Engagement, Notification, Tuition Deposit and Deferrals. Graphic design can be a fairly expensive profession to break into — as Roberto Blake gracefully points out on his article about Diversity in the Design Industry: “The truth of the matter is that graphic design can be a fairly expensive profession to break into, and many minorities may be priced out of entering into this industry based on that fact. The Diversity and Inclusion Task Force looks to meet similar goals to by encouraging diversity in design education, discourse and practice to expand the future of design in all areas of society. At her desk, there’s a sign that reads “SI” and a photo of pop artist and activist nun Sister Corita Kent. “The core of our work is inclusivity in feminism, and telling stories that embrace femininity, whether about mythologies, sexuality, hair,” says Lii, whose previous clients include Guggenheim Bilbao and Fashion for Good. What’s most familiar to me is my experience as a Black guy in America who’s from a particular culture, from South Africa.”, Memani showed his work—a series of 16 vibrant experimental drawings of Black celebrities like Nina Simone and Danny Hathaway—as part of 2018’s Represent: Power in Color, an exhibition that explored representation through work by more than 20 ArtCenter students of color. Boosting diversity also includes removing economic barriers, Carroll says. minority-majority population by the year 2043, “technology, multiculturalism and globalism make diversity and inclusion more relevant than ever in design and all aspects of business.”, AIGA’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force web page. According to AIGA (the American Institute of Graphic Arts), approximately 86% of professional designers are Caucasian. After lunch, Memani walks to South Campus’ 1111 building to join other graduate students in Transmedia, a course taught by Associate Professor Carolina Trigo (BFA 98), a Buenos Aires–born artist, designer and researcher. “In China, my teachers spoke during critiques, and students listened,” she says. Led by graphic designer and illustrator Antoinette Carroll, the Task Force consists of a diverse array of graphic designers, communication professionals, and students throughout the nation from different backgrounds and experiences.