Jeffrey Perkins, jperkins@otis.edu, 310.665.6857

The annual Design Week for the MFA Graphic Design program at Otis College of Art and Design will launch with a public Design Fair on July 9, 2017, from 12-6pm. The fair will feature presentations by visiting international designers, a book fair, and more.
Visiting Designers and Artists:
- Luna Maurer of Moniker, Amsterdam (studiomoniker.com)
- Stephanie Specht, Antwerp (stephaniespecht.com)
- Davis James Ngarupe + JT Heiny of Actual Source, Provo Utah (actualsource.org)
- Tereza Rullerova and Vit Ruller of The Rodina, Amsterdam (www.therodina.com)
- James McKinnon, Berlin (www.fjordnet.com/berlin)
- Santiago Piedrafita, New York Pratt Institute www.pratt.edu/
- Mike Jakab of Google, Mountain View, (google.com/express)
- Antlant, Copenhagen, (studio-atlant.dk)
Design Week is a series of workshops that pair incoming and current Otis College MFA students with internationally recognized visiting designers who exemplify alternative practices. In teams, the students and designers partner with Los Angeles-based community organizations, offering solutions to their real-world design needs.
The 2017 workshops will be lead by internationally recognized designers Luna Maurer of Moniker, James McKinnon along with Santiago Piedrafita, and design studio Antlant from Copenhagen. The public is invited to the final critique on July 14, from 4-6pm.
The new Designer-in-Residence program will launch at the Design Fair and overlap with Design Week, as nine studios will relocate and work at Otis College with a focus on self-generated projects, taking advantage of the campus facilities and culture, and engaging the MFA students. The public is invited to a studio walk-through and reception for the Designer-in-Residence program on July 21, 6-7:30pm.
Designer-in-Residence Participating Studios:
Senior Residents
- All the Way to Paris, Copenhagen; Petra Gendt, Tanja Vibe (allthewaytoparis.com)
- Agency Collective, Oakland; Elisabeth Prescott, Mike Jakab (agencycollective.com)
- Mike Jakab of Google, Mountain View, (google.com/express)
- Jan en Randoald, Ghent; Jan Wouter Hespeel (janenrandoald.be)
Junior Residents
- Actual Source, Provo; Davis James Ngarupe, JP Haynie (actualsource.org)
- Bold, Galway; Leon Butler (bold.ie/Leon-Butler)
- Dad Jokes, New York; Nic Sanchez, Allison Ball (now.nicotomo.com)
- The Rodina, Amsterdam; Tereza Ruller, Vit Ruller (www.therodina.com)
- Specht Studio, Antwerp; Stephanie Specht (stephaniespecht.com)
Also new this year, Yasmin Khan and Jessica Wexler of Workshop Project in collaboration with Anja Groten of Hackers and Designers will host FREE: A Design Educators Workshop at Otis College. An international group of 20 educators representing a wide range of institutions will convene on campus to explore the radical potential of the artifacts and platforms of design education as spaces for new forms of critical writing making and discourse. A public presentation of the workshop outcomes will be held on July 23 at 12pm.
The MFA Graphic Design summer session at Otis College is supported in part by The Consulate General of the Netherlands.
For additional information about the MFA Graphic Design program, contact the department at (310) 665-6840 or visit www.otis.edu/mfa-graphic-design.