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Josh Owen

Students in RIT’s Metaproject course will design and create seating solutions for international furniture company Lazzoni. Metaproject pairs RIT student designers with a client partner in what has become a seminal experience for the College of Art and Design’s nationally ranked industrial design bachelor’s program.

The Vignelli Center for Design Studies is hosting a week-long Summer Design Workshop in partnership with Corning Museum of Glass. Held from June 11 to 18, the workshop is an opportunity for professional designers to utilize the resources at the Vignelli Center and Corning Museum of Glass.

After a three-year pause because of the pandemic, students, faculty, staff, and alumni from the College of Art and Design will descend on Manhattan this week for NYCxDesign—New York City’s annual celebration of design that attracts hundreds of thousands from around the globe—which is marking its 10th year.

Architect Michael Maltzan, whose firm is the design architect behind RIT’s performing arts complex, will be the next featured speaker for the Vignelli Center for Design Studies' Design Conversations Lecture Series.

RIT and local designers partnered to create garments and wearables inspired by the Vignelli Center archives for display during a first-of-its-kind fashion show on Dec. 10. The event is open to the public.

Metaproject 12 promises to be the cat’s meow this academic year. Students in RIT’s industrial design program will spend the semester designing products for Modkat, the award-winning maker of cat litter boxes. Metaproject pairs students with a different industry partner each year.

Jacob Irizarry, a fourth-year 3D digital design student from Skokie, Ill., has been managing a new project at the Vignelli Center for Design Studies using the 3D digital design skills gained from his major to create a virtual presence for the gallery in the center.

Tiree Walker '21 (Industrial Design) created a pedestal that collects suggestions from the community that drive informed discussion and decisions on monument construction. His process work will be preserved and studied by future generations.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 48: Design must play a critical role as society faces difficult discussions and works to create a new balance in a troubled world. Josh Owen, director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies, and Seth Eshelman '06, founder of sustainable design firm Staach, discuss their Metaproject collaboration.

Eric Avar ’90 (industrial design), Nike’s vice president and creative guide of innovation design, has been selected as a 2021 commencement speaker on May 14 and 15. Avar, who was honored with the College of Art and Design Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016, joins Andrea Ghez—a 2020 Nobel Prize winner in physics—as the university’s first-ever dual commencement speakers during a two-day celebration of the Class of 2021.

Design Milk highlights the Vignelli Center’s Design Conversations Lecture Series.

Beginning with next week’s inaugural lecture on Sept. 16, the Vignelli Center’s Design Conversations Lecture Series presented by Design Milk will feature a wide variety of diverse designers whose compelling work has made important impacts on the design world.