Metaproject 15 produces innovative furniture solutions for Icon Design and ARBR Studios

At the beginning of the semester, Alex Hafen was excited about what was in store for her as one of the students participating in Metaproject 15. The course provided an opportunity that challenged her knowledge and skills as a fourth-year industrial design student.

“I heard from past students that working on Metaproject was a really helpful experience and that the structure was a lot different than our other classes, so I was really drawn to the idea of trying something new,” said Hafen, from Centerport, N.Y.

Metaproject is an annual design initiative that pairs students with industry partners to develop products consistent with the Vignelli “Design is One” philosophy.” Students collaborate with new partners and the results are showcased in a global venue. In some cases, the designs are put into commercial production.

This year, Metaproject 15 students worked with Icon Design and alumni-owned ARBR Studios to create unique furniture solutions inspired by their existing catalog and the Vignelli design ethos. The prompt was open ended, allowing the students a lot of creative freedom to explore their own ideas.

“It took us a while to get our heads around the prompt because Icon explained that they wanted to go somewhere new. Creating a new identity for someone is a challenge,” said Hafen. “But it’s also exciting because everyone could put their own touch on their designs and be more inventive than just trying to copy a specific style as closely as possible.”

Josh Owen, director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies and lead instructor for Metaproject, explained that the heavy representation of RIT industrial design alumni at Icon Design and ARBR Studios made them an ideal partner for Metaproject.

“Part of Icon’s initial interest was that they wanted to see what learning from the Vignelli’s works might do to provoke opportunities in design-related growth for them. The Vignelli design ethos and Icon’s Design ethos are working in harmony with this project primarily because of Icon’s willingness to explore the possible outcomes of such an experiment,” said Owen. “I would say that overall, the students have pushed Icon to consider leveraging the Vignelli philosophy toward a more modern way of envisioning the growth of their collection.”

Over the course of the semester, students formulated their designs and engaged in periodic reviews with Owen and representatives from Icon Design and ARBR Studios. During the last week of classes, students presented half-scale models of their designs for a final review with the clients.

The panel of representatives for the review—which included Tyler Brennan ’21 (industrial design), Jason Cudzilo '02 (industrial design), Daniel Fallon ’02 (industrial design), Bridget Sheehan ’14 MFA (industrial design), and Fritz Zeller—announced that all of the half-scale models the students created will be displayed during the annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York City in May 2025.

In addition to the half-scale models, the clients selected six student designs to prototype at full-scale for display at ICFF. Zeller shared that the final selection was difficult, but the chosen designs found “the right blend of innovation and feasibility.”

These designs include:

• The “Solēna” bench, designed by Chris Baron, a fourth-year industrial design student.
• The “Cradle Side Table,” designed by Isabella Blanco, a fourth-year industrial design student.
• The “Toro Chair,” designed by Alex Hafen, a fourth-year industrial design student.
• The “Convo Table,” designed by Jasmine Khamphanthirath, a fourth-year industrial design student.
• The “Pivot Table,” designed by Jenna Schwartzberg, a fourth-year industrial design student.
• The “Cubo” bookcase, designed by Valentina Ada Scottini, a fourth-year industrial design student.

Before graduating from RIT, Sheehan, project manager at Icon Design and adjunct professor at RIT, served as a teaching assistant for Metaproject 04. Having now been a participant on both the client and student ends of the collaboration, she sees the experience as “a win for everyone involved.”

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Carlos Ortiz/RIT

Oluwatobi Ashiru, a fourth-year industrial design student, presented her “Àpèrè” desk design during the Metaproject 15 final review.

“As part of the Icon Design leadership team, we were excited to collaborate with the students to see the fresh ideas and perspectives they bring to the world of luxury furniture. We also wanted to share the knowledge we’ve accumulated throughout our careers to give them as much insight as possible into how we work,” said Sheehan.

For students like Oluwatobi Ashiru, the opportunity to learn from working industry professionals while getting a realistic experience designing for a client was invaluable. She created the “Àpèrè” desk, which was inspired by her Nigerian roots.

“When we are doing other class projects, we are getting feedback from the same professors and the same classmates. Everyone kind of gets used to your style,” said Ashiru, a fourth-year industrial design student from Philadelphia. “But when a company comes and asks us to design something, it’s more realistic and more professional. You get to see what your limits are and really learn first-hand how it will be working after you graduate.”

Interested in learning more about Metaproject? Go to the Metaproject 15 website to see the complete design prompt and full list of student participants.