Who will create the future mobile experience, invent the next breakthrough in gaming, change the way we listen to music, and reinvent social networks? A new breed of specialists⎯interaction designers⎯who are taking technology and human interaction to the next level.

In fall 2011, California College of the Arts (CCA), an international leader in art and design education for more than a century, will launch a groundbreaking undergraduate program in this emerging field. “By designing tools, experiences, and products, interaction designers can have a tremendous impact on the world. CCA’s core institutional values of community engagement, innovation, and sustainability will infuse this new program and produce highly trained, socially aware designers with tremendous capacity for creativity,” commented Provost Mark Breitenberg. “Simply put, we’re looking for talented students who want to change the world.”

About the Interaction Design Program
CCA’s Interaction Design Program will prepare students to create meaningful and innovative designed experiences in the realms of work, lifestyle, and play—from computers and mobile devices to interactive physical spaces, games, and social networks.

By learning investigative research, systemic thinking, creative prototyping, and hands-on building, Interaction Design students will be prepared to succeed and lead in this exciting field. Students develop technical skills (wireframes, flows, visuals, motion) for interactive canvases such as mobile, desktop, car, game console, film, sculpture, clothes, and buildings. The possible applications extend to numerous industries, from business to entertainment, education, and health.

Program Leadership
Dr. Kristian Simsarian, cofounder of the Software Experiences Practice at IDEO and adjunct professor in CCA’s Graduate Program in Design, has been tapped to chair the new program. He commented, “Surprisingly, there is not yet a consistent source for talent in this field. CCA, with its interdisciplinary environment, impressive facilities, and great location at the hub of the digital world, is the ideal place to build a world-class interaction design program. I am thrilled to be leading this effort. My passion in education is to be a guide for students to create the future from their own insightful, well-informed, and personally inspired visions.”

Silicon Valley Connections
CCA’s Interaction Design Program was created with input from thinkers at Google, YouTube, Apple, Intel, Nokia, and IDEO. Such companies, as well as nonprofit organizations, will take part in vibrant exchanges with students through sponsored studios and other project-based courses. Students will also have internship opportunities, enabling them to gain professional work experience and contacts, and to define their individual pathways to their future careers.

For more information about CCA’s Interaction Design Program, visit www.cca.edu/interaction or call 800.447.1ART.

About California College of the Arts
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts is noted for the interdisciplinary and breadth of its programs. It offers studies in 20 undergraduate and seven graduate majors in the areas of fine arts, architecture, design, and writing. The college offers bachelor of architecture, bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts, master of architecture, master of arts, master of fine arts, and master of business administration degrees. With campuses in San Francisco and Oakland, CCA currently enrolls 1,800 full-time students. Noted alumni include the painters Nathan Oliveira and Raymond Saunders; the ceramicists Robert Arneson, Viola Frey, and Peter Voulkos; the filmmaker Wayne Wang; the conceptual artists David Ireland and Dennis Oppenheim; and the designers Lucille Tenazas and Michael Vanderbyl. For more information about CCA, visit www.cca.edu.

Press Contacts:
Sarah Owens, 415.703.9549 or sowens@cca.edu
Brenda Tucker, 415.703.9548 or btucker@cca.edu