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The latest at CCA

From student spotlights and faculty stories to recent media coverage and current events, catch up on what’s new.

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MFA Design launches the Design Futures Lab

Led by Assistant Chair Sara Dean, the Design Futures Lab provides students with the resources they need to practice speculative design and propose alternate futures.
Photograph of MFA in Design student Sarah Bonnickson as she demonstrates her drawing machine.

Media coverage / Dec. 19, 2022

Undergraduate Interior Design student receives 2022 Lighting Design Award

Celebrating lighting designers for their creativity and innovation, the LIT Lighting Design Awards recognizes CCA undergraduate Owen Fernando Patia (Interior Design) as Emerging Lighting Designer of the Year.

Photo of a large, digitally rendered gallery with figures draped in blue and green lighting.

Media coverage / July 18, 2022

CCA graphic design students invigorate San Francisco BART stations with colorful designs

Through TBD*, CCA’s in-house student design studio, Hyunsoo Kang's and Walker Lambert's quintessentially San Francisco designs offer transit riders "a slice of joy and color" with an AR twist.

A large colorful box stands near the top of the escalator at the Market Street BART station.

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MFA in Design: Alumni Q+A with Shihan Zhang

We caught up with this talented CCA alum to ask why she decided to pursue her MFA, what it was like as an international student studying for a masters degree in the U.S., and a whole lot more.
Shihan Zhang (MFA Design, 2017)

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MFA in Design: Alumni Q+A with Beth Abrahamson, senior designer at Emotive Brand

Since graduating with an MFA in Design in 2015, Beth Abrahamson has put in time as a freelance designer for some of the biggest brands in the game (Airbnb, Elephant, Apple).
Beth Abrahamson MFA Design alum, 2015

Media coverage / July 1, 2019

Tish Evangelista, Graphic Design alum, on the moral responsibilities of branding and design agencies

Creative Director and founder at Character, a San Francisco-based agency, Tish Evangelista (BFA Graphic Design 1998) strives to work with clients who enhance lives and society through their products.
Tish Evangelista is a creative director and founder at Character.

Media coverage / Nov. 24, 2019

Erik Carter, CCA graphic design faculty member, discusses teaching and his independent design practice

Animator, illustrator, graphic designer, and CCA faculty Erik Carter has a profile on It's Nice That, a publisher of inspirational stories focused on creative design. View the article for examples of Carter's work.
Selected works from Erik Carter.

Media coverage / May 25, 2019

CCA's Dean of Design considers the career landscape for industrial designers in IDSA round table

Helen Maria Nugent, dean of CCA Design, discusses the importance of embracing ambiguity and applying analytical skills to tough challenges in the expanding field of industrial design.
Headshot of Dean of Design Helen Maria Nugent.

Media coverage / Sept. 13, 2019

California Home + Design profiles alum Gary Hutton and his four decades in the interior design field

Learn about alum Gary Hutton, a 1975 CCA graduate in Environmental Studies, who has spent his career working on myriad commercial and residental interior design projects throughout California.
Interior design for a home by alumnus Gary Hutton.

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VP of Design at Fitbit and graduate of CCA's Industrial Design program talks about his career journey

Fitbit's VP of Design Jonah Becker shares how his industrial design degree from CCA helped him get there.
VP of Design at Fitbit and Graduate of CCA's Industrial Design Program Talks About His Career Journey.jpg

Media coverage / Aug. 26, 2019

Rachel Berger, chair of Graphic Design, explores how designers in tech are changing their approach to professional portfolios

In an essay on Medium, chair of BFA in Graphic Design Rachel Berger shares how designers in "Big Tech" are shifting from portfolios focused on outcome to portfolios focused on process.
Image of printed graph.

Media coverage / July 29, 2020

Alum Miriam Hillawi Abraham (MFA Interaction Design 2019) wins prestigious Graham Foundation Grant to develop her MFA Design thesis

Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus seeks to activate architectural landscapes while it uncovers and reinstates the presence and power of those marginalized by the dominant conservative ethos of Ethiopian society.
Miriam Hillawi Abraham, 2019. Exhibition of thesis work, “Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus,” at the Hubbell Street Galleries, San Francisco.

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Decolonizing design

CCA’s Decolonial School focuses on how to relate diversity, inclusion, and equity to artistic and design practice.

From the As, Not For: Dethroning Our Absolutes exhibition at CCA.

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Designing the future of commerce

The Visa sponsored Experience Design Studio challenged students to solve complex problems around the digital payment systems of the future.

Visa Experience Design Studio_Designing the Future of Commerce_LD.jpg

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Can graphic design be political?

Postcards to the President, a project that encouraged attendees to write messages to POTUS, Vice President Pence, state reps, and local leaders.

Collection of postcards for the president and rubber stamps

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Founders Hall student-housing designs

Founders Hall is a new student housing facility, part of CCA’s expanded campus design in San Francisco.
Architectural rendering of Founders Hall at CCA.

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Design pedagogy for collective work

The Design division explores three different educational opportunities at CCA that transcend individual learning through teamwork.
Assistant Professor Juan Carlos Rodriguez Rivera (center) teaches his Decolonization & Design course in 2019.

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The game designer as artist

As a game arts major, you can combine your passions for art and gaming to shape the future of play.

A close-up image of different types of dice used in games.

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Designing the future of everything

In three fall 2022 sponsored studios, students envisioned designs to support future human needs in partnerships with Samsung, Lenovo, and Google.

A panoramic view of a studio with a few dozen students working in groups at various workbenches

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10 skills every interaction designer should have

If you are considering entering the world of Interaction Design (IxD), there are some skills you’ll want to hone before applying to any graduate-level program—but they may not be the ones you think.
Image of Gregory Hurcomb installation in the nave 'These Marks.'

Lindsay Wright

Director of Integrated Communications

+1 530-906-8805

[email protected]