OCAD U Design Career Fair

Design Career Fair 2014 Poster, featuring a 2d drawing of a circus tent
Thursday, March 20, 2014 - 3:00pm to 8:00pm

Seeking employment? Meet with design organizations, firms and agencies looking to hire...

Students and recent graduates are invited to come out to the OCAD U Design Career Fair on March 20 to connect with a wide range of leading employers who are on the lookout for top creative talent.

Whether you are seeking a paid summer internship or full-time employment after graduation, bring your résumé and portfolio to help make a great first impression on key professional contacts.

Visit oucadu.ca/careerfair for our evolving lineup of exhibitors.

Sign up for a special presentation by Etsy (www.etsy.com) on setting up your own shop at 12 p.m. and repeated at 3 p.m.!

(Adjacent to Student Centre)

Venue & Address: 
49 McCaul Street Toronto, ON 416-977-6000 x3843
Website: 
http://www.ocadu.ca/careerfair
Email: 
zfarber@ocadu.ca
Cost: 
Free

WELLNESS BY DESIGN: ANNUAL COMPETITION WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Design competition winners with Colleen Reid and Dr. Sara Diamond

Members of Team Zoom couldn’t stop smiling as they found themselves atop their design world Nov. 14 by winning first prize in the annual OCAD U Faculty of Design Competition. 

“Some of us are graduating this year,” said team member Junghyun Yoo, a fourth-year Environmental Design student, who created the winning entry with teammates Seung Min Park, and Gi Woong Choi, also fourth year ED students, Hyo Shik Kim, a third-year Advertising student, and Bo Mi Min, a third-year Graphic Design student. “We’ve been working together four or five years, and this is a last, really good memory.”

Dr. Sara Diamond, the university’s president, announced the first, second and third prize winners at an awards ceremony in the Great Hall and surprised the assembled crowd by revealing an additional prize, due to a tie for second place. In addition to Zoom’s top prize, the second prizes went to Project X and to Feed, while Hakuna Matata earned third prize. 

The theme of the 2013 competition was the ecology of student wellness, and participants were challenged by the design brief to “consider ways of promoting wellness in your immediate environment: OCAD U.” They had four days to complete their projects once the brief was presented. 

Professor Alexander Manu from the Faculty of Design, a keynote speaker at the awards ceremony, said the committee decided on an internal focus this year. “We had tackled every subject outside ourselves and it was time to tackle us: student concerns,” he said. 

“OCAD U has been very courageous in talking about the way students have had mental health challenges at times,” said Dr. Diamond. “This is one of the ways we have to conduct a thoughtful dialogue.”

The members of Team Zoom created a project that reflects a belief that wellness comes from the inner self, as well as from connections between friends, between students and the university and between the university and society at large.

The project has three strands, the team members explained: mirrored visual images painted with key words, such as passion, to remind students why they were initially attracted to art and design; projections of student works on the exterior of the building to foster pride and inform the community about the work being done inside; and street furniture modelled on the OCAD U logo to show the public that art is something with which they can interact.

The second and third place winners took varying approaches to the challenge. Project X offered “a series of installations that embrace primitive engagement, collaborative human initiative and movement.” Feed created a “platform to help students understand personal values in their chosen fields,” and Hakuna Matata designed “neutral, non-territorial spaces where students can come together to de-stress and form new connections.”

The Project X team included Stephanie Bowles, John Mark Nicomedez, Calvin Hui and Joahanna Cabalu. Feed included Danielle Jedral, Julie Topp, Mary Bulnes Velez and Maya Das Gupta. Hakuna Matata was Rachel Jui Yun Ma, Alice (Ye Seul) Kim, Hongye (Amy) Li and Subbadra Venkatesan.

The contest entries will remain on display in the Great Hall until Nov. 20.

Story by Elaine Smith

Learn more

Faculty of Design

Design competition brief

Faculty of Design Competition

Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - 5:00pm to Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - 5:00pm

Annual Faculty of Design Competition Exhibition in the Great Hall

Design Competition open to all OCADU students.

Launch - Friday, November 7, 2014 10:00 am Room 190

Sign-Up - Friday, November 7, 2014 11:00 am Room 175b (Lobby)

Competition Exhibition Set-up Tuesday November 11th 12:00 pm in the Great Hall

Awards Night: Thursday, November 13th at 4:30 pm The Great Hall

Competition runs Tuesday, November 11 to Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Venue & Address: 
Great Hall 100 McCaul St. Toronto, Ontario
Cost: 
Free
Faculty of Design Competition with event info and whimsical illustration of Toronto City Hall

Faculty of Design Competition - LAUNCH

Friday, November 7, 2014 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Launch - Faculty of Design Competition

Taking place in the Auditorium the Faculty of Design Competition Committee will review the Brief, have a presentation and disclose the topic. At the end of the Launch, students will sign-up for the Competition in the Lobby.

The Competitors will set-up in the Great Hall on Tuesday, November 11th at 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

Awards Night is Thursday, November 13th at 4:30 pm

Take Down is Wednesday, November 19th at 12:00 pm

Venue & Address: 
Auditorium 100 McCaul St. Toronto, Ontario
Cost: 
Free

OCAD U receives $225,000 towards online course development

Thursday, May 8, 2014 - 4:15pm

Three online course proposals put forth by OCAD University’s faculty in collaboration with the Faculty & Curriculum Development Centre (FCDC) will receive support from the Ministry of Training, Colleges & Universities (MTCU) Shared Online Course Fund. Of the 165 proposals submitted by 19 Ontario universities, 68 courses were chosen to receive such funding.

The $225,000 will support the development of the courses, to be ready to be delivered in the Fall semester. The course development initiative will be led by OCAD U’s Faculty & Curriculum Development Centre (FCFC), with the goal of expanding and advancing e-learning and creative course design at the university.

“These funds recognize the significant strides OCAD U has made in the realm of e-learning in the last two years,” said Dr. Carol Roderick, FCDC Manager. “They will enable us to not only produce high quality online courses, but also to enhance the student learning experience at the same time.”

The courses will be foundational e-learning courses, and include:

Colour & 2D Design (Faculty of Design)
Colour and light are integral components of design, and visual literacy in these areas helps designers gain stronger conceptual and critical understanding. This course initiates students in the core concepts of 2Dl design, colour and spatial organization. Through investigations of light, point, plane, volume and colour mixing, students are introduced to the physiology of vision and the elements of 2D forms and spaces. Knowledge acquired from this course enables students to use vocabulary appropriately and to apply learned visual and spatial sensibilities to studies in design.

Creative Practice: Preparing for a Changing World (Faculty of Design)
The course introduces students entering creative fields in art and design to the many ways they can apply what they are learning in their formal studies to a career path that is rewarding and successful, but not always predictable. The course offers students both a broad perspective, exploring how changes in technology and economics have created the need for innovative thinkers, while also providing practical information that will help them make wise decisions and plan ahead. Students explore creative practice, professional conduct, time and financial management, entrepreneurship, skills for navigating fluctuating economies, as well as ethics, etiquette and privacy in an online world.

History and Evolution of Typography (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences and School of Interdisciplinary Studies)
This course addresses the historic development of the typographic form from the calligraphic forms that pre-date Gutenberg’s invention of movable type and letterpress to current digital typography. The cultural, technological, and historical contexts critical to the understanding of typography and its uses are considered. In this course, students learn to analyze typography and its effectiveness in the shaping of “word pictures," and develop their understanding of the complexity of typographic communication with an appreciation for the history of typography and its many and varied expressions through the ages.

These courses will be introduced to students for the Fall 2014 semester.

OCAD Faculty of Design presents talk by Gary Panter

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 5:00am

(Toronto — March 9, 2010) The Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) Faculty of Design presents a talk by illustrator Gary Panter on Thursday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m.

Brooklyn-based illustrator, painter, designer and part-time musician Gary Panter is the mind behind the elaborate, quirky, Emmy Award winning set designs for the kid’s TV show Pee Wee’s Playhouse. Possibly the most influential graphic artist of his generation, Panter’s creative influence extends far beyond the realms of illustration. His work has been described as era-defining, earning him the monikers “King of Punk Art” and “King of the Preposterous.” He is described by Chris Bor of ARTINFO as, “A creator whose work comfortably straddles the worlds of painting, commercial art, illustration, cartoons, underground comix, and music,” and who, “tackles all of his projects with visionary punk panache.”

Panter’s artwork has appeared on record covers for Frank Zappa and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He created the children’s playroom inside the Philippe Starck-designed Paramount Hotel in New York, and his animation series Pink Donkey and the Fly are featured on the Cartoon Network’s website. He is the creator of Jimbo, a “post-nuclear punk-rock cartoon character” whose adventures were first chronicled as a comic strip in the ’70s Los Angeles hardcore-punk paper Slash, and later in RAW magazine. Jimbo has also been published by Zongo Comics, founded by Simpsons and Futurama creator Matt Groening.

In 2000, Panter received the Chrysler Design Award recognizing his wide-reaching influence and mainstream success. From 2005 to 2007 his work was featured in the touring exhibition Masters of American Comics alongside that of such comic luminaries as Elzie Segar (Popeye), Chester Gould (Dick Tracy), Charles Schultz (Peanuts), Jack Kirby (Captain America), Harvey Kurtzman (founding editor of MAD magazine), Art Spiegelman (Maus) and others. His 2-volume monograph Gary Panter was published by Picturebox in 2008.

To learn more about Gary Panter, visit www.garypanter.com.

OCAD’s Faculty of Design presents:

Gary Panter
Thursday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m.

Ontario College of Art & Design
Auditorium (Rm 190), 100 McCaul Street, Toronto
416-977-6000 | www.ocad.ca

All are welcome; admission is free. Limited seating available; guests are advised to arrive early.

Panter’s talk is generously sponsored by TD Insurance Meloche Monnex.

About the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD)
The Ontario College of Art & Design (www.ocad.ca) is Canada’s “university of the imagination.” OCAD is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. The university is building on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinarity, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, OCAD community members will be uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.
 

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For more information and images please contact:

Sarah Mulholland, Media & Communications Officer, OCAD
416.977.6000 Ext. 327 (mobile Ext. 1327)

OCAD student designs transform desolate public space at 52 Division

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:00am

(Toronto — March 15, 2010) In an exhibition opening at Toronto City Hall next week, Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) students present their visions to revitalize one of the city’s major pedestrian thoroughfares, the plaza in front of Toronto Police Service 52 Division, on Dundas Street between St. Patrick and Simcoe Streets.

Reassembly Required is the result of OCAD’s annual Design Competition, where students were given approximately 97 hours — from the Thursday afternoon until the Monday evening (January 21 to 25, 2010) — to research, conceptualize and construct their solutions to a given challenge.

“Many students tell us that this experience was one of the highlights of their time at OCAD,” explains this year’s competition organizer Stuart Reid, Professor in the Faculty of Design. “The exhibition proves emerging OCAD designers have the tools to transform lacklustre urban space into accessible, functional and engaging space.”

In this year’s competition, Faculty of Design organizers carefully chose the site, a wide-open, cemented “plaza” in front of the 52 Division TPS building. With just the sidewalk, the street and the police station to use as boundaries, the challenge was immense: how might student design teams turn this forgotten city plaza into a functional, creative space that facilitates social experience?

The teams, each consisting of four to six students from both art and design faculties, were not left without inspiration. Will Alsop, British architect of OCAD’s famed Sharp Centre for Design, returned to the university for the competition’s pre-launch public lecture. Toronto City Councillor Adam Vaughan spoke to students as well, providing local perspective and context. Faculty of Design professors and guest volunteer critics provided mentoring and advice over the course of the weekend.

OCAD students flourish, even when under immense time constraints. The resulting concepts are extraordinarily thoughtful, making use of materials like laminated glass to respond to differing lighting conditions, and techniques like recessing the walkway to help combat the strong wind tunnel created in the area. Other designs incorporate roof panels that change orientation with weather conditions. The designs offer Toronto residents a glimpse into the imaginative minds of the designers of tomorrow. Immersed as they are in the city’s downtown core, OCAD students are uniquely positioned to apply their creative problem-solving skills to its infrastructure.

Reassembly Required: Selections from OCAD’s 2010 Annual Design Competition will run in the first floor Rotunda at Toronto City Hall from March 15 to 19. An opening reception will be held Tuesday, March 16 at 6 p.m. (remarks at 6:30) with comments from Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20 — Trinity–Spadina) and OCAD President Sara Diamond. All are welcome to attend.

Reassembly Required:
Selections from OCAD’s 2010 Annual Design Competition

March 15 to 19, 2010

Opening: Tuesday, March 16, 6 p.m. (remarks at 6:30)
Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20 — Trinity–Spadina)
OCAD President Sara Diamond

All are welcome to attend.

Toronto City Hall
Rotunda, First Floor
100 Queen Street West
Exhibition hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., daily.
Information: 416-977-6000 | www.ocad.ca

About the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD)
The Ontario College of Art & Design (www.ocad.ca) is Canada’s “university of the imagination.” OCAD is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. The university is building on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinarity, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, OCAD community members will be uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.
 

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For more information and images please contact:

Sarah Mulholland, Media & Communications Officer, OCAD
416.977.6000 Ext. 327 (mobile Ext. 1327)

OCADU launches Faculty of Design Speaker Series with a talk by Paul Raff

Tuesday, October 5, 2010 - 4:00am

(Toronto — October 5, 2010) OCAD University’s Faculty of Design launches its annual speaker series with a free public talk by architect Paul Raff on Thursday, October 21 at 6:30 p.m.

Paul Raff is the founding principal of Paul Raff Studio. Born in Montreal, Canada, he spent much of his childhood in the Canadian prairies, to which he attributes his interest in landscape and atmosphere. He graduated with degrees in architecture and environmental studies from the University of Waterloo, and has worked in architectural firms in New York, Barcelona, and Hong Kong. He now lives in Toronto.

Raff's reputation for excellence was established at the outset of his career in 1993 with an award-winning design for Toronto's waterfront redevelopment. His architectural experience includes involvement in world-class projects such as the Barcelona Olympic Redevelopment, the Chinese Vice-President's House in Shanghai, and the Bluepoint residential resort in Thailand. His art experience includes temporary environmental installations and permanent sculptural works such as the new Regina Gateway commissioned by the City of Regina. In 2001, Raff became the youngest ever recipient of the Ontario Association of Architects' Allied Arts Award for lifetime achievement. In 2009, Raff was awarded the Allied Arts Medal by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. Raff is a frequent guest professor and lecturer. In 2006, he represented Canada at a NAFTA-sponsored architects' lecture series at the University of Illinois in Chicago. In 2010, Raff lectured on Integrity-based Architecture at the Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto.

In his talk “Radical Situations,” Raff will discuss how situation-based creative strategies radically improve human performance in terms of environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Absolute commitment to every project's unique situation within its total environment, has led to Paul Raff Studio's remarkable innovations and growing impact on local and global architecture and design.

Faculty of Design Speaker Series:
Paul Raff: “Radical Situations”

Thursday, October 21, 6:30 p.m.

OCAD University
Auditorium, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto
www.ocad.ca | 416-977-6000

All are welcome to attend, and admission is free.

The Faculty of Design Speaker Series is generously supported by TD Bank Group, and continues on Friday, November 12 with the talk “How Architecture Shapes Behaviour” by architect Kim Herforth Nielsen of 3XN Architects, Denmark.

About OCAD University (OCADU)
OCAD University (www.ocad.ca) is Canada’s “University of the Imagination.” The University, founded in 1876, is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. OCAD University is building on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinary practice, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, OCAD University community members will be uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.

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For more information, contact:

Sarah Mulholland, Media & Communications Officer
416.977.6000 Ext. 327 (mobile Ext. 1327)

OCADU Faculty of Design Speaker Series continues with Kim Herforth Nielsen

Monday, October 25, 2010 - 4:00am

(Toronto — October 25, 2010) OCAD University’s Faculty of Design Speaker Series continues on Friday, November 12 at 6:30 p.m. with the talk “How Architecture Shapes Behaviour” by architect Kim Herforth Nielsen of 3XN Architects, Denmark.

Architect MAA/RIBA Kim Herforth Nielsen is founder and principal of 3XN. Founded as Nielsen, Nielsen and Nielsen in Aarhus in 1986 by the architects Kim Herforth Nielsen, Lars Frank Nielsen (partner until 2002) and Hans Peter Svendler Nielsen (partner until 1992), the firm is now known as 3XN. The three Nielsen architects quickly became known for two things: their preference for ground‐breaking architecture, in defiance of the anti‐humanistic modernism, and projects demanding a high level of detail and employing workmanship of the highest quality.

“Architecture can get people talking together,” explains Herforth Nielsen. “Architecture can calm children in the classroom. It can make passive people more active. It can shape corporate culture. Architecture can encourage people to find new paths, discover new aspects of their city — and of themselves.” 3XN believes that architecture can shape behaviour and that buildings — like people — are more than the sum of their parts. By applying holistic principles 3XN is constantly exploring the potential for achieving a synthesis of design, function and context.

In his talk, Herforth Nielsen will exemplify how architecture shapes behaviour with a number of projects from 3XN’s portfolio.

Faculty of Design Speaker Series:
Kim Herforth Nielsen: “How Architecture Shapes Behaviour”
Friday, November 12, 6:30 p.m.

OCAD University
Auditorium, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto
www.ocad.ca | 416-977-6000

All are welcome to attend, and admission is free.

The Faculty of Design Speaker Series is generously supported by TD Bank Group, and continues on January 27, 2011 with a talk by Rachel Wingfield of Loop.pH (UK).

Kim Herforth Neilsen’s visit is presented in partnership with Taylor Hazell Architects (THA) and the Daniels School of Architecture at the University of Toronto.

More about Kim Herforth Nielsen
Kim Herforth Nielsen graduated from the Aarhus School of Architecture in 1981. He has been the driving force behind 3XN, and involved in all the practice’s major projects, including The Blue Planet, Kubus in Berlin, the Museum of Liverpool, Ørestad College, Muziekgebouw Concert Hall in Amsterdam, the Danish Embassy in Berlin and the Architects’ House in Copenhagen. Herforth Nielsen is often called upon as a jury member in international architectural competitions, and as lecturer at art academies and universities around the world. A Knight of Dannebrog, he has received Denmark’s highest architectural honour, the C.F. Hansen Medaille.

About OCAD University (OCADU)
OCAD University (www.ocad.ca) is Canada’s “University of the Imagination.” The University, founded in 1876, is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. OCAD University is building on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinary practice, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, OCAD University community members will be uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.

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For more information, contact:

Sarah Mulholland, Media & Communications Officer
416.977.6000 Ext. 327 (mobile Ext. 1327)

OCADU Faculty of Design Speaker Series continues with Rachel Wingfield

Wednesday, January 12, 2011 - 5:00am

(Toronto — January 12, 2011) OCAD University’s Faculty of Design Speaker Series continues on Thursday, January 27 at 6:30 p.m. with the talk “ArchiLace: Ecomimetic Space Design” by Rachel Wingfield of Loop.pH (UK). Wingfield’s visit coincides with the Toronto International Design Festival, and OCADU’s annual Design Competition.

Rachel Wingfield belongs to an emerging generation of designers redefining conventions of how, why and with what things are made. For Wingfield, the convergence of design and science, and ultimately the synergy with nature, can serve to address some of today's most urgent problems by promoting energy independence, food security, and "metabolic thinking". Her approach to design and fabrication values the physical process of making as much as established research methodologies and theories. This allows for the reinterpretation and integration of forms engineered by humans and nature alike.

In her talk, Wingfield will introduce her design studio Loop.pH, discuss the importance of a trans-disciplinary practice and the convergence between biology, ecology, architecture and design. By presenting ideas learned from ecology and ecomimetics, Wingfield questions how we can create living environments, synthesising living materials and digital tools, and proposes an emerging new role for designers working at an urban scale.

Faculty of Design Speaker Series:
Rachel Wingfield: “ArchiLace: Ecomimetic Space Design”
Thursday, January 27, 6:30 p.m.

OCAD University
Auditorium, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto
www.ocad.ca | 416-977-6000

All are welcome to attend, and admission is free.

The Faculty of Design Speaker Series is generously supported by TD Bank Group, and continues on March 3 with a talk by David Small, Creative Director at Small Design Firm (www.davidsmall.com).

More about Rachel Wingfield:
Wingfield is Research Fellow at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, London (UK) and co-director of the design studio Loop.pH. Together with Mathias Gmachl, they specialize in lightweight temporary architecture, responsive environments and create new urban visions. Their portfolio spans the design, construction and fabrication of architectural, structural and responsive textiles for both private and public environments from hospitals, museums to parks and private collections. Their installation work can be seen in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (NY) and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (UK).
 

About OCAD University (OCADU)
OCAD University (www.ocad.ca) is Canada’s “University of the Imagination.” The University, founded in 1876, is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. OCAD University is building on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinary practice, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, OCAD University community members will be uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.

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Download this release as a PDF file.

For more information contact:

Sarah Mulholland, Media & Communications Officer
416.977.6000 Ext. 327 (mobile Ext. 1327)

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