News

Pratt is recognized as one of the top graphic design schools in the country & most influential of the past half century in a survey of 10,000 design professionals by Graphic Design USA magazine; an alumnus of the program was named as the most influential graphic designer working today.

In a survey of 10,000 design professionals by Graphic Design USA magazine, Pratt is recognized as one of the five most influential graphic design schools of the past half century. See details here.

In the same survey, Pratt is considered one of the top 5 graphic design schools in the country today. See details here.

Pratt Institute and Hennessy V.S challenge students to create new work inspired by pushing limits of their potential. Finalists' work honored with special exhibition during Art Basel Miami

André De Castro

Michael Finkelstein

2013 Participants

André De Castro
MFA, Communications Design; Pratt Institute.
First Place
Project website

Michael Finkelstein

Visiting MFA professor Andrew Shea's essay was recently featured on Design Observer.

Shea is a graphic designer, writer, and educator who has taught graphic design at Maryland Institute College of Art, Fordham University, Parsons The New School for Design and Pratt Institute. He is partner of the New York based studio MANY and his writing has appeared in many publications. To read the essay, please follow the link here.

View the video here. The video is from the "Type of Show" exhibition curated by Like Minded Studio and Kind of Gallery.

Ten Pratt students were honored during the 2013 PackExpo convention on Monday, September 23rd in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Paperboard Packaging Alliance’s (PPA) annual student design challenge awards luncheon. Four Pratt teams advised by Graduate Communications Design Visiting Instructor, Thomas Delaney participated in this years’ PPA challenge: develop innovative packaging solutions for a fictitious movie theatre style candy package.

A record number of students from the US and Canada participated in this year’s challenge, with more than 190 students competing from 13 leading packaging and graphic design programs.

First place winners for their “woops!” concept are: Jennifer Ip, Elizabeth Taurisani & Amy Shun Yeh.

Second place winners for their “Twisters” concept are: Marina Brant, Renato Martins Cerqueira, Maija Rozenfelde & Jessica Vande Werken.

Fourth place finalists for their “spinits” concept are: Anna Ocon Beltran, Andrea Bernardo & Kai-Ting Fan.

Simin Li, Mona Bagla, and Abha Anand were each honored.

Simin Li, a graduate from the class of 2013, received the "American Graphic Design Award" from Graphic Design USA, for her "aurea eco-cosmetic" package design.

GradComD students Vivi Feng & Yu-Ping Chuang have won the Adobe Design Awards for their packaging concept which previously won "Best in Show" in The Dieline Package Design Awards.

Payscale.com ranks Pratt 3rd in it's most recent college salary report and return on investment report against all other art & design colleges.

Payscale.com ranks Pratt 3rd in the best Art & Design schools for starting salary and mid-career pay. View the rankings here.

Pratt ranks well against public and private colleges when all disciplines are factored in. Check it out here.

Among the 172 participants, only 24 potential students were chosen. From that group, Cynthia Douaiher and her partner Guan Pei Xuan received the top prize.

GradComD student Cynthia Douaiher and her partner Guan Pei Xuan have won Gold in Taiwan while participating in the “New Wave, Cultural Gene Transfer” and “ADA (Asia Design Alliance)” workshops. Their work includes a book and a poster that present an infographic in four languages that captures the dynamic of their relationship.

Cynthia Douaiher poster

GradComD student Ivy Zheyu Chen's package for A BOOK was featured on Packaging of the World. For more information about Ivy, visit her personal website here.

A BOOK is a line of sketchbook binding kits, featuring three different methods:
Stitch Binding, Perfect Binding and Japanese Binding.

The kits provide tools and materials for a 72-page sketchbook with customized pattern cover.

A BOOK targets at customers who are upper-middle class, sophisticated, possibly in art and design field, like working with hands, and prefer the aesthetic of neutrality and architectural modernity.

Yue Chen, a GradComD student has won "Certificate of Typographic Excellence" in the TDC Communication Design Competition. It will be included in the Annual of the Type Directors Club, Typography 34, and will also be shown at the 59th Awards Exhibition in New York.

Of the over 2000 entries from 37 countries, 215 from 17 countries were selected. These winners will also be included in 7 exhibitions touring cities in the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.

TDC59 will be on display in New York City. The date will be announced at a future time. Information and invitations to the opening will be sent at a later date.

The GradComD book Live Learn Design won GOLD in the University & College Designers Association (UCDA) Annual Competition (recruitment/art schools category). Only 6 Gold awards were given out of over 1000 entries.

The book was designed by students (now alumni) Chantal Fischzang, Nick Misani, Richard Hall, and Esteban Perez, and art directed by Professor Brenda McManus.

A series of GradComD 40th Anniversary letterpress book plates – designed and hand printed by professor McManus and the students – and included with each book, were submitted in the "best use of printing processes" and was awarded EXCELLENCE.

The UCDA Design Competition recognizes the best of the exceptional design work done to promote educational institutions (secondary, vocational, or higher education).

Hello all incoming and returning students!

Please join us for the Welcome Back reception to be held on Wednesday, August 28 from 6-8PM at PMC, 7th floor. (This event will coincide with the closing reception for the Graphic Advocacy Exhibition at the PMC Gallery, 2nd floor.)

You are also welcome to join any New Student Orientation events if you'd like, details are below.

Fall 2013 Orientation Schedule:

FRIDAY 8.23.13
Orientation for GradComD Students
Location: 144 W.14th st, 2nd fl. rm 213

• 4:00 pm: Meet and greet with our student activities group the Communications Committee.
• 5:00-7:00 pm: Information Session (required for all incoming students)
• 7:00 pm: Reception in the 2nd floor lobby

SATURDAY 8.24.13

• 2:00: Students will meet at W18th Street studios on the third floor
• 3:00 - 5:00: MoMA trip
• 5:30 - 7:00: Studio Tour, Type Directors Club presentation and technology demo's at W18th Street studios
• 7:30 GradComD after party at Fiddlesticks (56 Greenwich Ave)

WEDNESDAY 8.28.13
Location: 144 W. 14th st 7th floor

• 6:00 - 8:00pm: Welcome Back Party for Faculty and Students and Exhibition Closing Reception

In conjunction with the wonderful new exhibit at Pratt Manhattan Gallery, "Graphic Design Advocacy." The GradComD Gallery will be presenting work of candidates from the Graduate Communications Design department in the 7th floor gallery.

Aaron Mickelson’s thesis concept is based on the idea that if companies created disappearing packaging for popular products, America could cut down on the 140 billion pounds of wasted packaging generated every year.

Pirco Wolfframm, adjunct associate professor of Communications Design, has written a book about the life and work of ceramicist and industrial designer Eva Zeisel.

The book, Life, Design, and Beauty, is a celebration of Zeisel’s extraordinary career and achievements, such as being the first female designer ever with solo exhibition at MoMA. The book will be out Tuesday, October 15.

"For the first time in The Dieline Package Design Awards history, an innovative student project has been named best of show. This project was the highest rated project in the competition out of 3 rounds of intense judging from our judges."

Vivi Feng & Yu-Ping Chuang created an innovative solution to a common problem, the challenge of using a single hand to apply a bandage.

...The two brilliant students created this project as their final thesis project at Pratt. It is an innovative solution to a common problem: the challenge of using a single hand to apply a bandage.

Andrew Gibbs, Founder and Editor in Chief, The Dieline

This summer, Typography Summer School will be offered in New York City for the first time. The New York programme is the result of a collaboration between Muggeridge and Ryan Waller, a designer at Other Means studio and a visiting faculty member at Pratt Institute in New York City.

The original idea was to bring together students from the various graphic design schools around London and the UK; in fact, the programme has attracted an international mix. Muggeridge, also a Reading graduate, has aimed to provide an intimate learning environment, in contrast to the 50+ mega-sized classes that have become common in British undergraduate design programmes. Prices are lower than comparable programmes, to keep the school accessible.

The giant, luminous orb, aptly named the Lipton Sun, was created in partnership with world-renowned PRATT Institute, and serves to celebrate the bright and uplifting taste of summer.

GradComD, working with Corporate Relations, collaborated with Lipton to build an "orb" for their "Taste of Summer" event at South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan on June 20. The orb was designed and built by Professor Eric O'Toole with students Caroline Matthews (GradComD), Dakota Sica (Sculpture), Sebastian Jacabo (ID), and Robin Oglesbee-Venghaus (ID). Singer/Actress Katherine McPhee was the celebrity spokesperson for the event, but the Pratt built orb stole the show!

Pratt GradComD student Wenkang Kan designed a recent cover for New York Magazine's "Best of New York" issue while interning for designer Rodrigo Corral.

Congrats!

Check out the full project here.

New York Magazine is a weekly magazine with an annual "Best of New York" issue with tips on food, nightlife, shopping, home, and health.

Maura Frana, Leigh Mignogna, and Liz Seibert will present Five Conversations on Graphic Design and Creative Writing at the Blunt: Explicit and Graphic Design Criticism Now.

Five Conversations on Graphic Design and Creative Writing is the first publication of the Pratt Institute Press, Graduate Communications Design Department. For more information or to receive a copy of the book, please email .

The designers Stefan Sagmeister (Pratt GradComD Alumnus) and Jessica Walsh are known for their experimental typography and striking visual imagery. Six Things: Sagmeister & Walsh, on view at The Jewish Museum from March 15 through August 4, 2013, marks the first exhibition of their newly minted design firm Sagmeister & Walsh.

On Thursday, May 2 at 6:30pm, Stefan Sagmeister will talk about his recent projects including the exhibition, Six Things: Sagmeister & Walsh.

For the last ten years, Sagmeister has researched the nature of happiness, asking, “Is it possible to train my mind in the same way I can train my body?” In five short films and a sculpture, the studio investigates six things, culled from Sagmeister's diary, that he believes have increased his personal happiness such as: “Now Is Better” and “If I Don’t Ask I Won’t Get.” In addition, intrigued by a recent nationwide survey in which Jews reported the highest levels of well-being of all religious groups, Sagmeister & Walsh are placing a text in the gallery that connects this scientific data to hi

The current exhibit at the Center for Architecture on ‘Broadway 1,000 Steps’ features student work from a Public Project engagement with the Mary Miss studio, Spring 2012. This studio class explored how visual thinking and design can engage and activate participation in building cities that respond to environmental challenges.

The exhibit includes projects from the following students: Lisa Marie Anastasio, Maria Barreix, Elisabetta DiStefano, Heba Elmasry, Janice Rudan, Lindsay Taylor, and Radhika Unnikrishnan. Learn more about the work produced in this class here.

More info about the exhibit here. Show runs until April 10, 2013.

The idea to launch Destination PSP came about four years ago when Jeffrey Bernstein and Oscar Chamudes moved to Palm Springs but had a tough time finding just the right souvenir to send to their families.

Full article here.

“So we said, ‘Why don’t we just make it?’ ” recalled Bernstein, who along with Chamudes, Clark Bason and Mark Esposito started the Palm Springs-based company a little more than a year ago.

“The idea was to create products such as souvenirs and collectibles inspired by the Palm Springs lifestyle,” Bernstein said.

FREE SCHOOL is a full day of free art and design classes open to the public, and taught by young, talented designers in the field of Graphic Design. Designed as an outreach event to the community, the classes are unique and quirky, offering fresh perspectives on design that might be hard to get in a typical classroom environment. Ever thought about Design and Science Fiction, or Design and Upcycling? When was the last time you practiced your hand lettering skills? Free School is a chance to challenge your thoughts about design and hone your critical thinking skills, while giving recent graduates a special opportunity to teach.

Saturday April 6, 2013

We encourage others from the Pratt Community and those from the larger New York art and design community to attend. Classes are open to everyone and designed to be beneficial for all.

Sign up and more info - http://prattfreeschool.com/