::] Graduation Exercises ][ YEY [::

On May 9th 2009, NC State University’s College of Design carried out its graduation exercises. The event recognized undergraduates, graduates and PhDs who successfully met the degree requirements in one the disciplines of Architecture, Art and Design, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, and Landscape Architecture.

As part of the event’s protocol, students were individually called onto the stage to receive a diploma from Dean Marvin Malecha, FAIA, and each of the department chairs. In the case of the Graphic Design Department, Santiago Piedrafita was there to give us an official hug.

When each student is called, a photograph is projected on a screen in the stage, and as you can expect, the master of graphic design graduates came together and agreed on a template*:

Thanks to Sidney Fritts and Cady Bean-Smith for having the initiative for these colored-sunglasses images. Without them, we would not have been able to pull this off.

Thank you Rebecca Tegtmeyer, Marty Maxwell Lane and Kelly Murdoch-Kitt, it was a good run!

* It is also important to share that the undergraduates in graphic design also came together and created their own little system for the graduation slideshow. They made 3-D images of themselves and handed out red/green glasses to the audience. Pretty cool.

::] Graphic Design Department Book Award [::

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At the end of every spring semester the College of Design hosts a Student Awards Ceremony for the current graduating class. This is an opportunity for each of the departments to hand out a series of awards to both graduate and undergraduate students.

The graphic design department has traditionally handed out the Book Award. The basic idea is that a faculty member in the program awards a student with a book that will be of benefit in life after graduate school. This year, I shared the graduate book award with Rebecca Tegtmeyer and Marty Lane. Each of us was awarded a different book by a faculty member… I was given The Design Dictionary: Perspectives on Design Terminology (Board of International Research in Design). :)

::] Wings on Wings Recipient [::

During the graduation ceremony of the College of Design I was awarded with one of the three Wings on Wings Dean’s recognitions. Better than explaining what it was all about, I have included the original text as read by the College’s Dean, Marvin Malecha, FAIA:

On occasion there are individuals who stand out among the graduating class for outstanding citizenship in the College community and academic excellence. For this reason I have established the Dean’s Award known as Wings on Wings. It is inspired by the constructivist painting of Natalia Goncherova depicting the Archangel Michael, the good citizen angel, astride Pegasus, the ancient symbol for opportunity. It is a fitting symbol to recognize individuals who have taken advantage of the opportunity that the College presents and acted as a good citizen.

It is the practice of the College that nominations come to me from the academic units and since it is the dean’s award I make the final choice. There have been ceremonies when no award is made, very infrequent thankfully, but our usual custom is one, maybe two recognitions. Perhaps I am becoming soft this year because I could not make one, or even two choices. I have chosen to recognize three outstanding individuals from our graduating class. This is a reflection of just how good our students are!

The third recipient is graduating with a Master of Graphic Design, Mr. Alberto Rigau. In the nomination Professor Denise Gonzales Crisp observes, “Alberto has been a tireless contributor to the design community as a T.A., a teacher at the College Design Camp Program for aspiring design students, as a designer for the Student Publication and for the University undergraduate information publication The Brick. His enthusiasm is responsible for new curricular ideas in the Graphic Design Program. He was a student leader in 2007 for the Graduate Graphic Design Symposium, Option-Shift-Control. He has consistently had papers accepted at professional conferences around the nation. Most recently, he has won the first prize at the NC State University Graduate Research Symposium for the Humanities.” Alberto, please come forward to accept your much-deserved recognition.

Thank you Denise for your faith and support!

::] Final Review: the last stage in a rite of passage [::

On May 4th 2009 I carried out the last of three formal presentations related to my Final Project at NC State University’s College of Design. Even though the step is a required component of the academic requirements at the graphic design program, I enjoyed the opportunity to share some of my interests, ideas and research with faculty, students, and other members of the community.

The presentation was a 25 minute summary of the research and work carried out on my final study at the graduate program: Design as Choice Architecture: informing consumers about debt-related behaviors. The following video is a recording of the original May 4th exposition.

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In retrospect, having worked on this final project felt more like a rite of passage than anything else, signaling a transition into a deeper and meaningful design life. I am happy to report that all requirements for graduation were successfully met and I have been granted the degree of Master of Graphic Design. :)

::] Crafting an effective message [::

I recently visited The Bain Project in Raleigh, North Carolina. The thing is, I ended there out of pure luck due to a friend who simply said: I want to stop at “a thing”.

As I arrived on the location all that I could think to myself was: “How did I not know about this earlier? How had nobody told me?”. In retrospect, I did know of the activity. In fact, its promotional poster hung 5 feet from me in my studio for the last 3 weeks of classes.

What went wrong?
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::] The Bain Project [::

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to visit and participate in The Bain Project. This site-specific artistic exploration took place at the historic E. B. Bain Waterworks building in Raleigh, North Carolina.

I have to say this was a special event where quality, organization, people, atmosphere, mood, and setting all came together in a composition worthy of utmost praise.

As part of the event, the E. B. Bain Waterworks building served as canvas to varied musical compositions that engaged the senses and added to the mystery and nostalgia caused by the historic structure.

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In my opinion, the most captivating aspect was its location. Rebecca Tegtmeyer documented our visit there and has shared some of her images here.

::] Today [::