Celebratory moments from the 25th Anniversary party. Three Cheers for MFAD!
The atmosphere at the 25th Anniversary party at was filled with a sense of goodwill and excitement as old friends reunited and reminisced about the past. The bar was fully stocked and the food kept coming. As the night went on, the DJ played a mix of hits that made the dance floor come alive. It was a celebration of not only the past 25 years but also of the future of the Design department, and everyone left feeling grateful for the memories and friendships that had been created over the years. Many thanks to Pentagram for being gracious hosts, and to the all the students over the years that brought us to this moment.
Providing a comprehensive look at the department's history, accomplishments, and contributions, this commemorative book highlights the department's growth and development over the past 25 years, featuring current and former faculty members, staff, and students. It also showcases the department's innovative design projects, research, and collaborations with industry partners. Under the direction of Tim Cohan, this book captures the essence of the department's culture and its impact on the design community. It serves as a testament to the creativity, hard work, and dedication of the design department, inspiring future generations of designers to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Alumni can request a copy: mfadesign@sva.edu
In honor of the 25th Anniversary of MFA Design, alumna Claudia Atencia Linares (MFAD 01) has generously donated $2500 to be awarded for an outstanding 2023 Venture. The winner will be announced during the final week of classes. We are grateful to Claudia for her continued commitment to the program and its community.
Jennifer and Bobby spoke to the MFAD students to finish the Milton Glaser Spring Lecture Series. When you put a group of designers-in-formation in front of the people behind the development of brands and experiences at MTV, WNBA, the Hillary Clinton Campaign, Apple and even our own MFA Design program, you get a room full of people with their jaws on the ground asking for a napkin.
I BUILT A NETWORK IN MY TWO YEARS AT SVA THAT LASTED ALL MY CAREER. Tarek runs the studio, Tarek Atrissi Design, with offices in Barcelona (Spain) and an office in The Netherlands, focusing on branding and cross-cultural communication. He stopped by to give a lecture to the second year students.
SVA MFA DESIGN AS AUTHOR/ENTREPRENEUR TAUGHT ME TO BRING MY PERSONALITY AND THOUGHTS INTO MY DESIGN WORK. Currently, Jeffrey is a designer at The National Institutes of Health, as well as running his studio Rockets are Red where the focus is on designing and illustrating concert posters for bands big and small.
THANKS TO THE PROGRAM, I'VE GAINED THE ABILITY TO CREATIVELY GUIDE MY TEAM AND APPLY 360 DESIGN THINKING TO THE PROJECTS I WORK ON. Jessica is working at AKQA Tokyo as a Creative Director and Art Director. Full Interview here.
THE PROGRAM HELPED ME TO ACCELERATE MY LEARNING AND MY CAREER. Sebastian is a professor of design at Northeastern University, and runs a design studio named Nahi, meaning We in Apache with co-founder Reilly Martin. Full interview here
ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PIECES OF ADVICE I GOT AT THE STUDIO IS SOMETHING I STILL TRY TO APPLY TO MY WORK. IT IS TO 'KILL YOUR DARLINGS'. Mira is currently an Associate Partner at Pentagram New York (team Oberman), where her focus and area of interest is brand identity design. Full interview here
An SVA team from Alumni Affairs was in San Francisco, CA on February 23rd, including MFA Design’s Director of Operations, Veronika Golova who brought together some of our West Coast designers in celebration of our 25th Anniversary. There was a dinner followed by bowling at Lucky Strike. A few of the attendees had never met before, so new connections, networks, and future collaborations are in the air. These superstars are working on exciting projects and improving the world as we know it. Included were: Mary Swenson ‘00 (Creative Director, Brand Consulting, Grafish Designs), Lara Mccormick ‘07 (Service Designer, Square), Diana Haj Ahmad ‘14 (Senior Design Lead, IDEO.org), Bobby C. Martin ‘03 (Design, Apple), Julia Marsh ‘19 (Co-Founder & CEO, Sway), Masood Bukhari ’07 (Design Lead, Unagi Inc.)
SVA HELPED ME OPEN UP THE PATHWAYS TO MY CAREER. Currently Al-Ghadban is an Art Director at Apple, working on the Books app. She also continues to work on collage-work be it commissioned illustrations or book covers, exhibition-work, or various personal projects. Full interview here
MFA Design is celebrating 25 years, so we gathered some alumni for a Valentine’s Day brunch. Yifat Anzelevich ‘02, Deborah Adler ‘02, Laura Gunther ‘03, Rohan Rege ‘21, Wiebke Meyer-Lüters ‘23, Doga Bircan ‘24, Nigel Sielegar ‘09, Alex Cho ’00, and Juan Diego Soto ‘06 got together with Lita Talarico and Veronika Golova to catch up and connect. The group spans the full 25 years of MFA Design graduates and many of them were meeting for the first time. Yifat Anzelevich was visiting from Israel and it quickly became apparent how global the MFA Design family is. Around the table, we represented Israel, India, Germany, Turkey, Indonesia, China, Venezuela, Canada, and the Czech Republic. Turns out that the world is small and we have much in common. Some of them live in the same New York neighborhoods and never knew it, and some of their children even attend the same school! It was a triumph in forging bridges across 25 years and bringing the community together. For the latest news coming from SVA MFAD, visit our Instagram @svamfadesign
"WHEN I GRADUATED FROM MFA DESIGN, I WAS BITTEN BY THE BUG TO BE A DESIGNER AS AUTHOR." Barel is currently the branding and art director at MetaTope, a web3 tech and entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles. Full Interview
"I BELIEVE THE PROGRAM AND GREAT INSTRUCTORS HELPED ME KEEP THINKING DEEPER." Cho currently works on healthcare brands for Havas Health Plus. Full Interview
"SVA MFA DESIGN OPENED COUNTLESS DOORS FOR ME." Last May I decided to pursue my own design practice: SSPROCKETT. I’ve been able to take on more strategic product work, more academic research, and exchange more design services with local queer businesses and non-profits–rather than focusing on profits! Full Interview
"I LOVE FINDING OPPORTUNITIES TO COLLABORATE WITH MY FORMER CLASSMATES." Alumna, Julia Marsh raised $2.5 million for Sway, her exploration into seaweed-based multi-use plastics that was introduced at Venture 19. Congratulations on the next step in an exciting journey. Full Interview
She is the former Creative Director of HuffPost Highline and Design Director of Mary Review, and is currently an ACD at Google Creative Lab. After the MFA Design program (Class of 2014) Donica lived in New York and Portland but recently relocated to Seattle. Her spare time is split between road trips, hikes and spoiling her dog, Billie. Interview
Laura Gunther and Sam Eckersley from the 10th Anniversary Decadance event in 2008.
"DON'T LET AMBITIOUS IDEAS SCARE YOU." Albert Pereta (class of 2012) is the Executive Creative Director of Product Design and Head of Design at TwoTwenty at Pinterest after his own startup, Icebergs, which was also his senior project at SVA, was acquired by Pinterest. Portfolio: albertpereta.com Full Interview
Scott Suiter, Gustavo Garcia, Nigel Sielegar, and Kimiyo Nakatsui from the class of 2009, at a book publishing event for Steve Heller.
"MFA DESIGN REALLY SET ME UP FOR MY CAREER." Currently, Truong works at Slalom doing some user experience consulting for Delta Airlines. Previously, he worked as a visual designer at Google, specifically at Google Cloud, and then at Product Design for Android. Full Interview
