News

Eric Avar ’90 (industrial design), Nike’s vice president and creative guide of innovation design, has been selected as a 2021 commencement speaker on May 14 and 15. Avar, who was honored with the College of Art and Design Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016, joins Andrea Ghez—a 2020 Nobel Prize winner in physics—as the university’s first-ever dual commencement speakers during a two-day celebration of the Class of 2021.

Beginning with next week’s inaugural lecture on Sept. 16, the Vignelli Center’s Design Conversations Lecture Series presented by Design Milk will feature a wide variety of diverse designers whose compelling work has made important impacts on the design world.

For Metaproject 11, senior industrial design students will spend the semester designing products for Staach, which focuses on functional sustainable design. Founded by Seth Eshelman '06 (industrial design/graphic design), the company designs and domestically manufactures sustainable products including furniture, interiors, and built structures.

Josh Owen, an internationally renowned designer, author and faculty-researcher who has led RIT’s industrial design program to national prominence since coming to the university a decade ago, has been named the new director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies and the Massimo and Lella Vignelli Distinguished Professor of Design.

Massimo Vignelli and Josh Owen share a look at a student's design in this archived photo.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 28: Since 2010, Metaproject has paired RIT student designers with a client in what has become a signature project for the university’s internationally-ranked industrial design program. Distinguished professor Josh Owen, director of RIT’s industrial design program and founder of Metaproject, talks with distinguished professor Roger Remington, director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies, about a decade of connecting students to industry.

RIT’s Metaproject is coming full circle. Since 2010, Metaproject has paired RIT student designers with a client partner in what has become a seminal project for the university’s nationally ranked industrial design program. This year’s project is honoring both the 10th anniversary of Metaproject and RIT’s Vignelli Center for Design Studies.

Design Milk features the latest Metaproject challenge results.

Students, faculty, staff and alumni from RIT’s College of Art and Design descended on Manhattan last week for NYCxDesign—New York City’s annual celebration of design that attracts hundreds of thousands from across the globe—that included a memorable celebration on the iconic Sesame Street.

Metaproject 09 is brought to you by the Sesame Workshop and the letters R, I and T. Industrial design students learned today that they will spend the semester designing products for the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street.