COV E R TO COV E R Fashion Design alumni go on to work for top designers. Those who design together, stay together, and CCS Communication Design alums design across the world together An Advertising Design alum reveals the social value of a social media strategy. Bike-designing Transportation and Product Design alumni break away from the ordinary. A Crafts alumnus shows us the handcrafted ethos behind his company’s award-winning commercial spaces. And all of our alumni show us just how design can leave an impact on the world.
THESE ARE CCS ALUMNI. ONE DAY, YOU WILL BE ONE OF THEM.
COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES offers 11 undergraduate majors and a Visual Arts Teacher Certification program, but as you’ll see, the possibilities are limitless.
Kyle Gracey (’11, Advertising Design), Group Creative Director at VMLY&R in Seattle, Washington, assisted in the creation of a Gatorade campaign that targeted teen athletes. After learning that teens spend a majority of the Big Game on their phones — giving updates to friends on what’s happening — the team tapped into the natural behavior of teens creating, “GIForade.” These meme-inspired GIFs were recreated using some of the most popular NFL players, like Le’Veon Andrew Bell Sr. and T.J. Watt. The campaign was such a success that it achieved more views than the Big Game itself — 118 million, to be exact.
A whole lotta likes
ccs_detroit • Follow
Know your audience. Figure out what connects people to brands, how it fits into their lifestyles and concerns, and do it in a way that feels authentic and fun.
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Bruna Camargo Demonstrates
the Social Value of Social Media BRUNA CAMARGO (’11, Advertising Design) is a boss. While still a student at CCS, she interned for three national ad agencies — BBDO, Campbell Ewald and Leo Burnett — where she learned the inner workings of campaigns for big brands
The thing is, you have to integrate product into social
like OnStar, Chevrolet, GMC and the former Chrysler Group.
media content in a way that isn’t jarring for the audience.
By graduation, Camargo had scored her first professional gig
Ads need to feel like the rest of your feed. For Go Red
with Doner Advertising. But it was at Ignite Social Media, one
for Women, we worked hard on building the “why” and
of the first agencies of its kind, where she learned the nitty-
the “how.” In the case of heart health, we know why, but
gritty of advertising via online platforms. “I was thrown into
we need to convince the client (AHA) of these things.
the deep end of social media strategy: how to write and manage
We did research on the colors people respond to, for
social media channels, the backside, the analytics and, of
example. And we built everything from the ground up,
course, the creative content,” said Camargo.
from strategy to creative. Because of that, more than
Eventually a Senior Content Producer and Social Strategist
80% of the content people see is created far in advance.
at Ignite, Camargo worked on campaigns for Fortune 500 beauty brands and Go Red for Women ® , a social initiative of the American Heart Association (AHA) that raises awareness about the number-one threat to women’s lives and health in the United States: cardiovascular disease. Now at Organic, Inc., Camargo, who has a triple-threat skill set (writing, shooting and designing content), leads social creative for the brands U by Kotex® , Poise and Depend. Here’s a glimpse of Go Red for Women’s #RedDressCollection as well as what it really takes to tweet, snap and pin for a living.
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Bruna Camargo • Follow
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Social media strategy doesn’t have to be connected to traditional advertising campaigns. It can thrive all by itself, even though a social media strategist can’t. Live events like the #RedDressCollection fashion show have a lot of moving parts. You need a plan, spontaneous content creation, and all hands on deck. #teamworkmakesthedreamwork
Bruna Camargo • Follow
Bruna Camargo • Follow
At live events, you run into situations in which, if you’re not prepared for them, things can go really wrong. You have to be prepared enough to handle things but also be on your toes enough to catch spontaneous things when they happen. For the #RedDressCollection fashion show, we built so much excitement. We scoured the Internet and found a vendor who could broadcast the entire thing on Facebook Live with a complete professional setup. Because “live” sounds as if everything can be spontaneous, but how do you maintain the momentum you’ve built? We took a team of people to New York. I was doing “agile” content — photographing and interviewing celebrities who were walking the show — and posting to Instagram and IG Stories. Then we had another team that was stationed at the desk monitoring and responding to everything I was doing as well as posting live. That’s a classic example of how to divide roles and play up people’s strengths. #werk
A LU M N A S H A R E S H E R
was given Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo. The Transportation
E X P E R I E N C E AT CC S,
Design student designed and created a vehicle, the Interior Design
A N D H OW T H E S K I L L S I N
of fashion accessories for the consumer.
T H E ST U D I O FO L LOW E D
skills while receiving feedback from company executives,” she said.
H E R TO T H E I N D U ST RY.
working for design students that mimics the industry itself.”
student created the interior, and Ahmad El-Sayed created a collection “This was a significant way for design students to learn team-building “I think these sponsored projects demonstrate a realistic way of Besides the hands-on real-world experience that sponsored projects provide, personal growth was also stimulated by a thesis project
Normally, a new college program takes some time to
she created.
get off the ground and achieve steady and exceptional
Consumers often think that fashion has no social impact on our lives
success. However, in its infancy, CCS’s Fashion Design
and is just about looking good or staying up to date on trends, and while
program has already hosted multiple corporate-
that matters — it can have a political and social impact, too.
sponsored projects and has sent graduates on to
The importance of showcasing her personal identity within her work
work for brands like Ralph Lauren, Carhartt, Nike
led to her senior thesis project — “Arabesque” — which is a collection that
and Coach. While receiving experience before entering
spoke to the suppressed identities of some Muslim women.
the industry is important, fashion also has a philo-
“This collection felt personal to me because I grew up in an environ-
sophical side that students have the opportunity
ment where most of my life decisions were predetermined, from what
to explore.
I was allowed to wear to what I studied in school,” Ahmad El-Sayed said.
Alumna AMINEH AHMAD EL-SAYED (‘19,
She explored different shape studies and combined them with color
Fashion Design) has worked as a Footwear Designer
and materials to create a new identity for this woman that balances
at Ralph Lauren since graduating. She attributes her
both religion and culture in society.
skills developed at CCS to the success in her career
She is just one of many graduates who have found success after
thus far.
leaving CCS. Others include: Bradley Cannon (‘21, Fashion Design),
“Some of the most important things that I learned
Design Apprentice at Coach; Kayla Donaldson (‘19, Fashion Design),
at CCS are the significance of design critiques, dead-
Global Footwear Color Designer at Nike; Lauren Zampaglione
lines and project presentations,” Ahmad El-Sayed said.
(‘21, Fashion Design), Technical Design Apprentice at Kate Spade;
“It was definitely an environment that allowed for
Ava Kaloustian (‘21, Fashion Design), Footwear Design Apprentice at
personal growth and self-motivation — all of which
Coach; Alore Niemi (‘21, Fashion Design) Junior Designer at Daylight
are necessary for my career.”
Factory; Mariana Sachez (‘20, Fashion Design), Assistant Footwear
Ahmad El-Sayed had the opportunity to work on
Designer at Tory Burch; Hannah Whitefoot (‘19, Fashion Design),
a sponsored project with FCA (now Stellantis) where
Assistant Outerwear Designer at Carhartt; and Evan Sparrow
there was collaboration between Fashion Design,
(‘20, Fashion Design), Designer at Genussee Eyewear.
Transportation Design and Interior Design students.
The vitality of a program can only be proven by the success of its
In this project, students were split into teams and
alumni — and in that case, there is no question that CCS Fashion Design
given a specific car brand to work with, and her team
has established itself to be one of the world’s premier programs.
5
LUNAR NORTH Scott Warniak ’10, Communication Design, Creative Director and Partner; Marcus Mullins ’09, Communication Design, Creative Director FORD MOTOR
and Partner; Alex Chopjian,
COMPANY
’16, Communication Design,
Lori Maday ’07,
Motion Graphics Designer;
Communication Design,
Emily Tinklenberg ‘19,
Global Brand Design Lead;
Communication Design,
Misho Milosevski ’16,
Motion Graphics Designer;
Communication Design,
Jake Matauch ’16,
Advanced UX/UI Designer;
Communication Design,
Devyn Ostrand ‘97,
Animator Designer;
Communication Design,
Marisa Cruz ’20,
Ford Performance
Communication Design
SOUTH JUTLAND,
Program Studio Lead
and Sam Pickett ’22,
DENMARK
Communication Design,
LEGO
Summer 2021 Interns
Andrew Sliwinski ’05,
LAFAYETTE AMERICAN
Communication Design,
Meg Jannott ‘12,
THE WORK
Global Head of Product
Communication Design,
DEPARTMENT
Experience; Megan
Head of Design; Asha
Libby Cole ‘04,
Schellenbarger ’09,
Cook ‘20, Communication
Communication Design,
Communication Design,
Design, Designer; Sam
Co-founder + Creative
Senior Creative Manager
Schoeder ‘22, Communi-
Director; Fatema Boxwala
cation Design, Summer
’14, Communication
GLASGOW,
2021 Intern
Design, Designer
SCOTLAND RECTANGLE Dan Powers ’06, Communication Design, Co-Founder + Partner; Josh Krauth-Harding ‘21, Communication Design,
RANGER & FOX
ADOBE DESIGN
CAPACIT Y STUDIOS
Stephen Panicara ’10,
Michael Cragg ’12,
Jennifer and Ellery Gave
Communication Design,
Communication Design,
’00, Communication
Creative Director + Partner
Senior Experience
Design, Partners +
Designer; Alex Poterek,
Co-Founders
IDEO
’12, Communication Design,
Samantha Peacock ‘13,
Senior Experience
Communication Design,
Designer; Will Ruby ’11,
Chuck Carlson ’05,
Design Lead
Communication Design,
Communication Design,
Senior Experience Designer
Creative; John Moon ‘99,
APPLE
Communication Design,
Derek Benvenuti ‘06,
AMAZON
Communication Design,
Shane Herr ‘13,
Senior Art Director
Communication Design, UX Designer
Creative Director
Summer 2020 Intern
AREA 120 BY GOOGLE Chuck Gibson ’04, Communication Design, Senior UX Designer; John Cassidy ’07, Communication Design,
GRAND ARMY
Co-Founder, Designer
Raquel Scoggin ’17, Communication Design,
BLUE CADET
Graphic Designer
Brett Renfer ’08,
CO M M U N I C AT I O N D E S I G N A LU M N I A N D
Communication Design,
AND/OR
Creative Director
Kelli Miller ’00, Communication Design, Co-Founder and Creative
ST U D E N TS CO U L D N ’ T G E T E N O U G H O F
Director; Erica Heathcote
O N E A N OT H E R — A N D N OW T H EY D E S I G N
’21, Communication Design, Motion Designer
A L L OV E R T H E G LO B E TO G E T H E R
VSA PARTNERS Ashley Edwards ‘21, PIVOT
Communication Design,
Heather Kintner ‘01,
Designer
GOOGLE Eric Croskey ‘13,
AMAZON
Design Director;
OK AY T YPE
Communication Design,
Kai-Ling S. Law ‘02,
Chris Raimond ‘15,
FOUNDRY
Senior Designer,
Communication Design,
Communication Design,
Jackson Cavanaugh ‘05,
Design Lead
UX Design Lead; Ted Hoot
Associate Digital
Communication Design,
Design Director
Founder
Communication Design,
‘95, Communication MICROSOFT
Design, Senior UX
Christina Ergonis ‘05,
Designer; Ken Disbennett
SPAN
ONE DESIGN
Communication Design,
‘08, Communication
Leah Wendzinski ‘17,
COMPANY
Senior Product Designer
Design, Principal
Communication Design,
Stacey Donaldson ‘12,
Graphic Designer;
Communication Design,
Marie Patton ‘22,
Associate Creative
Communication Design,
Director
Summer Intern
UX Designer
JEREMY LEVITT OF PA RTS A N D L A B O R D E S I G N S H OWS H OW
HIDDEN WORKSPACE
H E C U STO M C R A F TS CO M M E R C I A L D E S I G N . “If I’m designing a chair or a table or a restaurant, it needs to function, and it needs to function well,” said furniture and lighting designer JEREMY LEVITT (’03, Industrial Design/Craft & Material Studies), recalling his days as a student at CCS.
Opposite page (The Grey): Chandelier: Satin nickel frame, powder-coated low iron plate glass and milkwhite hand-blown shades by Axiom Glass, Andrew Madvin ‘00, Craft & Material Studies.
“As artistic as a lot of the furniture and lighting was that we were doing, in the end, it still had to stand and to light up and to not catch fire.” For the last decade, Levitt, Co-Founder of Parts and Labor Design in New York City, has pushed the boundaries of this ethic, creating highly customized commercial, hospitality and retail spaces that emphasize handcrafting and function. The firm has designed stunning, award-winning interiors across the country and internationally, including Savannah’s The Grey;
This page (Pacific Standard Time): Custom Light Fixture: Fabricated with solid natural walnut, burnished brass and slip-cast ceramic shades.
Nashville’s Thompson Hotel; Atera Restaurant in New York; and Chicago’s Pacific Standard Time, which won a 2019 James Beard Award for Best Restaurant Design. Whether it’s a boutique hotel or an edgy new eatery, the firm’s work stands out for its many handcrafted details, and Levitt’s own designs for custom furniture and lighting can be found
Dining Tables: 3/8” creamcolored square tile and epoxy grout, and a walnut border with brass base.
in most of the interiors. Levitt started a custom furniture company while he was still a student at CCS, and this passion for interdisciplinary design led him to create his own major, a precursor to what is now Product Design. Parts and Labor Design boasts a considerable
Seating Banquettes: Moore & Giles blue leather.
reputation in a crowded commercial interiors market, which Levitt credits to his partnership with Andrew Cohen (whose own background is in architecture) and the team they’ve built. “Andrew and I are like yin and yang, and it works very nicely,” Levitt explained. “But with the knowledge that we’ve gained, we understand very clearly how we can apply all of this to construction — things that can be utilized in a contact environment, that are easily repaired and that stand the test of time.”
Column Shelves and Lights: Shelves are made of solid walnut; lights are cast glass and brass with live plantings (cast glass is fabricated by Axiom Glass, Andrew Madvin ‘00, Craft & Material Studies).
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CEO and Creative Director
“All the creativity
FERNANDO DEL ROSARIO
and designs were given
(’96, Communication Design) of
away to help generate
Concept Zombie developed Creative Aid. Since March 2020, Creative Aid has provided original content, free of charge, for more than 32 businesses and organizations that were facing difficulties from the COVID-19 pandemic.
connections, momentum, conversations and revenue to get us all through this difficult time.”
C R E AT I V I T Y M A K ES A B E T T E R WO R L D A LU M N I M A K E T H E WO R L D A B E T T E R P L AC E T H R O U G H T H E A RT O F D E S I G N Join us in Fall 2022 and start making change. Make great art and design. Here.
BRYAN THOMPSON
Executive Director, Global Industrial
(’00, Transportation Design)
Design at General Motors, CRYSTAL
created the “To Shine Through”
WINDHAM (’94, Transportation Design)
project to raise awareness about
led the creative interior team on the new
domestic violence within the
all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ. This vehicle
LGBTQ community. The project
will debut in 2022 playing a role in GM’s
features a series of portraits
efforts to go all electric by 2035 to reduce
shot to illuminate those who
the world’s carbon footprint.
have emerged from the darkness of an abusive relationship, who can now SHINE their light.
Alumna NOELIA JEREZ (’21, Photography) won a Silver Creative Conscience Award in Film and Photography for her contemporary installation that collected data from all over the world. Through individual portraits, Polaroids, a virtual exhibit and live map, she created a community of stories displaying how the year 2020 had impacted peoples’ lives.
Product Design alumni CONNOR RIEGLE, BAILEY BOYD, ANDREW LARK (‘17), and MATTHEW MCPHAIL (‘09) work as designers for the football, helmet, gear and apparel brand — Xenith. This Detroit-based company debuted Xenith Shadow — a five-star-rated helmet featuring an
ASHLEY COMEAUX (’10, Product Design), Senior Director of Product
industry-first novel polymer shell and adaptive
Design and DENNICE QUIJANO (‘15, Product Design), Senior Product
fit technology, part of a patented shock matrix
Designer of Footwear at Allbirds, create products by replacing petroleum-based
that moves independently of the shell. Xenith
materials with natural ones, including wool, trees, sugar and Trino . Their designs,
puts the safety, performance and comfort of
like the Allbirds x Bráulio Amado Tree Dasher (shown above) help propel longer-
athletes first — from youth to pros — during
term climate goals for Allbirds to operate as a carbon-neutral business.
every step of the design and engineering
Photography courtesy of Allbirds.
process.
®.
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COVER ARTWORK Greg Jackson (‘12, Product Design), designed the Tanker Hat. The hat was developed as a study in sun protection and takes cues from fishing and 1940s military helmets. It is fabricated using upcycled military-grade parachute and then dyed by hand. Photograph courtesy of Faisal Mohammed, ReviveTheCool.
The College for Creative Studies is a nonprofit, private college authorized by the Michigan Education Department to grant bachelor’s and master’s degrees. CCS is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Documents regarding accreditation are available in the Executive Office upon formal request. The College for Creative Studies subscribes to the principle of equal opportunity in its employment, admissions, educational practices, scholarship and loan programs, and other schooladministered programs, and strives to provide an educational environment and workplace free from unlawful harassment or discrimination. Discrimination, including harassment, because of age, race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, physical attributes, marital or familial status, disability or any other characteristic protected by law is strictly prohibited.