Elizabeth Vereker MFA Thesis
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The design industry has undergone radical change in the past few years. Now, it’s time for that same change to take place in the organizations that support it. 1 
In the current model, designers are supported by a variety of discipline-specific organizations. This model has three weaknesses.
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The design industry is continually evolving, blurring the boundaries between old disciplines and creating new ones. Designers have diversified their skills and adopted new technologies, yet the groups that support them have remained stagnant.
Resources are only as useful as one’s access to them. The everincreasing fragmentation of information—both physical and digital— prohibits access and utilization.
The visibility of design has risen greatly in the last few years. Businesses have begun to harness the power of creative problem solving and understand design as a differentiator. Despite this, there is still a lack of visibility—to both designers and the design process—that negatively affects the publics understanding of and support for design.
Siloed disciplines
Fragmented resources
Lack of visibility
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Form, a new design organization, will address these shortcomings. It starts with connecting the disconnected.
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Present
Future
Professional organizations operate in relative seclusion of one another. They are supported by national chapters and endowments, sharing neither resources nor programming.
Form is an umbrella organization, providing support for individual groups on both national and local levels. Connecting the groups allows the organizations to leverage shared resources, increasing the value they provide to their members.
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Form doesn’t stop with linking designers. Its programming and initiatives aim strengthen the bonds between designers, allied professionals, and local citizens.
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Designers and students
Allied professionals
Community members
Design students and practitioners are the core of Form. Whether they are independent or part of a larger firm, Form strives to provide designers with the resources, inspiration, and contacts needed to produce their best work.
Part of what separates Form from other organizations is their outreach to, and inclusion of, allied professionals. Engineers, artisans, manufacturers, vendors, and consultants are encouraged to take an active role in the Form community.
In addition supporting designers, Form aims to advance the profession as a whole. By educating community members about design processes, advocating user focused design, and fostering interaction between designers and the community, Form hopes to promote a thriving design culture.
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Once the groups are aligned, they need two things to flourish: a connected community, and a clear voice.
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Connecting the design community
Giving design a clear voice
Connecting people isn’t enough. In order to build a true community you need to build a network of support. Through both a brick and mortar design center and a digital platform, Form will forge relationships between designers, allied professionals, and community members.
In order to for it to grow and thrive, a community needs a voice. Form provides that voice for the design community through a bold, flexible communications system and member-supported publishing house.
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01 Design Center 02 Discovery Portal
Connecting the Design Community
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01 Design Center
The design center has been developed as a kit-of-parts, allowing it to adapt to various locations. Design principles govern the space, ensuring each program element contributes to the overarching mission.
Each Form center will: Use space as a catalyst for collaboration Spark creativity through interactive displays Support program variety through modular design and crowd-sourced exhibits Accommodate a variety of needs by embedding private spaces within public areas Challenge perceptions by using ordinary materials in unexpected ways Promote education though self discovery
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Programming studies
Adjacency studies
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What would you like to see in future exhibits?
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01 Jeremy Fish 02 Martha Cooper 03 Biomimicry 04 Maybeck: A Retrospective 05 Apple Design
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02 Discovery Portal
Form is a portal to discovery, linking designers to local resources and global inspiration. Form’s digital presence was designed to provide limitless access to design resources.
Form’s digital resources: Form Events: Links to design events D-Link: Locates nearby resources Education Portal: Connects to design schools, workshops, reference materials, and study groups Inspiration Portal: Inspires with visual libraries, videos, and interactive mood boards Form Collaboration: Provides mentor matching, real-time pin-up space, and screen sharing Town Hall: Engages users in active design dialogue
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D-Link mobile
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01 Identity System 02 Publications
Giving Design a Clear Voice
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01 Identity System
The flexible, dynamic identity system provides continuity while allowing for local customization. Like the design center, the identity system has a kit-ofparts approach. Users can create customized expressions across a variety of formats.
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Elements of the system: Logo Cornerstone logo Triangulations Typography Color palette Photography Information design
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Systems approach
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Cornerstone logo
Typography
Triangulations
Photography Color palette Business system 24 
Elizabeth Vereker Design Director 513-255-3075 evereker@formsf.com www.formsf.com 2 Stockton Street San Francisco California, 94108
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Collages
02 Publications
Print publications educate, inspire, and reinforce Form’s mission.
Form’s publishing house produces Form@ Magazine, Pocket Guide series, event communications, and limited run artists editions.
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Print materials Pocket Guides Form@ Magazine Event Series Member Communications
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Annotation Form@ Magazine
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Form@ Magazine
Educational programs and professional development across the field of design are becoming more specialized which in retrospect is hurting the industry. FORM embraces design as a methodology, a thought process, and a communication device; embracing the technical and conceptual teachings of all disciplines as a means to a more open and integrated design future. a b c d
Form is based on the principals of radical collaboration, transparency, and bias towards action. By means of the built design center, the central web presence, and an aggressive calendar of programs, Form will rejuvenate the San Francisco design communit y, making the transition from a communit y of obser vations to a communit y of interactions. Form is dedicated to fulfilling each of the following objectives as it strives to promote a more active design community.
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ENGINEERING
URBAN DESIGN
INTERIOR DESIGN LANDSCAPE DESIGN
INTERACTIVE DESIGN
2D
FASHION DESIGN
FINE ART
Event Series 30 
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
3D GRAPHIC DESIGN
Form aims to encourage the enthusiasm that designers have for experimentation rather than deter it. Form aims to encourage the enthusiasm that designers have for ex p eriment ation ra t he r t han d e t e r it. Fo rm aims t o encoura ge t he ent husiasm t ha t d e signe rs ha ve f o r experimentation rather than deter it.
ARCHITECTURE
Form embodies a visionar y approach to design, we are not limited by discipline or title, but instead strive to broker relationships & promote projects that reach across all genres of design.
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Pocket Guides
Form is an MFA thesis project by Elizabeth Vereker. It was completed in School of Graphic Design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit elizabethvereker.com.
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San Francisco is a community of world class designers. It’s time San Francisco became a world class design community. It starts with Form.
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elizabethvereker.com