risd e-views

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07.22.08 | issue #40

countdown to risd by design

We may be entering the dog days of summer, but RISD's Alumni Relations + Special Events staff are in the thick of planning for this fall's RISD by Design weekend, which promises to be the best yet. So, why not return to campus from Friday, October 10 through Sunday, the 12th to celebrate your reunion and the arrival of our new president, John Maeda? For more on the weekend, check out this fun video featuring Christina Hartley '74 IL, director of Alumni Relations, and Rusty Dogg.

risd's own presidential inauguration

For the first time in 14 years, RISD is holding a presidential inauguration — and you're invited. Please join us on Friday, September 12, when John Maeda will be formally welcomed as our 16th president. Keynote speakers Nicholas Negroponte, cofounder of the MIT Media Lab and founder of the One Laptop per Child program, and Paola Antonelli, curator of MoMA's Architecture and Design Department, will address those in attendance at the 5:30pm inauguration ceremony in the First Baptist Church (75 North Main Street). The more formal part of the program will be followed by a festive block party and campus celebration from 7-9pm at Market Square.

teen scene videos @risd

Hundreds of Pre-College students are testing the art school waters this summer. Hear from some recent participants in these student videos.

from alumni relations

Now that RISD's intranet is geared entirely towards the on-campus community and is password-protected, alumni are encouraged to bookmark our.risd.edu to keep up with general news and information about RISD and its community. Several areas of particular interest to alumni on risd.edu have simultaneously been upgraded, including the alumni directory section, which now offers an improved user-interface. Once you log in, you can search for fellow alumni, update your own contact information and establish a RISD-specific e-mail account, if you'd like.

Because of the above-mentioned change to a password-protected intranet, RISD's Career Services Office has relocated its vast online resources to risd.edu. Just go to www.risd.edu/careers to find information about alumni sales, fellowships, grant opportunities, career programs and much more!

look around

Seen Kung Fu Panda yet? Michael Riley '91 GD, principal and creative director of Shine in Los Angeles, created the snazzy main title sequence. In case you're doubting just how much fun he has at work, he has also directed and designed trailers for Spiderman and Men in Black and title sequences for Rent, Traitor and Mad Money, among others.

Then, of course, there's the "magnificent," "hilarious" WALL-E from Pixar. As director of photography for the animated hit, Jeremy Lasky '97 FAV says he and his team studied the camera angles and focus fellow alum Gus Van Sant '75 FAV uses in many of his live action films to help make WALL-E "feel like a photographed event instead of a cartoon."

Aaron Tang '02 ID is one of 14 designers featured on the PBS series Everyday Edisons, which tracks the creative process behind a specific product by each of the featured "inventors." For photos of Aaron's product, go to his blog, and click here to find air dates for the show in your area.

Iranian-American artist Farsad Labbauf BID '87 recently talked about his work on Radio Tahrir, an Arab-focused show that airs on New York's WBAI FM station. "One of the things that is very important to me in my portraits is that they not only describe a face, but a philosophy," he begins. Click here to listen to the full interview.

on campus

For the second summer running, RISD is hosting a group of talented students from Argentina, Finland, Jordan, Kenya, Korea and the US for the Fusion Arts Exchange, a program focused on the role of digital media in global culture and developed by the US Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

A trip to Tanzania last summer inspired Laura Sussman '08 IA to team up with Elliott Olson BArch '09 to design a new eco-sensitive dining hall for a village secondary school at the request of the school's headmaster. Click here for details.

RISD's 2008 undergraduate and graduate admissions catalogues, produced by the Communications + Design Division, have each won awards. Designed by the alumni-run firm Gilbert Design, the undergrad catalogue earned the Mohawk Windpower Partnership Award for sustainable design, while the grad admissions catalogue designed by Isaac Gertman MFA '07 GD has been selected for inclusion in 365: AIGA Annual Design Competitions 29, the American Institute of Graphic Arts' national competition. Check our.risd.edu for more information.

e-views is produced by RISD's Division of Communications + Design and is e-mailed to readers monthly. Questions? Comments? Send a message to risdviews@risd.edu. Alumni with other questions should contact Director of Alumni Relations Christina Hartley '74 IL or call 401 454-6794. If you would like to receive e-views at a different e-mail address, please update your information here.

(C) 2008 Rhode Island School of Design

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