Once again, our Graphic + Media Design Department has been named one of the top in the country by Graphic Design: USA. The publication compiled a list of institutions which they feel prepare students to work in the design profession. They selected schools were chosen based on a mix of objective and subjective factors, including Graphic Design: USA's decades-long relationships with designers, students, educators, recruiters.
According to GD:USA, "Education is more important than ever as the lines between the studio and the classroom, the office and the academy, the university and society, continue to blur."
We're proud to announce our selection as a Top Design School and to be listed with schools such as Auburn University, Carnegie Mellon, Cranbrook, Maryland Institute College of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, and School of Visual Arts.
December 14, 2016 — Comments are off for this post.
Steamroller Print Day 2016
This past weekend, Sage held our first ever Steamroller Print Day. Our students created giant woodblock plates and pressed prints under the weight of a steamroller.
Congratulations to all the students who made amazing prints, each one of which represented weeks and weeks of planning and carving. Their energy and enthusiasm made the event a success, and we're looking forward to hosting an even bigger event in April 2017!
Big thanks everyone involved in planning this unique Art + Extended Media experience, especially Mindy McDaniel, Chris Lisio, and Mike from maintenance who dedicated his Saturday to driving the steamroller for us.
Boards are already being reserved by local High Schools for our upcoming April 2017 event, but we still have some available. If you are a local school and would like to get involved, please contact us to secure a spot.
November 7, 2016 — Comments are off for this post.
Fire Night 2016!
Our Fire Night Event was a celebration on October 30th of the centuries old tradition and ritual burning of spiritual effigies on the night before Halloween. As a component of The Sage Colleges Art + Extended Media’s new curriculum, the students in the 3D Topics course in Destruction constructed wooden sculptures to burn in a ceremony meant to cleanse the past and shed warmth and light on the future. This event served as both an enlightening act of creative public expression and as an opportunity for an expansion of public fire safety and awareness!
Fire Night with the Art + Design Department at Sage College of Albany from Sage College of Albany on Vimeo.
By utilizing the simple creative power of fire to make original works of art, Sage students generated a new art experience, expanding their understanding and respect for fire and the proper way to handle it. Fire has been lost from the modern human experience, and the simplicity of this fact made this event so poignant and effective. This public ceremony showcased the Department of Art + Design’s dedication to expanding the definition of Fine Arts education in the contemporary academic setting.
William Fillmore, the new Assistant Professor in Art + Extended Media collaboratively managed the creative logistics of Fire Night. He has 12 years of experience in public fire oriented performances utilizing iron, bronze, and aluminum casting as well as public wood fire kiln firings and sculpture burning. A huge thank you to The Albany City Fire Department for their collaboration and insights and the participation of The Sage Colleges Office of Facilities and Planning. The collaborative management of this event ensured that every precaution was taken and that all variables were considered. Finally, thank you to the students for your uniquely expressive sculptures and statements!
February 5, 2016 — Comments are off for this post.
Sage Named One Of 2016's Top Design Schools
We're proud to report that Graphic Design USA has just named Sage to its annual list of Top Design Schools, one of only thirty-seven schools across the nation to be so honored.
September 26, 2014 — Comments are off for this post.
Interior Design Students Collaborate with Opalka Gallery on Design of Upcoming Exhibition
When “From Concept to Console: Art and Aesthetics in Video Game Design” opens this coming spring in the Opalka Gallery, the exhibition will feel familiar to some of the students in Sage’s Interior Design program. That’s because last semester Assistant Professor Janice Medina’s Contract II class worked on an exhibition design project for Opalka Gallery Director, Elizabeth Greenberg. The collaboration marks the first time that interior design students will witness aspects of their design work used by the Opalka Gallery while they are undergraduates at Sage.
The project was completed during the students’ junior level Contract II course. In this advanced design studio, students explore the process of space planning and design as it relates to complex interior environments. The Spring 2014 semester was especially exciting as students worked on two projects for actual clients. Presentations to the clients provided students with the opportunity to gain valuable client feedback. For the Opalka Gallery project, students benefitted from the close proximity to their client. They were able to have several meetings with Greenberg as the project progressed and visited the gallery on multiple occasions.
Students worked as a group of four and were responsible for making their own decisions regarding the division of work assignments and the deliverables produced for the client. As student Lacy O’Brien ‘15 points out, “This was the first project where our whole class got to work together as a team; it was great to see how our individual skill sets and knowledge gained over our time here could be brought together in a unified and cohesive design for the gallery."
By the spring semester of their junior year, interior design students have proficiency in a wide variety of software programs and applications. Many current design technologies were utilized for this project. In addition to conceptual development, students needed to figure out how to accurately model the gallery space. To begin, students site measured the entire Opalka Gallery and then drafted scaled floor plans and elevations in AutoCAD. Information from AutoCAD drawings was used with the laser cutter to create walls for the physical model. The model was constructed from a variety of paperboard products. Additionally, the students created realistic perspective views using SketchUp, Photoshop, and various lighting plug-ins. The final model and renderings helped the client to visualize the project.
The students also made use of the laser cutter when creating mock-ups for framing options. Students designed three options for framing and Greenberg, as client, selected her preferred method; a system utilizing two sheets of plexiglas with artwork sandwiched between them and held in place with anodized aluminum standoffs.
Work on this project is ongoing, with class member Jessica Dorsett ’15 spending her work study hours in the Opalka Gallery this semester. Jessica is further developing a series of plexiglass “pixels” - hanging boxes to be suspended in the gallery space for the duration of the exhibition. To figure out the best method for constructing these boxes, Jessica is researching adhesive products and testing different methods of cutting the plexiglass.
This type of inter-disciplinary project is essential as our design students move into a world where they will be required to design for a variety of clients, such as healthcare providers, educators, retailers, and more, while working alongside architects, lighting specialists, engineers, and other professionals. As student Lacy O’Brien states, “We were really proud to be able to provide solutions for real-life design problems, especially specific to our school. We felt like we were giving back”.
July 24, 2014 — Comments are off for this post.
Sage's Art + Design Technology Center Fueling Inspiration and Collaboration
[paragraph]The new Art + Design Technology Center at Sage College of Albany combines a Mac lab with heavy equipment like a MakerBot 3-D printer, laser-cutter and large format printers.[/paragraph]
[paragraph]“Just thinking in 3-D has me working differently in animation,” said Ben Exterkamp ’14, who – after experimenting with the MakerBot and open-source software that support 3-D design – presented to several Graphic + Media Design classes about using the resources in the Technology Center for personal and class assignments.[/paragraph]
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Ben Exterkamp ’14 used the Art + Design Technology Center’s MakerBot and open-source software to create heads inspired by artist Chuck Close’s large scale portraits. Exterkamp then used the heads in an animation featured in the 10th annual Bachelor of Fine Arts exhibition at the Opalka Gallery and at BenExterkamp.com/chuck-close.
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“So much of art and design involves technology or it can add another level to your process,” said Mindy McDaniel, coordinator of the Technology Center, describing how the center serves students across the visual arts.[/paragraph]
[paragraph]Interior Design students draft projects in AutoCAD and use the laser-cutter to carve their designs out of mat board. They then use the cutouts to assemble physical models of buildings and rooms. Printmaking students use the laser-cutter to etch woodblocks; Graphic + Media Design students use the laser-cutter to design packaging; and photography students experimented with etching photographs into wood.[/paragraph]
[paragraph]McDaniel has an MFA in photography and works as a sculptor. “Because I create sculptural work, I am familiar with a range of materials. Much of my job is brainstorming with students, and as a working artist, I understand what they are going through in their creative process. I enjoy helping them bring their ideas to physical form,” she said.[/paragraph]
[paragraph]Prospective students touring campus are always drawn to the Technology Center when the equipment is going – and it almost always is. “High school students know what a computer lab looks like and what students are doing in front of a computer. They want to see – and we can show them – something else,” said McDaniel. Even on a “quiet” Friday afternoon this spring, the center was busy assisting Sage students who stopped by to borrow photo, video and sound equipment for the weekend.[/paragraph]
[paragraph]Now that the Technology Center has been up and running for a full academic year McDaniel and Professor of Graphic + Media Design Matthew McElligott are working to more fully integrate the Center’s resources with the curriculum – in Art + Design and campus-wide – and to organize open-to-the public events. “We have a draft plan, and things are starting to progress on their own,” said McDaniel. “We are trying to stay one step ahead.”[/paragraph]
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Sage offers access to the MakerBot, laser-cutter and large-format, archival-quality printing at prices – and on timelines – that are competitive with commercial businesses, and artists remain in control of their art at every stage. Alumni are welcome to contact Sage to discuss using the Art + Design Technology Center for their own projects.
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