Working Class Studio 2008 Back-to-Campus collection hits Barnes & Noble

Article By: Katie Wall
Published: August 12, 2007

Edgy new designs by Savannah College of Art and Design students are available immediately.

SAVANNAH, Ga. - If school uniform restrictions are too rigid for your taste, check out Barnes & Noble this summer for products that can add flair and originality to any ensemble. The retail chain features a collection of journals, notebooks, sketchbooks, pencil cases and messenger bags sporting edgy graphics designed by eight Savannah College of Art and Design students.

Developed through SCAD's Working Class Studio, the economically priced Back-to-Campus product line is meant to inspire students to explore their creativity. The SCAD artists drew ideas from unusual sources, including tattoos and birds resting on telephone wires. Graduate student Justin Malbrough took inspiration from music that fuses dub, jazz, classical and Brazilian styles into a lounge aesthetic. "It's a visual response to sound," he said of his vivid Matrix design.

Working Class Studio, a product development venture of SCAD, cultivates and promotes the work of talented SCAD student, alumni and faculty artists. An innovative concept for an educational institution, the studio marries function with fine art to deliver a well-curated, constantly expanding mix of original stationery and home décor lines sold in retail stores across the United States and internationally. Each quarter, Working Class Studio selects student interns who form an interdisciplinary design team led by studio directors.

Barnes & Noble executives, including Vice President of Gift Merchandising Bill Miller, encountered SCAD and its students' work at national trade shows. "We were deeply impressed by the work that we saw at the Working Class Studio booth at the [2006] New York Gift Show," he said.

Miller saw SCAD work again when photographs from students and alumni debuted in west elm stores, and he contacted the college after Barnes & Noble decided to expand its gift division. In 2007, Working Class Studio and Barnes & Noble developed a product line that featured nine journals, two pencil pouches, a sketchbook and a canvas messenger bag.

"Based on last year's success, Barnes & Noble expanded our Back-to-Campus line to include a total of 22 products, based on the work of eight SCAD artists," said Anna Burgard, director of industry partnerships for Working Class Studio. "In less than three weeks of sales, these items have already exceeded last year's strong sell-through and popularity. We've also designed boxed note cards, day planners and sketchbooks that will be sold throughout the year in their stores and online."

The collection is available exclusively in Barnes & Noble stores nationwide, including Barnes & Noble college bookstores, and online at www.barnesandnoble.com. Prices for these stationery and gift products range from $6.95-19.95.

For more information, visit www.workingclassstudio.com. Media may call 912.525.4745.

SCAD: The university for creative careers

Named one of Kaplan's "25 cutting-edge schools with an eye toward the future," the Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution with locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Ga., and in Lacoste, France. Undergraduate and graduate degree programs also are offered online through SCAD-eLearning. The college offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Architecture, Master of Arts, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Fine Arts and Master of Urban Design degrees.

For more information about the college, e-mail admission@scad.edu, call 800.869.7223 or 912.525.5100 in Savannah, or call 877.722.3285 or 404.253.2700 in Atlanta.