"There's no such thing as an outlandish idea."

It's Wednesday morning in room 120 of Gulfstream Center for Design, and SCAD Summer Seminars instructor CoCo Ree Lemery (M.F.A., furniture design, 2019) is encouraging focused experimentation. A decorated theater designer and 2018 IDA Design Awards Gold winner, Lemery is intent on providing the high school students here with an unforgettable SCAD experience.

Over the course of five days, Lemery's furniture design students will each concept, sketch, and build their own functional lamp. Her seminar is part of a series of weeklong immersions for high school students interested in all things SCAD. Students who have completed their freshman, sophomore or junior years of high school gain essential educational experience through art and design projects. They also do fun stuff like take river cruises and attend Savannah Bananas games.

"This was suggested to me by a college counselor as a great summer program," says William Egan, a student at Putney School in Windham County, Vermont. "I thought it would be a fun experience, and it's proven to be much more than that."

As Lemery preps a selection of supplies, Egan considers what style shade he should make for his lamp. Soon, he is glue-gunning strips of gold-embossed blue wrapping paper onto hand-curled hangar wire to create a beak-shaped shade for his lamp which, in a nod to nature, is inspired by the long-necked crane.

"My work has an organic mentality," Egan explains.

"Some designers struggle to embrace both masculinity and femininity in design," Lemery says. "What's great about Will's form is it has both sides, in part because it's derived from nature. How does nature intersect with the industrial world? That question has a lot of resonance."

In the afternoon, in The Shed at Montgomery Hall, Egan joins his summer seminar in industrial design, taught by Yueqi Wang (M.F.A., industrial design). Working as part of a team of three, Egan builds a large lounge chair, suitable for the beach. The team tests their chair as a guest group of SCAD graduate students critique their work.

Come Friday, Egan is wrapping up his week back at Gulfstream with a photo shoot featuring his finished lamp. "It's important for the students to leave here with good portfolio shots of their work," Lemery explains. Egan's lamp interacts with plants in a natural, even affectionate way—an impressive testament to the seminar itself.

"When students return home with their finished lamps, they often post pictures and tag me on Instagram," says Lemery. "It's really cool to know they had a positive experience at SCAD."

Egan is considering embracing the idea of continuing to make light fixtures when he returns to Putney School in the fall, and creating a light installation as a high school project.

"I learned a lot this week," Egan beams. "I'd never worked with corrugated plastic or Apoxie Sculpt before. I learned how to design lamps using clearly-defined techniques. I'm definitely glad I came."

Learn more about SCAD Summer Seminars.

"As a marine designer," says Phillip Cox, "I aim to create beautiful ships with supreme performance and functionality to further the users' experience and their passion for being on the water." His masterful design for Cero, a luxury submarine, remains on display at Gulfstream Center for Design, inspiring SCAD students to push their own work to another level. Cox (B.F.A., industrial design, 2018) currently works as industrial designer at luxury boat company Cobalt Boats, based in Neodesha, Kansas.

Phillip Cox:

Growing up, my family always had a recreational boat and a fishing boat. It's like I grew up on the water, whether on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky, or in Florida on Sanibel Island. Fishing is really what began my interest in marine design. When I came to SCAD, I found my passion for industrial design, with a focus on marine design.

Senior industrial design class is a two-quarter class. One quarter was sketching and researching. The second quarter was adding all the design details that bring it to life. Professor Craig Smith trusted his students to shape our portfolios towards the careers we desired. I had two boats already in my portfolio—a 38-foot center console boat, and a smaller fishing boat with a unique hull shape. Professor Smith pushed me to do something outside the box. I decided to create a luxury submarine, which became Cero.

A submarine houses many necessities for it to function, so to employ all of those aspects and keep my initial design was pretty exciting. It involved a lot of mechanical engineering. The structure is two four-inch thick acrylic casted and polished shells bound by steel ribs. The finished shape is inspired by a puffer fish in its dormant state. The shape withstands the pressure to reach the ocean floor to explore marine life. During a hurricane, people on the yacht can get on the submarine and drop down below the effects of the waves and be safe and have enough battery power to keep them there until the hurricane passes.

Cero has two different propulsion types I designed. One is a diesel engine. The other is an environmentally friendly fully electric propulsion system. Typically for a sub, the engine runs on the surface, but here you have a fully-battery charged submarine using batteries charged on the yacht.

The current submarines on the market are cramped. I wanted to give Cero a communal feel with an open floor plan, and bring interior design and architecture into something that normally doesn't have that. It's not just about aesthetics, it's about creating something functional. Having an industrial design mindset and an engineering mindset working in tandem is important.

At Cobalt, we're the industry leader for open-bow runabout boats. As the only industrial designer at the company, a lot of what I do is work with mechanical engineers to create functional pieces that are also attractive and luxurious.

Right now, I'm working on two boats that'll be in the 2020 lineup for Cobalt.  I'm working with Tim Kaiser, the manager of our advanced design team, to do everything from choosing thread color to designing the dash. We have upholsterers in our R&D team who work directly with me. I create renderings of the interior, then do mock-ups, source the materials, then gradually transform that into the interior of the boat.

Having an office and working in the Cobalt plant directly with the people who are physically making the boats is really a treat. It's an incredible experience seeing the process come to life.

See more at www.phillipcoxdesign.com.

“Why do people wear exotic animal prints,” wonders Kassidy Laxdal (B.F.A., fibers, 2019), “when they could be wearing a pattern of their own animal’s fur?”

The brain teaser is not rhetorical. “Animal Farm,” the current group exhibition at Gutstein Gallery, features Laxdal’s eight-paneled “Dog and Cat Fur Pattern.” At close range, these finely dappled weavings could be peculiar geological formations seen from deep space. Yet the patterns, created on the Jacquard loom in Pepe Hall, are close-ups based on the coats of actual animals.

“Dog and Cat Fur Pattern” reveals key aspects of Laxdal’s personality: animal-loving, technically accomplished, artistically inquisitive, clever. That “Animal Farm” features a second work by the new alumna—the impeccably beaded “Sled Dog”—demonstrates she is an artist of impressive versatility.

Kassidy Laxdal:

I’m from Zimmerman, Minnesota, population 5000. My entire life I’ve traveled through the Savannah airport, because my family also has a house in Hilton Head. When I was in 3rd grade, 8 or 9 years old, there was a SCAD pamphlet in the airport and I picked it up and said, “Mom, I want to go here.” And she said: “Make it your goal.” So I did.

I came to SCAD to study interior design, but when I signed up for my first fibers class, Surface Design: Drawing for Print and Pattern (FIBR 160), I found my calling.

I made a lot of animal-inspired products in my major. I made small backpacks for dogs, so they can carry their own weight in a relationship. When I had a concept for a person to wear a shirt with the pattern of their own’s animal fur, I started making linocuts to create fur patterns, but wasn’t achieving the amount of detail I wanted to translate animal fur into a pattern.

I took Weaving I, and then I had an internship with Alexandra Forby (B.F.A., painting, 2013), who owns Daughter Handwovens, a small business here in Savannah. From April to December 2018, I was in her studio two to three times a week helping her by making warps and setting up looms. I loved it.

Winter quarter senior year I took Complex Woven Structures: Jacquard Technology (FIBR 415) with an incredible professor named Deborah First. That’s when I learned to use the Jacquard loom. Finally, I knew I could get the level of detail I wanted. The Jacquard is computerized and uses WeavePoint, a weaving design software, so you can weave images that are hyperrealistic. I made a swatch collection of patterns of different animal furs, including a blue heeler, a calico cat, a tabby, a Bengal cat and a German shepherd. These are the pieces up now in Gutstein Gallery.

My sled dog I created in beading class with professor Sam Norgard, a world-renowned beader and embroidery artist. I planned my entire schedule my senior year around taking her class. I used bugle and baguette beads to create the contours of the sled. I also added embroidery into the piece, to capture the fur around the face of the dog. Now that I’ve graduated, having my work up in Gutstein is part of my ongoing connection to SCAD.

Fun fact! Kassidy was the makeup artist on the SCAD student film that won grand prize in the Coca-Cola Regal Films Program 2019.

See Kassidy Laxdal’s work in “Animal Farm” at Gutstein Gallery through July 14, 2019.

A roost of wood storks commands the oak grove in Ledbetter Pond, as SCAD students standing at the railing at Oatland Island Wildlife Center marvel at the natural world. "What do other species see?" asks student Mark Lawrence (M.Arch, 2020), eastern box turtles swimming beneath his feet. "What do other organisms experience in these places we've designed?"

Lawrence's question is but one of the paradigm-shifting issues addressed in professor Ryan Madson's Urban Ecology (URBA 725). The morning field trip comes near the midpoint of the ten-week class. (Other field trips on other days include a walk in Forsyth Park with landscape architect and native plant specialist Thomas Angel, and a venture into a liminal zone outside the Savannah historic district unkept by humans.)

By lunchtime at Oatland, students will have communed with wolves and seen bison rumbling towards shade. What may sound like a low-country safari has a deeper purpose: to create a radical shift in thinking, leading to what Madson calls "speculative urban post-human design" focused on "the world without us."

"The course is geared towards architects and urban designers," explains Madson, "but students from other majors, including design for sustainability and themed entertainment design, bring their own disciplinary attitudes and interests. It's about multiple disciplines being creative at the highest level of urban resilience. It means thinking beyond the Anthropocene and considering non-human species and their role in cities."

Rigorous coursework includes reading Gilles Clément's "Third Landscape Manifesto" and studying the Ile Derborence rock mass in Lille's Parc Matisse. As Madson explains: "I want students not to think about cities in a human-centric way. It's a philosophical and conceptual leap to design really robust ecosystems for everything but people." 

This prompt culminates in each student's final project: take an iconic urban environment and rethink how it could look when all the humans are gone. Exemplary work includes Alex Fogleman recasting the Las Vegas Strip as a wetland, Samantha Doherty's prism forest for Red Square, and a pastoral reimagining of Tuileries Garden at the Louvre by Yue Xiao as a "moo-scape" for cows and sheep.

Sam Doherty: "This class has opened my eyes to be more extreme in the amount of effort that can be put into making ecology work in the city. If we look at what the post-human world could be, that informs how we should actually be making our cities now."

In Clark Hall on the final day of class, students present fully-realized design boards alongside terrariums they've built as organic analogies for their city concepts. Over the course of the quarter, they have all made conceptual breakthroughs that, paired with their technical expertise, they will carry forth to create new possibilities for Planet Earth.

As Akhil Hemanth (M.Arch, 2019), a native of Bangalore, India, puts it: "A radical proposition is the start of change."

photo: Meg Van Over

Thank you to the SCAD students of Urban Design 725:

Jessyka Colon Penton
Elira Conde Rodriguez
Samantha Doherty
Alex Fogelman
Akhil Hemanth
Mark Lawrence
Aniket Anil Madkaiker
Aakash Mani
Ana Susi Martinez Trujillo
Meg Van Over
Daniel Jose Velez Cabrera
Yue Xiao
Ling Zeng

The 2019 SCAD graduating class comprises the largest ever in university history. In celebration of this historic commencement, and in celebration of the SCAD’s 40th anniversary, keynote addresses in Savannah, Atlanta and Hong Kong will be delivered by vaunted guests Robert Chavez, Carson Kressley and Bernard Chan, respectively.

Chavez, Hermès of Paris, Inc. president and CEO of the Americas, will address the SCAD Savannah graduating class during commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 31. The following day, Saturday, June 1, author and television style expert Kressley, will speak to the 2019 graduates at SCAD Atlanta. Prominent dignitary Chan will address SCAD Hong Kong graduates on Saturday, June 8.

"SCAD celebrates our 40th year with the graduation of our largest class ever — nearly 2,900 creative professionals are entering the workforce,” said SCAD president and founder Paula Wallace. “Celebrations will be held in Savannah, Atlanta, and Hong Kong. While we say goodbye to the Bees of ‘19, we never say adieu — we say au revoir. SCAD is family, after all! I can't wait to see what each of these SCAD grads accomplishes next, and to invite them back to share their many successes with future generations. Once a Bee, always a Bee!"

Chavez, leader of the French luxury goods label Hermès' Western operations, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters prior to his commencement addresses at 1 p.m. Chavez, with Hermès since 2000, brought the first Hermès Boutique for Men to New York in 2010. He continues to represent the luxury house's core values of quality, consistency, creativity and innovation throughout the world. In 2002, SCAD collaborated with Hermès to create a series of exclusive scarves based on art work by SCAD students.

Kressley, an Emmy Award-winning American television personality, actor, designer and New York Times best-selling author, will address Atlanta's graduating class at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 1. The fashion expert on Queer Eye, Dancing with the Stars contestant, RuPaul's Drag Race judge, and star of Bravo's Get a Room will accept an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.

Chan, a Hong Kong politician and successful businessman, will speak with SCAD Hong  Kong 2019 graduates at 12 p.m., Saturday, June 8. Chan currently serves as the convenor of Hong Kong's Executive Council and will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. SCAD will also bestow an honorary degree to Alan Au-Yeung, vice president of creative at Walt Disney Co. SCAD students won Walt Disney's Imagineering Imaginations Design Competition the past two consecutive years.

The SCAD Class of 2019 is the largest in the university's history, with more than 2,900 graduates to cross the stage in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, and Hong Kong. This year, SCAD achieved record enrollment of 15,000 students across its international locations.

SCAD students consistently secure creative careers upon graduation. 99 percent of SCAD Spring 2018 graduates were employed, pursuing further education or both within 10 months of graduation.

SCAD has more than 40,000 graduates living and working in 70 countries. This includes alumni who create thermal blankets for NASA space missions, act in award-winning Netflix shows, design costumes worn by Lady Gaga at the 2018 Grammy Awards, and design furniture for Anthropologie.

Follow commencement activities on Twitter and Instagram using #SCAD2019.

More details at www.scad.edu/life/commencement.

Witnessed at SCAD FASHION 2019's debut Atlanta Runway Show, Linden Colby's senior collection "The Art of Imperfection" caused a sleight-of-sight sensation. Dominated by denim, underpinned with poly pongee, Colby's garments exemplified the creativity, technicality and craftsmanship of SCAD School of Fashion students.

A graduate of Marshwood High School in South Berwick, Maine, Colby (B.F.A., fashion) begins her creative career as associate apparel designer at Abercrombie & Fitch in fall, 2019. First, her collection hits the runway again, this time in Savannah on Saturday, May 18.

Linden Colby:

My collection is my commentary on living in a perfectionist society. Six designs tell a whole story. I call my muse the inner warrior. She's pulling apart oversized denim pieces and bursts of color come out. She represents mental strength, as well as physical strength. She takes experience and expectation on her shoulders and walks with confidence in the world.

Being meticulous about every detail in our lifestyles and appearances, we have to be reminded that leaving things to chance and being instinctive can be gorgeous. That's something I recognized in the work of Michelle Morin (B.F.A., graphic design). I fell in love with the way Michelle pours high-fluidity paint onto canvas. I reached out to her and she was immediately interested in collaborating.

For the active wear pieces, I sent a Photoshop file of Michelle's paintings to a company in New York City called Design2Print, and they printed it onto spandex material using dye sublimation. Rather than water or chemical-based dyes, it's more like a heat transfer. It eliminates waste from the process.

The SCAD fashion department has a diverse faculty, who all have incredible experience as professionals working for top companies. One of our professors, Mitchell Vassie, told me about the Japanese idea of Mottainai, and I took that idea of salvaging things too good to waste as I was creating my collection.

I find an ease in working with denim because it's a sturdy fabric, it's not silky or slippery. The stitching on denim is supposed to be visible, so you're not doing tiny hand-stitches to hide the sewing. But as you're adding layers of denim together it becomes challenging.

In fall 2018, a representative from the denim brand Isko came speak to SCAD fashion students about the I-Skool design competition. I asked about a sponsorship, he said yes, and I visited their NYC showroom over winter break and selected my denim. Everything denim in my collection is from Isko. I used a herringbone weave, and a selvedge denim, and one that feels and looks like a wool blend.

I used pleats as a functional visual detail. I had to measure, for every inch of denim I'm going to need another inch of the print to fold under, then another inch to fold the other way. You know when they tell you in high school you're going to use math for the rest of your life? They meant it.

Seeing the garments in an actual fashion show is a different experience. When the pleats open, you see the whole pattern underneath. That changes as the model walks and moves. Her leg kicks out and the colors pop. It's so exciting to watch ideas come to life.

Collection photography: David Dong (B.F.A., photography).

See more of the work of Linden Grace Colby.

Learn more about SCAD FASHION 2019.

In honor of Star Wars Day, the SCAD Savannah department of liberal arts hosted Liberal Arts at Lightspeed, a two-day event May 3-4 featuring exhibits, lectures, and demonstrations inspired by the Star Wars universe. This year's event, the fifth annual Liberal Arts at Lightspeed (or, as the department dubbed it, Episode V), focused on the series' droids.

Festivities kicked off in Arnold Hall with Gordon Tarpley, a Los Angeles-based designer, prop builder, and C-3PO cosplayer, joining Allison Steinweg, associate chair, liberal arts, on Friday afternoon for a Q&A session. Tarpley spoke about his multifaceted work, from building props for a Star Wars-themed episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to playing C3PO at Disney-sponsored events, and reflected on the galaxy-wide Star Wars fanbase he has encountered as a result of playing C-3PO.

That fanbase was evident on Saturday, as Tarpley donned the C-3PO costume and meandered through the exhibitions in Arnold Hall with R2-D2 at his side. In one exhibition, professor Samuel Gross displayed dozens of Star Wars neckties, which he showed off to the two droids. "These ties have become a point of connection with students," said Gross. "Students who I've never met before will approach me to talk about a character on my tie."

Lauren Arnold (B.F.A., production design) echoed the sentiment: "I think everyone can find something to connect with in the various characters." Arnold, who hopes to pursue costume design, said that she particularly appreciated the work of fellow production design student Journey Olson (B.F.A., production design), whose costume designs were on display.

The day's events highlighted the work of SCAD students and faculty in an array of disciplines, from industrial design to writing to sequential art. The department presented lectures by liberal arts professors Stephanie Weaver and David Steinweg examining storytelling and friendship through the lens of the Star Wars narrative. Student Alex Coajou (B.F.A., industrial design) presented on his work with the R2D2 Building Club, which has built droids for Lucasfilm, Disney, and commercial events. This year marked the fourth time that Coajou has participated in Liberal Arts at Lightspeed.

As the afternoon drew to a close, attendees were invited to mark their calendars for Liberal Arts at Lightspeed Episode VI on May 4th, 2020. "And of course," associate chair Steinweg said in conclusion, "may the force be with you."

R2-D2 and C-3PO with student Journey Olson.

Check your shelves, booklovers: You may already own some of her work. Jordan Wannemacher (B.F.A., graphic design, 2012) is the proprietor of Studio Jordan Wannemacher, a boutique book design studio based in Montclair, New Jersey. Her recent striking designs include a repackaging of "The Everyday I Ching" (St. Martin's Press, 2019) and Oprah Winfrey's new bestseller "The Path Made Clear" (Flatiron Books, 2019). A magna cum laude Bee who minored in creative writing, Wannemacher is a bibliophile with inimitable style.

Jordan Wannemacher:

When I talk to other book designers, I realize many of us have the same origin story: Did you read alone at lunch as a kid? Growing in Greer, South Carolina, I had an influential AP art history teacher, Mr. Patrick Grills at Riverside High. He was the first person to mention SCAD to me. I would listen to SCAD Radio online, fascinated by the idea of a place where alternative kids went to study art. My first time in Savannah was orientation weekend. It was a fantasy come to life.

Taking creative writing and literature classes at SCAD was fantastic. Dr. James Lough was an inspiration as a professor. When I came to him for career guidance, he recommended looking into working for a university press and gave me vital industry knowledge as I was navigating where to apply for jobs after graduation.

When I applied to work for Columbia University Press, they responded quickly: "We had a designer who attended SCAD, and we loved him." It was a direct path from SCAD to getting that job, because they'd already had a great experience employing a SCAD alumnus.

After working at Columbia, I worked at Rodale Press, a traditional progression from designer to senior designer. Shortly after, Rodale got bought by Hearst and I was laid off. Fortunately, I'd been freelancing on the side for a few years already. My clients said, "if you have more time, we have more projects." So I took the leap and started my own design studio. It's funny how something that felt scary at first has become the best thing for my career.

Designing the cover for the Margaret Drabble novel "The Dark Flood Rises" (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2016) was a dream-come-true experience. Not only is it an amazing novel by a legendary author, the book was art directed by Rodrigo Corral, one of the top book designers and creative directors practicing right now. FSG has also published so many of my favorite authors, including Denis Johnson, Joan Didion and Flannery O'Connor.

I used to say, "I haven't made it until I've designed a book for Dr. Lough." Two years ago, I designed the cover of "Short Circuits: Aphorisms, Fragments, and Literary Anomalies" (Schaffner Press, 2018). Thanks to Dr. Lough's introduction, I've now created seven book designs with Schaffner, including Sylvia Torti's novel "Cages" (Schaffner Press, 2018). "Cages" is about people in a lab studying bird song and memory, as well as a love story. The cage is not only what the birds are living in, but a symbol for the cages the characters put themselves in. The cover I designed has an intentionally controlled, lab-like look.

One of my favorite parts about book design is the production aspect. I love picking papers, lamination, foil effects or spot gloss. You become not only the cover designer but a packaging designer.

When people ask me what I do, and I tell them I design book covers they say "That's so cool!" and I can't help but say "I know!" It feels so good to create something people pay attention to, and form deep, meaningful connections with.

Visit Studio Jordan Wannemacher

Playing soccer and studying design at SCAD has proved a potent combo in the professional life of Gabrielle Garbe (B.F.A., motion media design, 2017). Today, Garbe works at the Manhattan office of Futbol Club Barcelona (FCB), perhaps the best-known soccer team in the world. Those fortunate to have seen Garbe play at SCAD witnessed her focus and ferocity. The 2016 Sun Conference All-Academic team selection is also a friendly and funny pro.

Gabbie Garbe:

My position with FC Barcelona is commercial designer with our business development team, working on partnerships and sponsorships. My responsibilities include creating pitch decks for potential clients. I'm always in contact with our designers in our offices in Barcelona and Hong Kong. My knowledge of sports marketing and the sports sponsorship world has grown so much since I've been here.

My first year at the job, I went to Barcelona for an event. Javier Mascherano was leaving after more than seven years at the club. I was in the auditorium with all the first team players and the president. Technically the players are my colleagues so I can't go up and be a fan. I'm pretty sure my smile said it all.

Last summer we signed a deal with Stanley to be the first main sponsor for our women's team, FCB Femeni. Our office led that whole partnership. I traveled to L.A. where we made the official announcement. The women's team was there, and I got to participate. It's wonderful to see our Barcelona women's team have a main sponsorship partner, and see them doing so well.

I attended Shattuck-St. Mary's boarding school in Minnesota. My high school coach knew of SCAD, and I scheduled a visit. My first day in Savannah I was like, “I love it! I have to get in to SCAD!” I went to a weeklong SCAD summer seminar, and a soccer camp, and was offered a scholarship.

SCAD has so many incredible specialized degree programs. Motion media encompasses all the things I like: design, motion, film, photography. Taking part in the SCADpro project with BMW was an important learning experience. I worked with industrial design majors and interactive design majors and it opened my mind to different opportunities where motion media can play a role. Professor John Colette was so passionate about motion media design, I knew I couldn't go wrong with my major. And I haven't, because I love my job!

I miss everything about SCAD soccer. Coach Becky Gunn is an incredibly caring coach. She comes from a competitive soccer background, and worked with us throughout training. Senior year I played center back in the back line with my two closest friends, Meghan Grable and Thorhanna Omarsdottir. The experience of being an athlete at SCAD and managing my academic workload definitely plays a role in my current job, as I strive to create work-life balance.

I must say, working for Barca has its perks. Occasionally during the summer, we'll have a mini soccer-tennis tournament in the office. And this week Barcelona play Liverpool for a place in the Champion's League final. We'll be watching at the office. I can't complain!

Prospective collegiate soccer players interested in attending a SCAD Savannah women's soccer ID clinic this Friday, May 3 can learn more about the opportunity here.

Learn more about the SCADpro innovation studio here.

Gabrielle Garbe (B.F.A., motion media design, 2017) Força Barça!