There is no party quite like SCAD commencement, and this year's event was the best and biggest yet. Students, alumni, faculty, and staff were delighted to honor the newest class of graduates at SCAD Commencement 2024, during the glorious first weekend of summer.

SCAD Savannah and SCADnow students participated in the Presidential Conferment of Degrees and Presentation of Degrees ceremonies for their academic schools on Saturday, June 1, while the ceremony for all graduating SCAD Atlanta students took place Sunday, June 2. All ceremonies were streamed live on YouTube.

This year's commencement caps off a milestone academic year as SCAD recognizes its 45th anniversary. As President Wallace said to the graduates:

"During our sapphire anniversary this year, SCAD has celebrated 45 Years of Star Power. And just as the cosmos creates the perfect conditions for a star to be born, so has SCAD provided the ideal environment for the birth of your star-studded career."

President Wallace reflected on the birth of SCAD in 1978, connecting its founding to its current graduating class. "At that time, in this quaint old seaport village, the very idea of SCAD was just so unlikely. At the time, I was already an educator, but to grow SCAD into an elite university, to prove the naysayers wrong, I would have to become something quite rare in education: an entrepreneur."

Vibes were high as President Wallace nodded with enthusiam. "And you joined me in this dream because you are entrepreneurs too!"

Acclaimed actor and New York Times bestselling author Rob Lowe shone as the 2024 commencement speaker. Known for his roles in "The West Wing" and "Parks and Recreation," Lowe addressed the largest class in SCAD history, representing over 40 top-ranked majors, including animation, fashion, and film.

"You are the storytellers," Lowe told the graduates. "You are the connectors that bridge the divides of our culture and unite the human spirit. We need you. We are depending on you. And you my fellow Bees can do this. Congratulations, Class of 2024!"

Congratulations to all our Bees, and to the valedictorian, salutatorian, and excelsus laureate in both SCAD Savannah and SCAD Atlanta.

SCAD Savannah:

Excelsus Laureate Morgan Eng (M.F.A. sequential art, 2024)

Salutatorian Tejumoluwa K. Olarewaju (B.F.A. sound design, 2024)

Valedictorian Caroline Gendron (B.F.A. illustration, 2024)

SCAD Atlanta:

Excelsus Laureate Katie Owens (M.F.A. animation, 2024)

Salutatorian Jayden White (B.F.A. film and television, 2024)

Valedictorian Melody Wu (B.F.A. UX design, 2024)

"Congratulations to the class of 2024. We did it!" —Jayden White

Sweating and smiling, with traffic swirling around him, Sheroy Balsara navigates Mumbai's maelstrom on a bicycle laden with lunch boxes. As part of his thesis research, the graduate student has gone to work among the estimated five thousand deliverymen known in India as the dabbawala.

"Growing up in Mumbai, I've always seen them moving, lifting, delivering," says Balsara (M.F.A. industrial design). "They are the heartbeat of the city."
 
In a tradition dating back 130 years, the dabbawala deliver home-cooked meals across Mumbai, serving an astonishing 50-mile radius utilizing rail transport and bicycle. "They represent not only themselves but their community," Balsara says. "They work on trust, and everyone trusts them."

To document his day as a trainee, Balsara created the four-minute film "Dabbawala – Men on a Mission." "It was not enough for me to simply see their challenges, I had to face the challenges of the dabbawala by becoming one myself."

On a mission: Balsara (left) and Babaji.

As proof of primary research, "Dabbawala – Men on a Mission" is genuinely impressive. As a short film, it's a five-star delight. With his toothy grin and white Gandhi cap, Sheroy is a natural leading man, interviewing cycling activist Vijay Malhotra, supply chain expert Dr. Pawan Agrawal, and president of the Dabbawala Mumbai, Ramdas Karwande. Then there is Babaji, the dabbawala who mentors Sheroy in managing heavy loads against a ticking clock. As Sheroy says: "There's someone out there waiting for their food and if you are late, they don't eat."
 
Balsara has spent this academic year back in Savannah, addressing the significant challenges faced by the dabbawala in his master's thesis "Optimizing Tiffin Transport: Enhancing Efficiency and Ergonomics for Dabbawalas."
 
"Sheroy demonstrates how thoughtful design can empower local communities, and his project seeks to modernize a vital service," says industrial design professor Jr Neville Songwe, who taught Balsara in courses including Visual Communication and Presentation (SDES 501) and Entrepreneurship for Designers (IDUS 733). "He exemplifies the SCAD ethos of using design to create real-world solutions and our commitment to innovation and cultural sensitivity in addressing community-specific challenges."
 
Professor William Woods, chair of Balsara's thesis committee, says he has "no doubt that Sheroy's designs will be just as impressive as his research — rooted in a deep sense of responsibility for the dabbawalla and their work."

Here comes a delivery: Balsara and the dabbawala of Mumbai.

Some background on Balsara: the left-hander, Zoroastrian, and Lewis Hamilton fan earned his degree in electrical engineering at NIT Rourkela (India) before enrolling in the online platform SCADnow in 2020. Arriving in Savannah in fall 2021, he began in-person studies while working as a guide at SCADstory. He has participated in SCADpro projects with Apple and Movado — experiences he deems "essential" — and served as a graduate mentor. He praises the faculty and facilities in the Gulfstream Center for accelerating his growth in Rhino 3D design and CAD modeling and as a craftsman with shop tools. "SCAD makes you feel part of something big," he says. "The culture that the college has created focuses on the positive."
 
In the coming months, Balsara will reveal his design solution for the dabbawala. "My focus is on the guy on the bicycle. How can I make what's tough easier? My design should adapt to the dabbawala, as opposed to them adapting to the design. My design has to bring in a new revenue stream for them. I am trying to make their life better."
 
As his thesis chair William Woods says: "With the right influence, Sheroy's project can easily go from theoretical to actually changing people's lives."

Connect with Sheroy Balsara.

Collaboration is key — and when SCAD met Beeple, the results were glowing. On an epic day in May, SCAD students presented the results of their collab with Beeple Studios, home of the NFT-forward digital artist, designer and animator known globally as Beeple. The event took place at Beeple Studios in Charleston, South Carolina and featured works produced in classes at SCAD with faculty overseeing the process and guiding final designs. The showcase exhibited more than 70 one-minute motion-based student artworks.

"SCAD is delighted to have partnered with legendary digital artist Beeple to showcase a selection of our outstanding student work across programs including painting, illustration, motion media, and animation," said Honor Bowman Hall, Dean of the School of Fine Arts and School of Visual Communication.

"Like SCAD, Beeple Studios embraces innovation and collaboration," Bowman continued. "Beeple's immersive gallery, with its 6,400 square feet of projection space, allowed our students to see their work on an epic scale. Our students look up to Beeple for his tech-focused approach to making art, and for his commitment to forging his own path."

During the event, Beeple spoke about having a studio space for exploration and the growth he foresees for the medium. "It was natural to build a place where we could show physical work on our own timetable," Beeple said. "I've always been able to release work through the internet as soon as it was done, so to now have a studio to do that is really exciting. I feel very fortunate to have a space that allows people to experiment and for us to put on an event like the SCAD Student Showcase."

Beeple people (l-r): Valentina Gil Duque, Beeple, Dean Honor Bowman Hall, and Kare' Williams.

From the SCAD student digital artwork displayed at the event, a top 11 were selected, with awards given to Valentina Gil Duque (M.F.A. motion media design) who received the top prize of $2,500 donated by Beeple Studios, with a secondary prize of $1,000 awarded to Kare' Williams (B.F.A. painting). These awards were voted on by SCAD faculty. Selections were based on design, innovation, and creativity.

"Collaborations like this provide great opportunities for students to conceptualize and then speak through new and exciting mediums," said Dan Bartlett, Dean of the School of Animation and Motion. "For our fine art students, this meant a chance to explore time-based design and create work that utilizes advanced digital projection workflows. For our motion design students, they are able to leverage the potential of the Beeple Studios space and design experientially. The complexity of the projection and LEDsetup at his studio allowed students to design beyond the boundaries of the traditional screen."

This student showcase underscores SCAD's commitment to innovation within the arts, helping students build a foundation for their work while learning from renowned artists like Beeple. This event provided an ideal opportunity to show the art and design community what SCAD students have been working on this year, and to demonstrate the university's dedication to mentoring the next generation of imaginative, impactful artists.

Beeple breaks it down during the Beeple x SCAD Student Showcase.

On a bustling Friday night at Bar Del Monte in Washington D.C., furniture designer Griffin Feeney's handiwork is in full effect: cherry wood chairs and a double-sided banquette teem with patrons enjoying Cantabrian anchovies and Neapolitan pizzas on white marble-topped tables. The new, already-feted Italian restaurant owned by Oliver Pastan, Bar Del Monte is a welcome addition to Mount Pleasant's food scene, and represents the stunning transformation of what was formerly a grimy garage.
 
"It was a pit," says Feeney (B.F.A. industrial design, 2019) with a chuckle. "They kept the bones [of the structure], otherwise it required a total excavation. I was there looking at the site since day one, trying to figure out where everything was going to go." While Pastan employed Feeney's younger brother Aidan's welding and metalwork expertise, Griffin began designing the restaurant's furniture and sourcing the wood.
 
"There was a four-month period when they had to get the flooring in, drywall, studs, everything," Griffin says. "During that time, I was prototyping tables, working on designs with Oliver, discussing details and different sizes. I convinced him to go with cherry wood because it has so much warmth and character. It was a really good experience on the first commercial job I've ever done."

Double-sided banquette, designed, built and installed by Griffin Feeney. Bar Del Monte, Washington, D.C.

A native of Tenleytown, Northwest D.C., Griffin attended Woodrow Wilson High School (now Jackson-Reed High) and took robotics classes as a kid. "I grew up with power tools in my hands in my father's shop, and I was always a fan of engineering and the arts. My mother suggested looking at colleges with industrial design programs. As soon as we visited Savannah, it was sunny and there were smiles everywhere, good vibes, and my choice to go to SCAD was made."
 
As an undergraduate, Feeney hunkered down in the Gulfstream Center for Design, home to SCAD's industrial design and furniture design programs. "Between the metal shop and the wood shop and the areas for 3D printing and laser cutting — oh, to have those resources under one roof again," Feeney says with affection. Professor emeritus John Pierson proved a big influence ("I learned about joinery in his Shaker table class"), as did industrial design professor William Woods. In Woods' course Model and Prototype Development (IDUS 212), Feeney built a dovetailed tea box, earning his professor's regard.
 
"Griffin's creative work is rooted in his eye for stunning materials, and he brings his designs fully to life with his hands and a few tools," says Woods. "Everything will eventually go 'out of style' except craftmanship, and Griffin is an excellent example of what great craftsmanship truly means."
 
Feeney's tea box caught the eye of David Colas (B.F.A. furniture design, 2012), who invited Griffin to visit Colas Modern, the woodworking shop and retail showroom in Savannah. "I was still a student when I met David and Lara Colas and they hired me on the spot," Griffin recalls. "I worked at Colas Modern for two years, doing everything with them in that shop. We built cabinets and cutting boards. David showed me round all the different makers and markets in Savanah and how he operates, and markets and sells his products. I absorbed a lot from him."
 
Colas, a renowned furniture designer and entrepreneur, admires Feeney for his deep respect for the artistry of woodworking. "Griffin fit right in during his time at Colas Modern," David says. "His passion for design and high-quality craftsmanship mirrors my own principles, and his relentless work ethic and sharp wit made him a joy to work with. Griffin's impact as a woodworker will continue to be marked by his dedication to excellence."
 
Enriched by these experiences, Feeney returned home to D.C. in 2021 to develop Feeney Furniture, making one-off custom dining tables and drafting desks before going to work on Bar Del Monte.
 
"By the time we finished the Bar Del Monte project, I had changed my mind about where I want to go with my work and my business," Griffin says. Two commercial projects now beckon: a restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue, and a brewery in nearby Maryland. Meanwhile at Bar Del Monte, as the savory main course gives way to panforte with a nip of sweet wine, the pitched back angle of the Feeney-design banquette comes in handy.
 
"I love that I can make my mark on my city," Griffin says, "and I love bringing my friends and family here to enjoy it."

Griffin Feeney at work. Photo: Niko Bartash

It's runway time! SCAD FASHION 2024 is happening this Thursday and Friday, May 16–17 in Savannah, promising two incredibly fashionable days of events and celebrations. The university's signature showcase of innovative sartorial collections by senior and graduate students in the prestigious SCAD School of Fashion is once again a highlight of the season.

SCAD FASHION festivities culminate in the highly anticipated runway show, which debuts Friday, May 17, at 8:30 p.m. ET, live from the SCAD Museum of Art. The university welcomes an international cadre of industry luminaries to witness the next generation of design. Fashion enthusiasts from around the globe can witness the university's unparalleled talent via livestream at scad.edu/fashion2024.

A notable afficionado of superlative runway shows, President Paula Wallace said: "SCAD invites design legends and lovers of fashion to the SCAD Museum of Art for a first look at the future of wearable art and cutting-edge couture created by SCAD designers. From today's catwalk to tomorrow's catalog, SCAD Bees shape culture. I'll see you on the runway as we celebrate in style on May 17!"

The SCAD FASHION 2024 runway show will be preceded by the world premiere of the university's latest fashion film, Déjà Rêvé, directed by Paris Mumpower (B.F.A., graphic design, 2016). Starring the multitalented performer Rainey Qualley alongside actor and model Ayden Behn (B.F.A. acting), Déjà Rêvé features imaginative garments, accessories, jewelry, and sneaker creations from more than 70 SCAD School of Fashion students. A collaboration with director of photography Nikita Carpenter (B.F.A., film and television, 2012), and with more than 100 SCAD creatives comprising the cast and crew, the film transports viewers to a surreal parallel reality through vignettes referencing classic cinema and French New Wave, brimming with beauty, color, and exuberant fashions. The live runway show will immediately follow the film, highlighting the artistry of more than 60 designers with 120 exceptional looks.

"This year I have been struck by the incredible level of storytelling our designers have brought to their collections," said Dirk Standen, Dean of the SCAD School of Fashion. "Whether their starting point is the poems of Edgar Allan Poe, new interpretations of cultural archetypes like cowboys, fishermen, and surfers, or the ways AI is transforming the world, they have created vivid, compelling, deeply researched narratives. That translates into richly detailed, highly imaginative, and quite stunning garments. I can't wait to see our students tell their stories on the runway at SCAD FASHION 2024."

As part of SCAD FASHION 2024 festivities, SCAD is also thrilled to present the coveted André Leon Talley Award, in honor of the beloved fashion luminary and cherished friend of the university, to Aurora James, founder and creative director of luxury accessories brand Brother Vellies. James, who is also a vice chair of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and founder of the nonprofit advocacy organization Fifteen Percent Pledge, will be celebrated for her visionary leadership and global advocacy within the fashion industry and joined in conversation following the award presentation. SCAD will also bestow the prestigious SCAD45 Award to two outstanding SCAD alumni, Julian Robaire (B.F.A., fashion, 2013), director of Chanel's VIP atelier, and An Le (B.F.A., photography, 2012), co- founder of international creative lab Now Open, for their exemplary contributions to design. SCAD FASHION 2024 programming also includes the annual SCAD Jewelry Trunk Show, showcasing one-of-a-kind creations by SCAD jewelry students, Thursday, May 16, and Friday, May 17, at Poetter Hall.

SCAD's top-ranked School of Fashion is globally revered for offering one of the most elite and comprehensive programs in the world for undergraduate and graduate degrees in fashion, accessory design, jewelry, fashion marketing and management, fibers, and sneaker design. Learn more here.

When Naomi Brown (B.F.A. sequential art) tackled the assignment to create an animatic during Drawing for Storyboarding (DRAW 206) last year, they chose to interpret the 1981 song "Don't Eat Stuff Off the Sidewalk" by rockabilly band The Cramps. It was, to be sure, an inspired choice.
 
"After I drew the intro, I went more stream of consciousness, like a music video," Brown says. "I wanted to push myself to be more surreal and even psychedelic — a little out there and off the wall."
 
How "out there"?
 
Naomi laughs. "I had the idea of [the main character] picking himself up off the sidewalk and dropping himself into his mouth." 

A sophomore from Bridgeport, West Virginia, Brown grew up home-schooled, the eldest child in a large family, intent on becoming an artist: "SCAD was the first art college I heard of, and I came to SCAD knowing I wanted to study sequential art." While creating the "Sidewalk" animatic, their "off the wall" notions were encouraged by foundation studies professor Fatemeh Hosseini.
 
"Naomi not only demonstrated the techniques and practices discussed in class in a professional manner, they captured a unique mood and feeling with their ingenious imagination," says Hosseini. "Naomi's great leaps in storyboarding combined rock and roll energy with narrative integrity. I admire their eagerness for aesthetic expression and look forward to what Naomi will accomplish as an artist in the years to come."

Illustration: Naomi Brown.

 
As Hosseini indicates, it's refreshing to encounter a dedicated student at a pivotal stage of development. The fact that on this day Naomi is wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt paired with a stylish silk cravat might also be a sign of what they are exploring in their work: deep pockets of musical mythos, recombined in interesting ways.
 
"My first quarter at SCAD, I got obsessed with putting representations of music or references to music in my work," Brown says. They started listening to albums including Buffalo's Volcanic Rock (1973), Siouxsie and the Banshees' Hyaena (1984), and Morphine's Cure for Pain (1993). They created their own band The Other Ones — not a quote-unquote real band, but not wholly imaginary either, if one embraces the tradition of The Beets, Love Händel, and comic books like Love and Rockets.

Illustration: Naomi Brown.

 
"I'm really interested in how music evolved from the Sixties to the Nineties, from R&B all the way to grunge," Brown says. "I created my own band and curated their aesthetic and sound and style to what I really enjoy. I think at their inception The Other Ones were an early Sixties beat group, and now they're more heavy psych and hard rock. It's like, proto metal."
 
One need not be a Rolling Stone subscriber to appreciate Naomi's intentions. Their naturally dynamic, slightly cartoony characters have soul.

Liberal arts professor Colin Beineke has taught Brown in courses including Arts in Adaptation: Cross-media Storytelling (ENGL 221). "Naomi's intellect, enthusiasm, and creativity are immediately apparent to anyone who spends even the shortest time in their presence," Beineke says. "Naomi's voice is as sharply idiosyncratic as it is instantaneously relatable. Their keenness to observe and absorb is a rare commodity, and is not only admirable but a model to us all." 

Looking ahead, Brown sees appealing courses on the horizon: Digital Coloring and Lettering Applications ("I like lettering and want to get really good at it") and Constructive Anatomy and Figure Drawing for the Narrative ("I'm good at anatomy, I just need that extra push").
 
Then there's Introduction to Printmaking, and Advanced Writing for Comics. Nearing the mid-point of their time as a SCAD undergrad, Brown's art continues to amp up.
 
"My number one goal is to one day work in the industry as a comics artist," Naomi says, mentioning Beineke's Survey of Sequential Art (SEQA 205) as igniting a deep love of comics. "I now frequent the Jen Library, checking out stacks of books every week, reading a ton. I study creators and forms and try to absorb as much as I can, and I draw every day."
 
Rock on, Naomi Brown!

The Doors bio-comic by Naomi Brown, created for Introduction to Sequential Art (SEQA 100) taught by Brian Ralph.

Banner image self-portrait by Naomi Brown.

To see more of Naomi's work, visit their Instagram.

On an upper tier of the SCAD Student Center, six members of the eSports Overwatch team sit at their computer battle stations. An undefeated season is on the line, Keiser University is the opponent, and "Rayner" is ready to roll.
 
Watching Rayne Beckman (B.F.A. sound design) play Overwatch — his hands fluttering across keyboard and mouse in a blaze of virtuosity — is like witnessing Eddie Van Halen perform "Eruption." For the casual observer, the frenetic multiplayer video game is overwhelming, as on-screen avatars dash through an outdoor bazaar amidst copious explosions. "Well played Terry — sick link!" Beckman shouts to a teammate via his headset.
 
"I've got to give it up for Rayner, he's hitting a lot of shots," remarks the Twitch commentator on the live stream.

Rayne is in the zone.
 
After wrapping up a commanding win — and en route to securing the Sun Conference Championship — the bantering SCAD team heads towards the door. Beckman hangs back to talk.
 
"In Overwatch, we're working together to achieve a goal," he says. "One of the strengths of the game is the diversity of the characters. Each character has their own complexities. You have to know how to play each composition and how to play your hero in the composition optimally."
 

Beckman as a sophomore with the Eastern College Athletic Conference trophy.

When Beckman arrived at SCAD in 2020, he played his way onto the Overwatch team. Now a senior known as "Rayner," he has been intrinsic to the growth of competitive eSports at SCAD.
 
"Rayne is always ready to do what he can to benefit the program proactively," says SCAD eSports Director Ross Adams. "He helps find scrim partners, gives feedback on sessions, take notes for himself on how to improve and puts in the work within the game. I've asked him to play different roles within Overwatch, from support to DPS, and he remains flexible and enthusiastic."
 
The crux of Beckman's SCAD experience may be the crossover between eSports and his studies as a sound design major. In a quest to learn more programming for sound design for video games, Beckman enrolled last quarter in Core Principles: Game Tech (ITGM 266), taught by interactive design and game development professor Walter Woods.
 
"As a student, Rayne exemplifies the most important skill a creative professional can cultivate, which is resourcefulness," says Woods. "He takes on the challenge of bridging disciplines with a strong commitment to problem solving and critical thinking. It can sometimes seem overwhelming facing the complexity of balancing design, technical, and artistic concerns. Rayne just gets excited and gets to work."
 
Sound design professor Jamie Baker, who taught Beckman in Foley Production Technique (SNDS 322), uses one word for her student: "Dedicated."
 

Rayne Beckman, big hitter: SCADpro x PGA Tour.

In spring 2023, he was part of a group hand-selected for a SCADpro project for the PGA Tour, developing concepts to elevate brand awareness and presenting at PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. That led to Rayne, a golf enthusiast, working in summer 2023 to deliver post-production sound design to drive user engagement with the PGA.
 
A native of Houston, Texas, Beckman attended the prestigious Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts ("Yes, it's the Beyonce school!") where his passion for sound design began. He came to SCAD in part because "I liked that SCAD has a multi-channel room and offers a modular synth class." As he nears graduation, Rayne is weighing professional options including working in game audio and mixing for film. He praises a recent guest lecture delivered by industry pro Myron Nettinga (Kill Bill; Blue Eyed Samurai) at the invitation of sound design chair Mitchell Gettleman. "It inspired me to think more about pursuing rerecording mixing, the final stage in the moviemaking/sound design process, where the mixer takes all the audio and processes it."

For now, Beckman basks in the moment, messaging his Overwatch teammates via Discord ("Really proud of the work tonight!") and inviting them to play kickball in Forsyth Park.
 
"For me, it's the combination of sound design and eSports that has made SCAD so special," he says. "I love it."

Connect with Rayne Beckman on LinkedIn.

Beckman portrait photo: Max Fallenius (B.F.A. advertising)

Golf course photo: Samuel Murray (B.F.A. photography)

Come celebrate 20 years of SCAD Fibers Open Studio! Students, alumni, locals and visitors to Savannah are invited one and all to the beloved annual community event on this special milestone, Friday, March 1, 5:00-8:00 p.m in Pepe Hall. Explore the immersive environment in the home of the SCAD fibers department with what is sure to be a memorable and fabulous Fibers Open Studio.

The open studio event will showcase standout textile art by SCAD students, alumni and esteemed faculty. At this special 20th anniversary of the annual, always anticipated event, guests will have the opportunity to experience imaginative combinations of traditional techniques with cutting-edge technology and enjoy hands-on demos of screen printing, indigo dyeing, tufting, machine knitting, hand and digital embroidery, weaving, and more.

Now in its fourth decade, SCAD's top-ranked fibers program (part of the university's prestigious School of Fashion) is the largest in the U.S. Its comprehensive curriculum and inspiring facilities feature advanced tools and resources. Historic Pepe Hall is a 20,500-square-foot facility exclusively dedicated to the study of fibers, with state-of-the-art resources and equipment where students expertly develop their weaving, fabric design, screen printing, surface design, embellishment, sculptural, and environmental art skills. At SCAD Fibers Open Studio, the university's elite fibers program is open to the public to experience the magic and creativity of fibers and textile design.

The SCAD fibers department is the largest of its kind in the U.S. with a comprehensive curriculum and large, inspiring facilities stocked with top-of-the-line tools and resources. Students join the elite ranks of fibers artists who regularly win major awards. Successful fibers graduates work in demanding and inventive roles, developing thermal insulating blankets for NASA, automotive interior surface fabrics for Chrysler, innovative athletics materials for Nike, and custom fabrics and installations for fashion houses, retailers, and designers including Anthropologie, Lilly Pulitzer, Macy's, Liora Manné, Kravet, and more.

Embrace the chance to be inspired by the next generation of textile artists and designers!

For more info on SCAD Fibers Open Studio, visit the SCAD events page.

This event is free and open to the public.

"If I wasn’t certain that it would make me unemployable, I would definitely only design in green," wrote Aarushi Menon during her junior year at SCAD in 2022. Reminded of that claim now, the freelance designer at mighty book publisher Penguin Random House cracks up, pointing to her recent "divorce" from the color that once dominated her work.

In shocking pinks and riotous reds, Menon’s iterative designs for the forthcoming Elizabeth Agyemang novel Heart-Shaped Lies (Delacorte Press, 2024) demonstrate her commitment to excellence across the chromatic spectrum. Such diversity was inevitable in Menon’s daily operation.

Unsued design outtake for a book by Penguin Random House author Elizabeth Agyemang. 

"I’m designing all day on InDesign and Photoshop while everyone else does the hard work of production coordinating," Aarushi says with affection for her PRH colleagues. "When I’m doing book cover designs and I’m not able to figure something out, I’ll still throw green on it and then I’m like, Okay, now I can see where things are supposed to be!" 

Less than twelve months after graduating from SCAD, Menon (B.F.A., graphic design, 2023) has received the IDA Emerging Graphic Designer of the Year Award. She has also gotten nods from World Brand Design Society, Young Ones TDC, and GDUSA. As the trophies and books begin to compete for space on her mantlepiece, she looks back at where she was just a few years ago.

"I found out about SCAD from a visiting recruiter while I was a secondary student at Garden International School in Kuala Lumpur," she says. "I came to Savannah to study illustration because I wanted to draw children’s books." That trajectory changed when she learned about photography and typography as graphic design elements. "The variety helped keep me motivated, and I switched majors."

Professor Stuart Fano taught Menon in major curriculum course Production for Print and Digital Environments (GRDS 358). "Aarushi brought a keen problem-solving intelligence and attention to detail to each of her projects," he says. "She displayed a passionate curiosity that resulted in excellent work that raised the standard in the whole class. I’m so pleased to see she is already having a positive impact and meeting with success in such a distinguished industry."

Menon remembers "loving the analog feeling" of bookmaking in Fano’s class. Tactility inspired her Unsplash and Texturelabs-assisted "365-Day Poster Design Challenge" project, which impressed her senior designers at Penguin Random House. It helped that her portfolio included speculative covers for Colin Dickey books including Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places (Viking, 2016) that she developed while taking Typography II: Information and Media (GRDS 353) with graphic design professor Michael Whitney.

"Aarushi was an exceptional student," says professor Whitney. "Her use of type is at a very high level, as is her ability to prototype physical mockups of project finals. She now volunteers to speak to my Portfolio groups via Zoom, and is inspirational to them." 

A commitment to coaching and guidance dates to Menon's time at SCAD as a peer tutor at the Jen Library's drop-in resource center. "Being an international student myself helped me better understand the challenges of written communication for students who might not speak English as their first language," says the native of India.

That dedication to effective communication manifests in her professional process, and the fact that designing a book cover starts with the manuscript. "You read, you take notes, you highlight quotes that are visually evocative, and then you get to the sketching phase," Menon explains. "Sometimes sketching is not taking out a pen and paper and drawing, it’s sewing and pasting, or gathering images onto a Photoshop board and experimenting."

Aarushi started at Penguin Random House in 2023 executing mechanicals ("you pick up a front cover from another designer and do the spine and the back cover") for imprints including Hogarth and Del Rey, understanding the art direction ecosystem, and gradually receiving more cover assignments.

"I’ve learned a lot about the processes that go into making a book cover from [senior designer] Cassie Gonzales and other amazing designers at PRH. There is a significant amount of practical reasoning that has to do with genre and content that decides the aesthetic before you even start on a cover. You’re conveying something about not only a specific moment or event that’s described in the book, but about the overall messaging that the author is trying to impart."

Menon’s excellence may help explain why, as she says, "The desire for physical books has had such a resurgence in my generation."

Connect with Aarushi Menon!

"If we don't have experimentation, we don't have a way to learn," says Shalom Volchok (B.F.A., graphic design, 2001). "If user metrics don't improve, it doesn't matter what we think of the design."

Make no mistake: Volchok is a lover of beautiful design. As CEO of optimization platform Outsmartly, he is devoted to building technology that drives conversion. His essential question: "How do we push ecommerce further?"

Volchok founded Outsmartly with CFO Emily Adler in 2020, their tagline promising "50x growth potential for Shopify stores at 100x less cost." For online merchants who use Shopify, Outsmartly has become an indispensable tool to help grow, manage, and scale up a business. (Shopify itself has praised Outsmartly's role in the ten-million-sold success of the portable BlendJet blender. That's beaucoup smoothies.)

"Shalom has a pedigree that is different than most," says Ray Crowell, managing director of the SCADpro Fund, the university's alumni start-up investment arm. "His ability to optimize performance for other companies demonstrates the business-model relevancy of Outsmartly. His focus and self-awareness make him an ideal mentor for SCAD students."

Outsmartly CEO Shalom Volchok.

The "many years" of tech-building that Volchok mentions are real. After graduating from SCAD in 2001, he revolutionized his parents' direct-to-consumer company Blessed Herbs, designing all its packaging and marketing, creating an ecommerce strategy, and turning it into an online sales juggernaut. The keys were analytics and A-B testing, two approaches he is refining towards perfection with Outsmartly.

"When a consumer comes to an ecommerce website, that site needs creativity, it needs beauty, it needs design, it needs function, and all that needs to serve a purpose," he says. "By pulling data together, we can manage the levers that are going to drive profitability and the growth of the business."

Volchok excels at explaining business concepts according to his audience. It's hard to imagine anyone more enthusiastically unpacking the challenges of integrating on-site advertising and inventory management. "Paid advertising is probably one of the things that's nearest and dearest to me," he says with a grin.

His appearances on Cloudflare TV and JAMstack go neck-deep in tech-speak, yet they reveal an essential truth: Shalom is an excellent communicator. As he says, "If we don't talk, nothing moves."

Shalom attributes his commitment to effective communication in part to his "intensely isolated" home-schooled childhood. He says he lacked proper peer socialization until arriving at SCAD, where he remembers being "hypercompetitive" and finding success as a member of the SCAD men's golf team. (Volchok was a nationally rated player under Coach Fred Fruisen.)

In turn, communication is the key to Shalom managing his own workforce. "The best people want to do what needs to be done and do it right. The challenge is, how do you get those things to happen together, where it provides a lot of value to the individual, and significant value to the company?"

Backed by SCADpro Fund, Volchok will return as a mentor this year at SCAD. "I love SCAD," he says. "Savannah remains dear to my heart." And for many fully optimized years to come.

   Connect with Shalom Volchok.