Next stop for SCAD alumnus Jeffrey Taylor: Paris, France.

As Paris Fashion Week kicks off, "la Ville Lumière" is the only place to see Tibet Garden, the award-winning collection created by Taylor (B.F.A. fashion, 2016). Winner of the $10,000 grand prize of the 9^th Annual Supima Design Competition this September during New York Fashion Week, Taylor’s collection will be unveiled at the Supima Design Competition Presentation on Thursday, September 27, 7-10 p.m., in Paris. 

Taylor’s entire five-piece collection will be presented on the mechanized runway in an industrial space that will set off his colorful, romantic designs. Fashion influencers and industry insiders are promised an evening of exceptional fashion. 

“Jeffrey's triumph affirms his mastery of fashion,” said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. “The lyrical lines and deft craftsmanship of his Supima collection deserve the international stage.”

Tibet Garden was inspired by a trip to New York City, where Taylor saw a group of Tibetan women passing by in a train station. Moved by the colorful attire, their heritage and culture, he designed a floral eveningwear collection representing the women’s transformation during their coming of age. Taylor collaborated with Jennifer Dranttel (M.F.A. fibers), Liz Nagel (B.F.A. fibers, 2016), Katherine Boarman (B.F.A. fibers, 2016), Olivia Miller (B.F.A. fibers, 2016), and Naomi Crumpley (B.F.A. fashion, fashion marketing and management minor, 2016). They helped create patterned textiles for the collection by scanning in real flowers and hand-beading and embroidering the flowers.

Taylor’s affinity for fashion began at a young age when he was inspired by his mother’s bright church clothes. After a congregation member taught him how to sew, his creative perseverance grew into a successful college career at SCAD. The young designer made his official runway debut at the 2016 SCAD Fashion Show, an annual event featuring premier garments from select senior collections within SCAD’s School of Fashion.

Taylor was one of only six designers invited to display his emerging designer collection, Tibet Garden, during NYFW at the Skylight Clarkson Square gallery space in Lincoln Center on September 8. The Supima Design Competition creates runway exposure for top emerging talent, supporting young designers and challenging them to create capsule collections of women’s eveningwear from luxury cotton fabrics. SCAD graduate Kate McKenna (B.F.A., fashion, 2015) won the 2015 competition.

“SCAD’s fashion program is competitive, so I was thrilled to be selected as one of the designers for the SCAD Fashion Show,” said Taylor. “Being selected by jury for the show, and then, just a few months later, winning Supima, has all been the icing on top of an incredible college experience. I feel unbelievably honored.”

Félicitations à vous, Jeffrey!

In a crowded hall inside the Los Angeles Convention Center, there’s a fight going on. Metal on metal, a brutal brawl, wreaking havoc on the steely surroundings. Actually, the fracas is only a game — but to the competitors wearing Oculus headsets, “Brobot Beat Down” feels real.

Created in SCAD interactive design and game development professor Jack Mamais’ senior project class, “Brobot Beat Down” is a virtual reality multiplayer where combatants pilot giant robots with the express purpose of beating mech to mush. Last week in L.A., it beat five other finalists to win the College Game Competition at E3 — the premier annual expo for the video game industry. SCADworks was fortunate to spar with co-lead designer Justin Couchot (B.F.A. interactive design and game development) about the experience.

SCAD: How did “Brobot Beat Down” originate?

COUCHOT: At the end of last year I met Spencer Humphries, and we became co-leads for the project. We were going into Studio 2, so we made a goal sheet. The first thing on the list was “Go to E3.” We decided to create a virtual reality game, and SCAD had a couple Oculus Rift DK2 we could use. We had a rough alpha at the end of quarter, then we picked up Slater Ferrell to work on the environment. I’d say, “Make this tower kind of cartoony and kind of realistic and beat up,” and Slater would turn it around perfectly.

SCAD: How were you selected to go to E3?

COUCHOT: It was a long process. E3 is invitation only. This past quarter, there was the initial internal submission at SCAD where everyone submits their games and the professors vote. Sixteen games were submitted. We were a finalist with another great game called “Dino Batter.” Then we had one week to get our game to the highest production level possible, then the professors voted again. We got selected. At that point SCAD submitted “Brobot Beat Down” to E3. We had to wait four weeks to find out if we were selected as an E3 finalist, so we kept working on the game the whole time, hoping.

SCAD: Between SCAD commencement and your new job and E3 you’ve been logging some serious air miles.

COUCHOT: I graduated on a Saturday and Monday started work at Krush Technologies in Dayton, Ohio. They let me take four days off to go to E3. Last Thursday we found out we won E3. I got on the plane at 10:30 that night with the trophy in my luggage, and went straight to work with it the next morning. The company I work for now does virtual reality and augmented reality. I think AR is the wave of the future, because it’s about the space you already live in.

SCAD: What did you learn about being a team leader from this experience?

COUCHOT: You have to keep people motivated. It was showing people it’d be a good portfolio piece, and bartering. I traded 20 hours of work with our rigger, Abby Ince. I worked on her senior film for animation, modelling assets. It’s a SCAD tradition, students trading work hours on other students’ projects.

SCAD: Last question: What’s your favorite scene with fighting robots from any movie ever?

COUCHOT: The scene in Short Circuit where Johnny Five is running through the woods fighting the other robots and turns them into the Three Stooges. Yep, that’s my favorite.

Students who worked on “Brobot Beat Down” include Justin Couchot, Spencer Humphries (B.F.A. interactive design and game development), Charles D’Avignon (B.F.A. animation), Slater Ferrell (B.F.A. interactive design and game development), Raed AlAmoudi (B.F.A. visual effects), Tom Schmidt (B.F.A. visual effects), Abby Ince (B.F.A. animation), Parker Knowles (B.F.A. sound design), Dylan Hairston (B.F.A. sound design), Chanel van Eeden (B.F.A. interactive design and game development), and Matthew Gallman (B.F.A. sequential art). 

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace as a recipient of the 2016 AIA Honorary Membership. AIA is the leading professional membership association for licensed architects, emerging professionals and allied partners since 1857. Its honorary membership is one of the highest distinctions that AIA can bestow upon a person outside the architectural profession.

President Wallace is being recognized for her exceptional leadership in the fields of architecture and historic preservation, specifically her vision and commitment to elevating the building arts worldwide. Under President Wallace’s leadership, SCAD has revitalized more than 100 historic structures worldwide. Since the university’s first adaptive reuse project in 1978 — renovating the former Savannah Volunteer Guards Armory to serve as SCAD’s first classroom and office space — SCAD has won recognition from the American Institute of Architects, UNESCO, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the International Downtown Association, the Congress for the New Urbanism and others.

"I am deeply grateful for this distinction, knowing that many individuals have contributed during the past forty years to SCAD’s renown in architecture,” President Wallace said. “It takes true teamwork to preserve cultural heritage through adaptive new use, and to create human-scaled, sustainable new construction that harmoniously complements the built and natural environment. This supreme honor bestowed by the American Institute of Architecture is truly shared by everyone — including SCAD students, faculty, staff and alumni — who holds high the banner of building arts, environmental design, historic preservation and urban revitalization."

For more information on AIA’s 2016 Honorary Membership recipients, visit their website.

How do you celebrate Georgia Day in Savannah, the first city in the last of the 13 original colonies? By commemorating some of its most distinguished women from history and modernity, of course! The Savannah Women of Vision dedication ceremony at Arnold Hall is open to the public. 

When SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace noticed the lack of women in the 1930s’ Works Progress Administration mural in Arnold Hall’s theater, she decided it was time to elevate the traditionally underrepresented demographic. The Savannah Women of Vision portrait installation celebrates the remarkable ideas, insightful leadership and distinguished service of 10 women who have profoundly sculpted the city of Savannah and beyond.

Carved cameos paying tribute to each of the following honorees will permanently line the walls in Arnold Hall’s theater:

• Mary Musgrove Matthews Bosomworth
• Abigail Minis
• Mother Mathilda Beasley
• Juliette Gordon Low
• Flannery O’Connor
• Nancy N. Lewis
• Emma Morel Adler
• Frances Wong
• Alice Andrews Jepson
• Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears

The larger-than-life portraits honoring these women were created by none other than SCAD alumnus Michael Porten (B.F.A., illustration; M.F.A., painting). But Porten isn’t the only alum taking part in this historic event; the following alumnae will speak during the ceremony:

• Susan Laney (B.F.A., photography)
• Meredith Sutton (B.F.A., metals and jewelry)
• Clare Ward (B.F.A., performing arts)
• Nontra Yantaprasert (B.F.A., fashion)
• Zoe Leung (B.F.A., historic preservation)
• Osayi Endolyn (M.F.A., writing)
• Ayeola Johnson (M.A., arts administration)
• Felicia Bell (M.A., historic preservation)
• Capucine Gros (B.F.A., painting)
• Amy Lind (B.F.A., illustration)
• Elva Jiang (B.F.A., fashion, fashion marketing and management)

SCAD invites the public to join the celebration at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12 at Arnold Hall, located at 1810 Bull St.

Happy new year from SCAD! Our first big 2016 announcement: SCAD FASH will feature Daniel Lismore, "London's most outrageous dresser," in his first U.S. exhibition, entitled "Be Yourself; Everyone else is already taken," on Jan. 22. Just as exciting is Jonathan Becker's fashion photography exhibition "A Fashionable Mind," also opening at SCAD FASH on Jan. 22.

Before we dive into more new year announcements, let’s take a look at what made 2015 monumental. It was a year of firsts, incredible lectures and presentations and prestigious awards.

 

2015 has been a year of #SCAD pride! Our #Bees excelled as they earned 9 #reddot awards and had record-setting numbers in competitions! Our student-athletes triumphed-- including an equestrian team Triple Crown win! SCAD offers the #1 graduate #fashion program in the U.S., as noted by @BOF and, for an unprecedented 5th year in a row, reached #1 in #interiordesign by #DesignIntelligence! 2016 looks even brighter as SCAD Bees continue to excel in all facets of #art, #design, and #athletics! #HappyNewYear!

A video posted by Paula S. Wallace (@paulaswallace) on

Jan 1, 2016 at 5:18am PST

Here are 15 great SCAD moments from 2015: 

1. The First Hong Kong Fashion Showcase

As the city of Hong Kong quickly becomes one of the world’s fashion capitals, it comes to no surprise that SCAD’s talented fashion students began showcasing their work in Hong Kong during January of 2015. Major brand executives attended the inaugural show: Polo Ralph Lauren, DKNY and Shanghai Tang. 

2. aTVFest

The third year of the festival included many talented faces from fan-favorite TV shows. With workshops and panels, the honorees included Timothy Hutton, Terrence Howard and the entire cast of ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder.”

3. deFINE Art

After 10 years, Chinese artist Xu Bing returned to SCAD as the keynote speaker for this event as his exhibition, “Things Are Not What They First Appear” showcased at SCAD Museum of Art.

4. SCAD Style

Designers and creative influencers came to Savannah, Atlanta and Hong Kong for a weeklong series of panel discussions and workshops. Students had face-to-face time with the likes of Lauren Bush Lauren, Meagan Cignoli, Jennifer Fisher and Alexander Wang. 

5. Equestrian team celebrates triple championship win

SCAD’s continually winning equestrian team made history as the only team to win the following titles in the same year: the American National Riding Commission (ANRC) National Championship, Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) National Championship and Tournament of Champions (TOC) series. 

6. SCAD Fashion Show

The 2015 André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award went to fashion icon Dame Vivienne Westwood. After receiving the honor, Westwood sat front row during the student showcase to witness the talented designs of our top senior collections.

7. The graduate fashion program ranks No. 1

SCAD came out on top as the No. 1 graduate fashion program in the U.S. according to London-based Business of Fashion. 

8. High employment rate for graduating students

According to a SCAD institutional effectiveness survey of 2014 alumni, 97 percent of graduates were employed, pursuing higher education or both within 10 months of commencement.

9. SCAD ranks high within the universities of Americas and Europe

Red Dot Design named SCAD among the top four universities in the Americas and Europe. Throughout the year, our students also brought home seven Red Dot Awards. 

10. SCAD FASH a Museum of Fashion and Film

October 2015 brought the historic opening of the first southeastern fashion museum within the U.S. The inaugural exhibition, “Oscar de la Renta,” showcased over 80 garments within the newly up-cycled space and welcomed more than 10,500 visitors during its time.

11. 18^th Year of Savannah Film Festival

This year showed the most documentaries throughout the festival’s history, as well as showcasing mostly films with female leads. The honorees included Meg Ryan, Olivia Wilde, Saoirse Ronan and Alfie Allen.

12. DesignIntelligence ranked SCAD’s Interior Design Program No. 1

It’s the fifth consecutive year for SCAD’s undergraduate interior design program to be ranked as No.1 and the third year for SCAD’s graduate interior design program to be ranked No. 1 by DesignIntelligence.

13. SCAD provides a faster track to architecture

Chosen by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), SCAD architecture students can proceed from education to licensure in as few as seven years.

14. Google and SCAD create a new User Experience Design degree

Putting students at the forefront of this emerging discipline, the new degree is the first of its kind in the country. Google will continue to be a valuable resource, holding annual workshops and introducing collaborative projects through SCAD’s Collaborative Learning Center, and instituting a mentorship program for students.

15. Talented SCAD Students and Alumni

The reputation of our students and alumni continued throughout the year of 2015. To name a few: Zach Prengler (B.F.A., film and television) worked as production assistant on the summer blockbuster Jurassic World; Kate McKenna-Schliep (B.F.A., fashion) won the eighth annual Supima Design Competition; Max Bickley (B.F.A., visual effects) served as the Lighting Technical Director for The Good Dinosaur.

Happy SCAD Month! Yes, you read that correctly. The Atlanta City Council has proclaimed December 2015 SCAD Month in honor of SCAD Atlanta’s tenth anniversary, and in recognition of the dedication of President Paula Wallace and the university’s students, faculty and staff.

Since SCAD Atlanta opened in 2005, it has flourished with the addition of tremendous resources, including the historic Ivy Hall Writing Center, a restored and revitalized 19th century structure; the recently expanded Digital Media Center that was created within the former WXIA-TV building; and the new SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion and Film, the first of its kind in the southern United States.

The Atlanta City Council’s proclamation reads:

“Yet the learning experience reaches beyond SCAD students. All Atlantans from every walk of life look forward to SCAD’s next meaningful contribution to our city: artwork that SCAD will commission, acquire, curate and install at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.”

But that’s not all! More congratulations are in hand for President Wallace who, as a former Atlanta Public School teacher and native of the city, was awarded the Phoenix Award by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. The Phoenix is the highest citizen award the mayor can give, and acknowledges President Wallace’s commitment to Atlanta’s artistic, cultural and educational development.

How about a warm round of applause for the SCAD students and alumni who garnered seven wins in the globally recognized, prestigious Red Dot Awards for Communication Design?

The annual competition receives more than 11,000 submissions from roughly 60 countries worldwide. A jury of international design experts chose 569 entries for awards in 17 categories in Communication Design — the art of mixing visual media and text to craft how a message is delivered to an audience. It's one of the most ambitious worldwide competitions in design, recognizing the rising leaders in creative technological innovation.

The winners from SCAD are as follows:

• Jing Li (M.F.A., illustration) won four awards for Illustration (See his illustrations)
• Diego Peñuela (M.F.A., illustration) won one award for Editorial Illustration (See his illustration)
• Nicholas Lawrence (B.F.A., sound design), Thomas Schmidt (B.F.A., sound design), Liam Murphy (B.F.A., animation), Matt Yocum (B.F.A., sound design), and Kai Paquin (B.F.A., sound design) won an award for their animation "NO-A" (Watch it here)
• Adam Nelson (B.F.A., film and television), Tate McCurdy (B.F.A., film and television), Alex Previty (B.F.A., sound design), and Beau Jimenez won an award for their short film "Sea Odyssey" (Watch it here)

Drumroll, please...

On DesignIntelligence's annual "America's Best Architecture and Design Schools" list, SCAD's graduate and undergraduate interior design programs have once again come out on top! This is the fifth year in a row that the undergraduate program has been named No. 1 in the nation.

For more than 15 years, DesignIntelligence has been the publication and rankings body of the Design Futures Council. Their rankings — based on which programs are best in teaching design, communication, sustainability and technology skills — are culled from academic deans, chairs and leading practitioners from across the country.

SCAD's interior design department is here to guide aspiring interior designers into full-blown creative careers, offering B.F.A., M.A. and M.F.A. degrees in Atlanta, Hong Kong, Savannah and online via eLearning.

And to show how our love of interior design goes beyond the classroom, take a look at some inspiring student-centered interiors around SCAD:

Click here to request more information or apply to SCAD.

Slideshow images: (1) Savannah Film Studios, Savannah; (2) Norris Hall, Savannah; (3) SCAD Digital Media Center, Atlanta; (4) SCAD FASH, Atlanta; (5) SCAD Hong Kong; (6) Moot Gallery, Hong Kong; (7) La Maison Basse, Lacoste; (8) ShopSCAD, Lacoste.

With the 18th annual Savannah Film Festival coming to a close, we wanted to take a look back at the winners of last year's festival. Fifty-five films competed for more than $80,000 in cash and prizes. Below are the winners of the three student awards.

Student Awards

• HBO Films Student Competition Award 2014 — "Sweet Corn," a 20-minute dramatic comedy about a stubborn old farmer who takes extraordinary measures to save his corn field and ends up with some surprising results.
• Best SCAD Student Competition Award — "Southsouthwest," a 14-minute drama about a photo enthusiast tormented by local bullies who faces a test of courage his ailing grandfather's camera is stolen and placed at the top of a fire tower.
• Silver Screen Society Award — "Southsouthwest"

Each year, President Paula Wallace awards many deserving SCAD professors a Presidential Fellowship for use during scheduled breaks or during spring and summer quarters. The program supplements opportunities for travel, conference support, sabbatical grants and professional development and advancement. SCAD recently spoke with five of the 14 professors whose Presidential Fellowship experiences occurred over the summer.

Today we learn about Christine Wacta, architecture professor at SCAD Savannah, who spent her fellowship in France studying urban design and the specifics involved in creating future cities.

• Architecture professor at SCAD Savannah
• D.P.L.G., Ecole d'Architecture de Paris-La-Défense, Paris, France
• Dip. Arch., Ecole d'Architecture de Paris-La Défense, Paris, France

SCAD: Your SCAD Presidential Fellowship was awarded for a project titled “Urban Body/Urban System: Exploring a Procedural Modeling Approach on Toulouse and Paris, France, as a Promising Way to Address Urban Planning Using Esri CityEngine and ArcGIS Pro.” Tell us more about it, and why you chose this subject.

CHRISTINE WACTA: The Presidential Fellowship took me to Paris and Toulouse where I worked in collaboration with EVCAU lab, focusing on how to use the computing power of the 3-D applications in the urban design process. I participated in an ongoing project using a handful of applications, namely ArcMap, ArcScene, QGIS, sDNA and CityEngine, to explore a more comprehensive and global approach that treats the city as a complex ensemble. The metaphor of the city as a living organism was explored in ways that highlighted performance and systemic function in urban design. Spatial analysis was created to evaluate environmental, functional, economic and sociocultural aspects. Additionally, case studies were made to expose the behavioral and intelligent capabilities of a procedural approach to urban design in order to suggest specific solutions to given urban issues. 

My interest in this subject came from students, who, over the years, asked me a very simple question that I was unable to answer: “What software do you think I should use to work on my studio project?” As simple as that might sound, I found myself unable to help the students as I struggled myself to find a single software that does it all — until I discovered CityEngine.

SCAD: How do you predict the knowledge and experience gained through your fellowship will influence your future work and inform your goals as an educator at SCAD?

WACTA: The knowledge and expertise gained through the fellowship has already been tested in my summer classes. I held an informed discourse in my classes, one that relied on fact and testing rather than utopia and hope. I taught the summer Rising Star class and discussed with the students all of the right tools available out there for design. In fact, I had a very long and exciting discussion with a Rising Star student’s parent, whose daughter is interested in urban planning as well as architecture.

This fellowship has definitely allowed me to redirect my future goals. I am furthering my knowledge and skills in computational and procedural design. I have since started training in Python (coding), a tool that I believe every architect, designer or planner must master in order to be best equipped for the challenge ahead in developing future cities.

SCAD: If you could go back to the beginning of your career, what advice would you give yourself? Is there anything you would do differently?

WACTA: Think globally, seek multidisciplinary collaborations, and look beyond the barriers of your own field. The one thing I would do differently would be to gain skills in coding and computational design, and to seek more collaboration in the field, such as interactive media, geography, mathematics, geology and physics.