It takes a sure diploma of bravery to pursue a inventive profession path, given the fierce competitors for jobs that may justify the funding in a BFA diploma. That’s why the school at Laguna College of Art + Design (LCAD) is dedicated to giving college students the information and expertise they want, together with supplying the skilled instruments and functions used within the “real world,” to set them up for achievement after commencement.
Case in level: when Rivian Automotive restored Laguna’s iconic South Coast Theater, reforming it as a inventive hub and film venue for the group, LCAD college students created an interactive set up to mark the grand opening. Using Frame.io, they made a memorable—and beneficial—expertise for the group and themselves.
Real-world expertise
LCAD provides a complete curriculum with programs in video, movement graphics, 3D, experiential artwork, pictures, packaging, CMF (colour, supplies, and end), and product and model id—alongside a strong basis of typography, composition, and colour. Students earn a BFA in Design with minors in Motion, UI/UX, Packaging, and Action Sports. LCAD Design graduates have a various talent set and might work throughout a spread of inventive profession paths from Motion, UI/UX, Brand, CMF, Product, Packaging, Environmental Graphic Design, Apparel, and Footwear.
But past the lessons, LCAD business collaborations are a keystone aspect of this system to deliver real-world and utilized experiences to BFA Design college students, partnering with manufacturers that embody Vans, Kia Automotive, and Nike, establishments just like the UCI School of Medicine, and the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.
Professor Dan Jensen, who led the Rivian undertaking, is a devoted teacher who embraces the most recent in skilled expertise to assist college students put together for what lies past faculty. Dan has used Frame.io in his movement graphics programs for greater than six years, and finds it invaluable for critiquing pupil work and offering fast, actionable suggestions.
But for this undertaking, Frame.io was additionally an integral half of the particular workflow. According to Dan, Frame.io was important to maintaining the undertaking manageable. “We had multiple classes involved and a tight schedule,” he says.
Design college students from three completely different programs—Motion Graphics 1, Motion Graphics 2, and 3D Animation 2— created a 30-second looping animation, rendered in layers consisting of a background, midground, and foreground. The midground layer featured a Rivian car and was designed to let contributors be visually built-in because the car’s driver, making them the celebrities of every distinctive motion-graphic animation. This setup allowed for a parallax impact, creating the phantasm of depth and motion. Frame.io helped them handle the big movement graphic information throughout a number of teams for suggestions and enter.
The midground layer featured a Rivian car and was designed to let contributors be visually built-in because the car’s driver, making them the celebrities of every distinctive motion-graphic animation. Frame.io helped them handle the big movement graphic information throughout a number of teams for suggestions and enter.
Shared values
This undertaking is a shining instance of the progressive spirit and creative excellence that LCAD fosters in its BFA Design college students, whereas aligning with Dan’s personal ardour for exploring new strategies and applied sciences to assist his college students develop.
But this undertaking additionally significantly resonated with the school and college students inasmuch as Rivian’s want for revitalizing the South Coast Theater was to create “an inviting place that fosters connection with communities.” As a beloved Laguna Beach landmark, it was becoming that the native college students ought to take part in an effort that will improve their very own group.
Even greater than that, Rivian’s firm ethos is to create constructive change that enables our planet to “sustain life and enchant future generations.” As representatives of their technology, the LCAD college students additionally profit from the chance to achieve their real-world work expertise alongside an organization that’s dedicated to serving to maintain that world important, wholesome, and artistic.
Which, once more, aligns with LCAD’s mission: to assist college students do greater than “just” learn to use the instruments. Complex tasks require a whole lot of crucial pondering to work by means of the logistics of execution, and making an expertise like this enjoyable and accessible whereas maintaining the undertaking’s general footprint and influence small takes a whole lot of cautious planning. All they’d on the precise location was a inexperienced display screen and a few furnishings, some lights and a digicam. The backgrounds and foreground parts had been pre-composed digitally utilizing Adobe After Effects and the Maxon Cinema 4D plugin, and the inexperienced display screen footage was then composited dwell for the delighted contributors to see.
According to Dan, “Frame.io was essential for us to create consistent and functional design solutions in a short amount of time.”
A wider influence
Dan’s enthusiasm for Frame.io inside his personal lessons has labored as a proof of idea for different school at LCAD. According to Dana Herkelrath, Chair of the undergraduate Graphic Design + Digital Media Department and a Professor of Visual Communication Design at LCAD, when Dan shared his utilized experiences with Frame.io, they had been motivated to strive it, too.
“Our faculty in experimental animation, game, and entertainment design are seeing the potential for their classroom projects and reviewing student work,” she says. “It’s pretty seamless for you to engage with students in these large file formats when you’re using Frame.”
Dan explains that for individuals who haven’t used Frame.io, they could consider it as simply one other device for importing video like Vimeo or Google Drive. “They don’t understand how accessible and efficient it is,” he says. “Being able to share, comment, and jump in and out of projects makes it a great tool for design work in progress. I don’t think people really understand it until they use Frame.io for a little while and see that impact. I use it consistently in my studio classes and I find it extremely valuable to my teaching process and improving our student outcomes.”
I take advantage of it constantly in my studio lessons and I discover it extraordinarily beneficial to my educating course of and bettering our pupil outcomes.
In the tip, what was most respected was the influence this undertaking had on the scholars. Not solely did it educate them the way to create a undertaking like this from begin to end, it gave them the chance to work with a dynamic firm like Rivian—and to showcase the outcomes of their work of their BFA portfolios.
“The opportunity to create an immersive experience at Rivian while showing professional level design work is key in our student portfolios,” Dan states. “It was great for them because they could see that within a two-week period, when they buckle down and focus, they can achieve great outcomes. Having a tool like Frame.io makes this experience possible. We can talk about and execute design projects in the studio classroom, but having a tangible opportunity is invaluable. Two of our students have interviewed for jobs at Rivian—one was hired—and that’s amazing.”
LCAD typically integrates business companions into their design studio lessons. “We have had the opportunities to work on a broad range of design collaborations in diverse sectors including transportation, education, apparel, product.” Dana says. “We’re very motivated to continue to build those industry relationships as we guide the next generation of creative makers and thinkers. Creative thinkers can ignite change in our lives, experiences, and the world at large. At LCAD, we are focused on giving our grads the tools they need to jump into professional practice in industry.”
And we’re thrilled that our product is a part of the device set that helps set LCAD’s college students up for future success.
