Designmatters plays a significant role in imbuing the educational experience at Art Center with social responsibility, cross-cultural relevance and an impassioned commitment to the larger world.

Designmatters is a non-degree granting educational department that partners with all Art Center disciplines to focus on design education with a social impact agenda. The department provides students the opportunity to immerse themselves in projects that generate real-world outcomes and address some of the most urgent issues of inequity facing the world today.

Founded in 2001, Designmatters has forged a network of global partnerships that is unique among design schools, and provides students and the Art Center community access to a prominent stage for meaningful engagement. In recognition of Designmatters’ service to society, in 2003 Art Center became the first design school to receive non-governmental organization (NGO) status by the United Nations Department of Public Information. The College is also formally affiliated with the Organization of American States.

Through Designmatters, students across all disciplines participate in courses, internships and special projects in collaboration with international development agencies, nonprofit organizations, government groups and industry leaders. Through these projects and alliances, students have created public service announcements, branding identity systems, documentary films, product prototypes, mobility concepts, environmental solutions and more.

Designmatters courses and projects are aligned under four key thematic areas of study: public policy, sustainable development, global healthcare and social entrepreneurship. Each Designmatters project is an invitation to tackle a critical social problem, embrace a complex design challenge and contribute solutions that can point toward a more sustainable and humane future for all.

The expansion of the scope of design recognizes the role and responsibility of designers to address environmental impacts, social and cultural needs, and economic growth and development.

At Art Center, we are developing a “comprehensive design” curriculum, where design is the sum total of form, function and sustainability. We view design broadly and in terms of systems, and we are actively engaged in developing various systems-based approaches, including lifecycle analysis and business innovation.

Comprehensive design informs many of our educational and research activities, as well as our campus-wide initiatives. In the classroom, for example, we offer academic and studio courses like Design for Sustainability that are open to all majors, where students are introduced to sustainability as a component of comprehensive design, learn to use lifecycle analysis and weigh the implications of materials and processes. 

Beyond the classroom, our student-led EcoCouncil meets weekly and has implemented a number of important events that take place each term, including a Trunk Sale to reuse and share materials, and a Bike Tune-Up to support bike ridership. Significantly, EcoCouncil led the College to undertake a Zero-Waste Initiative, which introduced composting and aims to reduce waste by 90 percent.

Mustard is a student group that aims to create opportunities for education, inspiration and action at the intersection of design and social change. Mustard has hosted a “Meaning for Design” speaker series, film screenings on a variety of social issues, and its current initiative seeks to utilize its members’ design skills and thinking to engage with and help Los Angeles communities.

Art Center’s Manager of Transportation and Sustainability oversees the administration’s efforts to green the campus from a real estate and operations standpoint.

This includes management of the College’s Rideshare program, working with the Student Store and the Technical Skill Center to provide eco-friendly materials and working with Facilities to ensure that cleaning and janitorial supplies are safe for our environment.

The manager works closely with EcoCouncil in promoting awareness of sustainability issues across campus and has been instrumental in implementing the College’s Zero-Waste Initiative.

Beginning with a composting program in the cafeteria, the College will soon turn its attention to the recycling of clean fibers and continue to explore additional components of source reduction, recycling, reuse and environmentally preferred purchasing.