The program formerly known as D-Crit is now a one-year MA in Design Research and they are accepting applications for this Fall. They are happy to announce that SVA MA just launched our new website.

The site is modeled on an online publication and features the thematically organized research of our students, alumni, and faculty. The first theme, "Home," introduces essays, podcasts, and videos that explore a spectrum of domestic topics, ranging from a Mars habitation unit in the Utah desert to the housing shortage among the hermit crab population, and from a hip-hop playlist inspired by New York's public housing projects to Robinson Crusoe's makeshift living quarters. 

As the site's designer Eric Price puts it, "We have created a content-centric design framework that allows for a wide range of texts and associated documentary media, and tuned the structure and typography to scale from the phone to the tablet and beyond. Seasonal updates will continue to expand its coverage and provide a robust searchable archive."

SVA MA invite you to take a look. Please make yourself at home!

SVA MA is also very pleased to be launching the new SVA MA Design Research identity system, designed by Matthew Rezac. Just as the MA Design Research program is an academic evolution of D-Crit, the identity, too, carries forward attributes from its predecessor's visual language. The most immediate being the bookmark shape, which has been slightly modified and combined with additional elements that tie in to the overarching concept of the website: academic citation, cross-references, and infinitely interconnected content. The core of the identity system is the logomark, which Rezac designed to be as versatile as possible. "It's just as happy center stage as the primary element as it is as a supporting character in an expanded tableau," Rezac says of the mark.

They look forward to unrolling more elements of the identity system over the coming months. 

Eric Price is a graphic designer and programmer at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis where he has helped to develop the Center's distinctive and innovative online presence representing their collections, blogs, store, events, fellowships, and other initiatives. Price studied Graphic Design at the University of Minnesota. He has been recognized as one of Print magazines's 2013 "20 Under 30" New Visual Artists. 

Mathew Rezac is a former Walker Art Center Graphic Design Fellow. He studied Graphic Design and Photography at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where he also worked as part of a small team charged with re-branding the school. His studio work has been featured in HOW, Idea, and Print. Rezac's studio, established in 2006, is based in Minneapolis and, in addition to SVA, his other clients include Chronicle Books, Northern Lights.mn, and the Marianne Boesky Gallery.

Many thanks to everyone who helped them to build the site, in particular:
Emily Weiner, program coordinator, SVA MA Design Research
Anne Quito, alum, SVA Department of Design Research, Writing and Criticism
Ian Hill, network manager, SVA Network Services
Program faculty, students, and alumni, SVA Department of Design Research, Writing and Criticism