College for Creative Studies Rising Stars Illuminate Milan Design Week
June 22, 2024
A contingent of three departments from the College for Creative Studies participated in the prestigious Salone del Mobile Milano 2024.
The Salone del Mobile Milano is widely recognized as the preeminent global design fair. This year was a standout year with over 360,000 visitors, 1,950 exhibitors from 35 countries and over 5,500 accredited journalists in attendance. Participating departments were undergraduate Interior Design, undergraduate Communication Design and graduate Color & Materials Design.
“Being able to take a team of students to showcase their student work at Milan Design Week was an opportunity for us to shine a light on their exceptional work, our community and Detroit.”
– Melanie McClintock, Chair of Color & Materials Design
“Having my work shown in Milan Design Week felt so unreal, but I also felt so proud of my team. We all worked extremely hard, for many long hours, days and weeks to make sure our project was perfect.”
– Yostina Kaoud ’24, Color & Materials Design
In what was once home to the historic Carminati Toselli factory for tram and railway rolling stock, the Fabbrica del Vapore showcased undergraduate CCS Communication Design student work during the INTERDEPENDENCE international exhibition. As part of the larger Milan Design Week, INTERDEPENDENCE reflected relationships connecting projects of Politecnico di Milano students with those of 50 international design schools. Four of these projects were from CCS Communication Design students: Luke Fabricatore, Rebecca Hernandez, Yasmin Ali, Madi Ritemburg and Lucy VanEerde. Their projects explored concepts in reframing immigrants through an immigrant lens, a first generation social advocate experience and empowering Native people to reclaim their history.
Also participating in Salone del Mobile, undergraduate Interior Design and graduate Color & Materials Design students were one of only six international design schools asked to participate in the six-day UNFOLD exhibition hosted by Domus Academy. UNFOLD showcased design prototypes addressing crucial global challenges through design as a problem-solving discipline and as a form of communication. CCS students Yostina Kaoud (MFA Color & Materials Design), An Luu (BFA Interior Design), Yuya Cheng (MFA Color & Materials Design) and Yasmeen Khalifa (BFA Interior Design) were in attendance and presented their work from a Winter sponsored project with the local Detroit non-profit Changing Lives and Staying Sober (the C.L.A.S.S. Agency). C.L.A.S.S. asked students to create an environment that promotes a safe space, holistic healing and transformation for a newly acquired residential property that will serve as a safe haven for prevention, intervention and substance use disorder treatment for both adults and children.
“It was an honor to bring both CCS and C.L.A.S.S. Agency to an international viewpoint. So thankful to showcase our group’s work and passion — it was overwhelming in the best way possible. It provided a space with new ideas and new horizons where I was able to talk and learn with fellow students and schools from all over the globe.”
– Yasmeen Khalifa ’25, Interior Design
CCS Student Work at Milan Design Week
“CCS has been working for years to involve students in Milan Design Week. The opportunity to be the only U.S. college invited to participate in the Domus Academy exhibit was exceptional and one I will not forget.”
– Sandra Olave, Chair of Interior Design
Color & Material Design
Communication Design
Boolean: A First Generation Social Advocate
Create an experience digital or analog that moves users into physical spaces that forge new connections.
Boolean is a speculative human centered social advocate product that recognizes the people you brush past in a day in your life. Given the consequences of social distancing and digital socialization, this product is designed to bring Gen Z back in physical contact with on another in a subtle but meaning way. Its not a dating app, a friend app, its not an app at all, its a small device to help you navigate real human interaction on your own terms.
Luke Fabricatore ’24
Indigenized Space Reclaiming History
This experience is designed to empower Native people to reclaim their history. Through a series of workshop experiences, Indigenous people would annotate and write over Westernized, Euro-centric textbooks with their histories and perspectives allowing for the reclamation of identity.
“Our goal is to share our current insights, from the creative process, without assuming authority on behalf of the Indigenous community. To to honor the lives and narratives of Indigenous people. All presented artwork and research strives to embody ethical, respectful, and authentic practices. The projects showcased serve as proof-of-concept, recognizing that further development necessitates collaborative content creation and sourcing with the Indigenous community, autonomously facilitated by trained experts.”
Madi Ritenburg ’23 and Lucy VanEerde ’23
ReFraming Immigrants Through an Immigrant Lens
“I’m American Too”, uses the negative associations of immigrants in America in order to flip this narrative as a positive, humanistic and more accurate way. The challenge was to move beyond stereotypes in order to celebrate America’s rich history of created by immigrants.
The rise of branding in America has contributed to an identity crisis, highlighting the nation’s imperfect history and its complex role as a perceived leader on the global stage. While our country has always been flawed, it was once seen as a beacon of ideals to emulate. Consequently, we constructed a brand around this image, whether rooted in reality or myth, which now shapes individual perceptions and relationships with our national identity.
Rebecca Hernandez ’20
