A graduating BDes student in Visual Communication Design, Stefani Bartz, won the inaugural annual grant from the Seattle Design Foundation in June 2014. She describes her project, titled “& A LADY,” as “a campaign for the women of the creative industry to redefine femininity in order to raise the 3% (currently only 3% of creative directors are women). It is an online social networking site that provides a way for the women of the creative industry to connect, gather inspiration and learn from the experience of successful women in the industry. The concept is based around the potential for forming mentoring relationships.” In addition to the $2,500 grant, she will be given a design mentor who will help her make the proposal a reality.
Three projects also received honorable mention from the Seattle Design Foundation. Of those, two are from Division of Design students. Caroline Nakayama, who is graduating with a BDes in Industrial Design, proposed a redesign of the speculum. Three graduating students in Visual Communication Design — Molly Boyd, Rachael Hobart, and Taylor Nelson — collaborated on a project they called “Talk to Taylor.”
More information about the grant competition and the results may be found on the Seattle Design Foundation website and in a press release. Work by all these students may be seen in the 2014 Design Show at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery through June 20th and on the show’s website.
October 2014 update: the Seattle Design Foundation featured an interview with Stefani Bartz in their mid-October electronic newsletter. You may read the interview here.