A new advanced degree program focused on the design and business of digital media will be offered at the
School of Visual Arts (SVA), New York City, beginning in the fall of 2009. A
Master of Fine Arts in Interaction Design will focus on the critical role of the designer in creating useful and usable digital products and services. The department will be chaired by
Liz Danzico, an expert in information architecture and usability, who conceived the program with
Steven Heller, a design historian,
New York Times columnist, and co-chair of the MFA Design Department at SVA.
“In its most basic form, interaction design involves a conversation between a person and an interface,” says Danzico. “Whether it’s a Web site, a mobile phone or a kiosk at the airport, great interaction design starts with an understanding of people.”
The MFA program will engage students in concepts central to interaction design, including design research, human-computer interaction, interface design, graphic design, information architecture, and ubiquitous computing. The two-year, 60-credit program will provide an environment where students can explore designing a range of experiences that cross visual, conceptual, and technical boundaries. Working in interdisciplinary teams, students will work in the field and in the studio to develop practical design solutions to real-world problems. Enrollment will be open to designers and non-designers alike--a diverse group of professionals interested in exploring the overlap between digital media and the landmark contemporary design practices that define SVA.
The faculty will consist of leading practitioners in Web design and graphic design, writers and design researchers. A portion of the faculty includes: Christopher Fahey, founding partner, Behavior and author, graphpaper.com; David Womack, co-author, Becoming a Digital Designer: A Guide to Careers in Web, Video, Broadcast, Game and Animation Design (Wiley, 2007), editor, Adobe Think Tank, and consultant on digital strategy and content; Jason Santa Maria, creative director, Happy Cog Studios, and author, jasonsantamaria.com; Karen McGrane, founding partner, Bond Art + Science; Khoi Vinh, design director, NYTimes.com, and author, Subtraction.com; Paul Ford, novelist and editor/programmer, Harper's Magazine, and author, Ftrain.com, Rachel Abrams, designer, writer and creative director, Turnstone Consulting LLC; and Jeffrey Zeldman, founder, Happy Cog Studios, co-founder, The Web Standards Movement, publisher, A List Apart, the standard reference for Web design, and co-founder, An Event Apart, a conference for people who make Web sites.
Liz Danzico is a user experience professional with particular focus on information architecture, usability, and editorial. In addition to writing and teaching design, she’s helped build and manage user experience teams at Barnes&Noble.com and Razorfish, the award-winning interactive agency now owned by Microsoft, and was the director of experience strategy for the national staff at AIGA, the professional association for design. In addition to her user experience work for Happy Cog Studios, a Web design consultancy based in New York, she is the editor-in-chief for A Brief Message, a site for design opinions in short form, editor for Rosenfield Media, a publishing house dedicated to user experience books, former editor-in-chief of Boxes and Arrows, the online journal of information architecture, and former managing editor of VOICE: AIGA Journal of Design and GAIN: AIGA Journal of Business and Design. She serves on the board of directors of the New York chapter of AIGA and on the advisory board of the Information Architecture Institute, a multinational professional organization. Danzico created the first Interface Design course at FIT, has taught Design History at The New School, and is a frequent lecturer at universities and conferences worldwide. She writes at bobulate.com.
School of Visual Arts is a comprehensive college of art and design offering the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts in advertising; animation; cartooning; computer art, computer animation and special effects; film and video; fine arts; graphic design; illustration; interior design; photography; and visual and critical studies; the degree of Master of Fine Arts in art criticism and writing; computer art; design; design criticism; fine arts; illustration as visual essay; interaction design (fall 2009); photography, video and related media; and social documentary film (fall 2009); the degree of Master of Professional Studies in art therapy and digital photography; and the degree of Master of Arts in Teaching in art education.
School of Visual Arts is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. SVA is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the International Association of Independent Schools for Art and Design (AIAS) and the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD).
School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City is an established leader and innovator in the education of artists. From its inception in 1947, the faculty has been comprised of professionals working in the arts and art-related fields. SVA provides an environment that nurtures creativity, inventiveness and experimentation, enabling students to develop a strong sense of identity and a clear direction of purpose.
Application Information: Office of Graduate Admissions, gradadmissions@sva.edu or 212.592.2107.
Media Contact: For more information or to speak with Liz Danzico, contact John Wyszniewski, assistant director of communication, at 212.592.2209 or jwyszniewski@sva.edu.
