Every year, BFA and MFA students participate in Louise Sandhaus’ Designing for Spaces to produce the End of Year shows. The class starts out as a group, learning together about the process of exhibition design, and then undergrads and grads break off to form their individual shows. Every year is always a challenge to pull off an event of this size; and while this year’s BFA and MFA End of Year shows contrasted each other in form and content, were both incredibly cohesive and well executed.

The theme for the BFA show this year was Inform, showing the public all the-behind-the-scenes work that it takes to produce a piece of graphic design. According to their website, “Each project is the result of many hours of strategic research and experimentation, much critique-induced panic, and quite literally, blood, sweat and tears. Come and celebrate the unique, creative minds of each designer and leave with an expanded appreciation for the meticulous methods we practice to produce this body of work.”

The MFA show, titled Clash & Harmony, “investigates what the spectrum of the CalArts Graphic Design MFA community looks like. In an environment that highly encourages the development of one’s own point of view, these different hues show a range of formal and conceptual strategies, curatorial approaches, tools and media. This exhibition highlights the designers’ personal gazes as well as their hybridized encounters, each a particular response to the question of how graphic design could exist today.”

The BFA and MFA shows are on view May 6th-13 in the D300 and D301 galleries.