Left to right: Bison illustration for Patagonia; In The Mind, Olympic Sculpture Park Pavilion, Seattle Art Museum; Warby Parker facade mural, Venice, CA.
The 2016 National Design Awards were announced last week, and Geoff McFetridge (MFA 1995) won in the category of Communication Design. The award was given to an individual or firm for exceptional and exemplary work in graphic or multimedia design. In addition to his extensive commercial career, McFetridge also maintains a studio art practice. His work has exhibited in numerous solo shows, in MOCA’s Art in the Streets, as well RedCat’s Two Lines Align: Drawings and Graphic Design by Ed Fella and Geoff McFetridge.
The National Design Awards were conceived by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum to honor lasting achievement in American design. The Awards are bestowed in recognition of excellence, innovation, and enhancement of the quality of life. First launched at the White House in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council, the annual Awards program celebrates design as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world, and seeks to increase national awareness of the impact of design through education initiatives.
Another CalArts related winner was Brett Wickens partner in Ammunition studio in San Francisco, who won in the category of Product Design. Brett taught Interactive Design classes in the design program in the mid to late 1990s, when McFetridge was actually one of his students!
Visual elements for the film Her including the drawings on the walls of Theodore Twombly’s office, map of Los Angeles’ future transit system, the main titles / credits and the interfaces of all computers, devices & handhelds.
