What is Design: VC MFA Exhibition
Interactive Exhibition | 2011

Housed within an art and design school, the MFA curriculum requires graduate students to create an exhibition piece that displays or represents the "body of work" they cultivated during their time in graduate school. As a progressive program that focused on design process and addressing systems-level problems, we were challenged with shaping an exhibition around intangible processes and outcomes. Representing our collective body of work in the VC MFA program, "What is design?" references the program's core belief that design is a powerful, transformative, and transferable problem-solving process. Through posing this question, our ultimate goal was to engage viewers and expand "traditional" perceptions about what design is. 
  
[Design Lead]
JBrian Crain and Terri Wada

[Collaborators]
Stephanie Adams, Brandon Cockrum, Anna-Maria d'Ambrosio, Nada Jaffal, Yiwen Mu, Juhi Singh, and Brandon Stuck
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To unify nine divergent master's theses, each designer was asked to complete the statement, "Design is...," with a phrase that represented their work. These statements were position as wall graphics that served to both identify each exhibit and represent the transferability of design.

Utilizing a modular system designers individually created and communicated their own process and research findings, while as a whole, the exhibition capitalized on the collection. Near the gallery exit/entrance, visitors were given a space to offer up their perspectives on what design is.

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TERRI WADA

Focused on Design Thinking + Design Leadership 
5436 Barlby Drive
Indianapolis, Indiana 46237

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