MFA Design Criticism - D-Crit - School of Visual Arts

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Contribute to the public discourse on design
Take a part in shaping this rapidly growing discipline
Study with and among the best critics and thinkers in the field
Join one of the only programs of its kind in the U.S.
MFA
Design Criticism
www.sva.edu/grad/designcriticism
The mfa in Design Criticism at the School of Visual Arts is an innovative two-year program that
trains students to research, analyze, and evaluate design and its social and environmental implications.
Students are taught by some of the best design writers and thinkers of our time, including “Studio 360”
host and author Kurt Andersen, moma’s design curator Paola Antonelli, Pentagram partner and cofounder
of Design Observer, Michael Bierut, former editor of I.D. magazine Ralph Caplan, Metropolis
contributing editor Karrie Jacobs and author and essayist Akiko Busch.
sva’s mfa in Design Criticism—the only one of its kind in the United States—seeks to cultivate
design criticism as a discipline and contribute to public discourse with new writing and thinking that
is imaginative, historically informed and socially accountable. Drawing on the broadest possible definition
of design, the curriculum includes graphic, Web and product design, as well as fashion, urban
planning and networked systems.
It also considers the multiple implications of design beyond the object. In addition to object analysis,
therefore, the program offers methods for the study of designed environments and systems, and the
larger social and political contexts in which they operate.
The course of study couples a theoretical framework with significant opportunities for practical
experience. In addition to their written assignments, students produce tangible documents of their critical
practice, such as podcasts, books, blogs, documentaries, course syllabi, conferences and exhibitions.
In providing the tools for researching, analyzing, evaluating and chronicling all aspects of design, students
will prepare for careers as design critics, journalists, editors, curators, educators and design managers.
The Design Criticism department has its own newly designed floor of an sva building in Manhattan’s
Flatiron District, well within walking distance from some of the world’s best design collections,
libraries and archives, and also very close to many of New York’s design studios and publishing houses.
Classes meet in the department; weekly fieldtrips and site visits take place at various locations. Each
student is designated their own desk space within an open plan workspace whose layout is modeled
after a magazine’s editorial office.
We welcome students from a range of academic backgrounds whose diverse perspectives and experiences
enrich the debate. The program is equally well suited to designers, who want to hone their skills
in writing and critical thinking, as it is to journalists and writers, who wish to enrich their understanding
of design.
Design criticism is a rapidly growing academic discipline and field of practice. In addition to its
increasing territory in the national press, new journals, awards programs and conferences have been
initiated, dedicated to fostering the genre. It’s an exciting time to be involved in design criticism;
students in this program are instrumental in shaping its formats, directing its priorities, and negotiating
the ways it is encountered by its many publics.
Alice Twemlow, chair
77

Students in the D-Crit program learn different
methods for evaluating design in the capital
of American architecture, media and design:
New York City.
Design Is
Everywhere:
On Location
in Times Square
Student Profiles:
Frederico Duarte & Angela Riechers

The TKTS booth in Times Square has sold more than 47 million
discount theatre tickets since it was first built in 1973. In the late
1990s a competition was held to redesign the booth. The response
was unprecedented in the history of design competitions in New
York City, with 683 entries from 31 countries. The winning entry
came from Australian architects John Choi and Tail Ropiha. Architecture
firm Perkins Eastman ultimately built it.

At SVA, we’re very lucky to have New York City as our campus. Recently we eavesdropped on
two mfa Design Criticism students who were discussing an assignment set by Justin Davidson,
architecture and classical music critic at New York magazine, which took them to Times Square.
Part public space and part architectural statement, the shimmering roof of the recently built tkts
booth in Times Square sits vulnerable to the same fierce criticism as all projects in New York. Two students
enrolled in the Design Criticism program, Frederico Duarte and Angela Riechers, toured the
area for one of their classes, exploring the continual lightning rod of debate that is the Great White Way.
AR: In class we talked about defining the booth and figuring out what it does for the streetscape.
My observation was that it’s really a stage in itself, where you can observe Times Square as if you were
at the theater or seen as being on stage yourself. I’m one of the people that really liked the booth,
but personally I don’t like Times Square. I don’t like crowds and push, and Times Square is the center
of crowds and push.
FD: I liked it, too. It’s a monumental staircase to nowhere. Climbing it is one of the great things about
it. When you get to the top you see the Coca-Cola sign—it’s your reward for reaching the top. While
it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s a vantage point. In a way, it’s part of the stage and you become part of that.
It’s also a kind of bleacher, so you’re looking out at Time Square, seeing the whole landscape.
AR: I’d never seen Times Square quite like that; here you are in the middle of traffic and you can see
the traffic flowing down past you, the river of yellow taxis and all those people. It’s really beautiful.
Normally you can’t really see it, because you’re always being moved along, you’re part of a human river.
FD: Also fascinating is the fact that the building is inconveniently jammed behind the statue of Father
Duffy, a landmark that couldn’t be moved to accommodate the plan. In a way, this is a symptom of
New York urban design. There’s always someone who wants to keep the status quo. It’s sort of ironic—
here’s this great new building in the City, but it’s a victim of politics.
That reminds me—during election night one of the big gathering places in the City was Times
Square, and someone in class said that they couldn’t remember when that space was last used as it
should be, as a place where people congregate naturally and uncontrolled. However, the stairs were
roped off for corporate use. And it makes you question whether or not this is a truly public space.
In a way, it’s true to Times Square in that it’s yet another urban oddity.
AR: Like it or not, Times Square is a reflection of our culture and what’s important to us, how we get
information, and how corporations want us to get that information. And to try and make it anything
more than that…. I can’t imagine what that would look like. We’ll just have to let it stand there, almost
like a mirror, and ask, “Do you like what you see”
From atop the staircase that houses the
TKTS booth, MFA Design Criticism students
Frederico Duarte and Angela Riechers cast
a critical eye over New York City’s bustling—
and highly designed—epicenter.
Design Criticism

MFA Design Criticism students investigate the
structures and infrastructures that define the city
on field trips to sites both time-honored (such as
the Statue of Liberty or Queens Botanical
Gardens) and brand-new, like the Times Square
TKTS booth or the High Line.

The list of faculty is pretty
incredible. If you know
the field, you’ll know that
we have the crème de
la crème. And students
will build lasting contacts
from that list.”
chair interview
Alice Twemlow
“The discipline of design criticism is at a very exciting stage,” Alice Twemlow observes, “because there
are a lot of commentators out there, but the field has yet to be molded into a substantial academic
discipline. At first I thought it was a challenge to start a humanities-based program in the middle of an
art college, but then I realized it was actually a fantastic advantage and I decided to make it practical.
Instead of just discussing the theory of design criticism, we provide the opportunity for students to apply
the critical tools they learn. It differs from a history of design program, too, in that we look mainly
at contemporary issues. What we do is really a form of social criticism that uses design as a way in;
design history isn’t generally as political. We’re looking at designed objects, but also at infrastructures,
and that’s new territory. There are elements of visual culture criticism, art criticism and architecture
criticism in other programs out there, but no one else has framed the discipline of design criticism as
emphatically as we have.”
“SVA has a tradition of holding classes toward the end of the day in order to capitalize on teachers
who are also working professionals,” Twemlow explains, “and our program is no exception. This means
we can get people at the top of their game. There’s no fear of ever getting a jaded old professor! I wanted
to do a class on design curation, for example, so we went straight to MoMA and straight to their senior
curator of design…and she’s doing it! The same happened with our radio workshop class; we asked Kurt
Andersen from pri’s “Studio 360.” The list of faculty is pretty incredible. If you know the field, you’ll
know that we have the crème de la crème. And students will build lasting contacts from that list.”
“Our students come from a wide range of backgrounds,” Twemlow says. “Most have worked for a
bit though, and are here to hone their discipline. Right now we have someone who was an editor at
Chronicle Books, others from curatorial backgrounds, a design journalist…. Students have come from
industrial design and graphic design undergraduate programs, as well as English literature and
philosophy. In fact, we’d like to expand that base further. I can see students of anthropology, psychology,
history or American studies being interested in what we do. This year’s group is very tight, because
they’re the first class. They feel very invested in the program and they’ve given us a lot of valuable
feedback. And they’re interested in adding extra things, too, like working on a Tuesday night lecture
series and developing a D-Crit Road Trip for the summer months. They’re really fun!”
“I expect students to go on to a diverse range of activities,” Twemlow concludes. “We have a student
who wants to establish a design festival, another who wants to publish a magazine, others who are
interested in teaching, curating, design management…. What unites them is a desire to communicate
what’s interesting, important or problematic about design to as broad a public as possible.”
The MFA Design Criticism Department has its own floor in a
beautiful building in the Flatiron district of New York City. Students work
in a custom-designed studio environment with personal workstations and
Internet networking, accessible 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
The D-Crit floor is the center for studying and socializing, but regular field
trips ensure that the classroom extends far beyond the D-Crit department’s
walls. The following represents a day in the life of a D-Crit student.
On any
given day...
9am Second-year students take a field trip to Philip Johnson’s Glass
House in New Canaan, CT, for a private two-hour tour of the buildings
and grounds conducted by Dorothy Dunn, director of Visitor Experience
and Fellowships.
10am First-year students meet at the Museum of Modern Art for
their Exhibition & Collection Curation class, led by Department of
Architecture and Design curator Paola Antonelli and curatorial assistant
Patricia Juncosa.
12pm Students break for an informal lunch in the D-Crit kitchen
area, where they are joined by Dutch designer and writer Daniel van
der Velden.
1pm In his class, The Critical Imperative, D-Crit faculty member Ralph
Caplan hosts a discussion with Rob Forbes, founder of Design Within
Reach, on the evolution of his latest venture.
4pm Radio and Podcast Pitch Meeting: First-year students pitch radio
story proposals to Kurt Andersen, D-Crit teacher and host of PRI’s
“Studio 360.” Then they work with Leital Molad and David Krasnow,
“Studio 360’s” senior producer and senior editor, to edit and refine their
ongoing stories.
6pm Guest Lecture: Cathleen McGuigan, arts editor at Newsweek,
gives a formal presentation to all D-Crit students (and select visitors)
about the role of design criticism in the national press. A drinks reception
with snacks follows the talk, allowing students the opportunity for informal
discussion with the speaker and other influential lecture attendees.
8pm Students head downtown to the Lower East Side’s Hotel on
Rivington for a Surface magazine party celebrating the launch of a new
issue, in which D-Crit students are featured.
2pm Thesis Consultation: Second-year students meet with Andrea
Codrington to review their thesis topics and discuss research strategies.
Design Criticism
86 87
www.sva.edu/grad/designcriticism

The Program The focus of the first year is threefold—on design itself, on criticism as a literary genre
and on the range of tools with which to practice design criticism. The second year offers the opportunity for
specialization both in subject matter and format. Students participate in medium-specific workshops devoted
to topics such as producing a radio program or documentary, curating an exhibition or editing a magazine
or blog. They then research and develop a large-scale thesis project that must include a substantial written
component. The program culminates in an annual public conference, conceived and organized by graduating
students, in which they present papers based on their theses, alongside professional design critics and
thinkers. Degree candidates must successfully complete 64 credits, including all required courses, with
a cumulative grade point average of 3.0. A residency of two academic years is required. Students are required
to complete and present their thesis research, which must be reviewed and approved by the thesis committee
and the department chair, in order for the student to be eligible for degree conferral.
SVA Spaces
The Design Criticism program provides a supportive learning
environment and directed instruction for inventive thinking about
design. Yet it is the students’ personal interests and obsessions
that guide the development of their individual voices, approaches
and ambitions. Armed with a toolbox of research methods
and writing expertise, graduates will be prepared for a panoply
of careers in publishing, journalism, broadcast media, curation,
education, management and events planning.
Sample Program
first year
FALL Semester
Credits
Architecture and Urban Design Criticism 2
The Critical Imperative 4
Design History 4
Lecture Series I 2
Radio and Podcast Workshop 2
Urban Curation 2
SPRING Semester
Credits
Criticism Lab 4
Exhibition and Collection Curation 2
Lecture Series II 2
Print Meets Web: 4
Short-form Essay Workshop
Reading Design 2
Researching Design 2
Thesis Development 0
second year
FALL Semester
Credits
Cultural Theory Meets Design 4
Design Criticism and the Magazine 2
Magazines Under the Microscope 2
Thesis Consultation 4
Typologies 4
SPRING Semester
Credits
Design Criticism Conference Lab 2
Design Studio Visits/Interviewing Techniques 2
The Longest Form: The Design Book 2
Restaurant Design Review Workshop 2
Thesis I: Research and Writing/Thesis Consultation 4
Thesis II: Production and Presentation 4
Design Criticism
88

D-Crit: The Hub
The Design Criticism department is available
24 hours a day, seven days a week, to the
program’s students, who have their own desks
within an open-plan studio-style workspace
as well as access to meeting rooms, a library
and a kitchen.

Course Descriptions
Architecture and Urban Design Criticism
This course will examine the works of 20th-century architecture and
design critics, focusing on individuals from the New York City area
and those published in the popular press. Authors to be considered
include Montgomery Schuyler and Lewis Mumford, as well as contemporary
critics such as Robert Campbell, Christopher Hawthorne and
Blair Kamin. Several sessions will be devoted to critiques of various
forms of urban design: skyscrapers, parks, museums and design exhibitions,
signage and the brand ing of neighborhoods. Students will write
short presentations of the sites critiqued.
The Critical Imperative
As society has become more complex and our needs more diverse,
so have the performance criteria for design. The aim of this course
is to equip students to respond critically to design. This entails critical
thinking, critical looking, critical listening and a critical attitude
toward any other components of design that affect judgment. In
researching guidelines for exercising critical capacities, students will
consider such areas as taste, subjectivity, objectivity and “constructive”
versus “destructive” criticism. We will study and discuss the
writings of William Morris and John Ruskin, as well as modern critics
such as Gilbert Seldes, Reyner Banham and Edward Kaufmann,
Jr. Contemporary critics that include Ada Louise Huxtable, Martin
Filler and Jessica Helfand will also be read. In addition, this course
will examine criticism in other fields such as literature, theater, art and
music, and the extension of critical analysis to fashion, food, dance,
sports and film, among other aspects of popular culture.
Criticism Lab
Criticism Lab offers students a forum in which to hone the writer’s
voice while being exposed to some of the forms and subject areas typical
of contemporary design criticism. Weekly assignments, ranging
from 250-word statements on new buildings to a 2,500-word essay on
a signage campaign, will be reviewed in groups and individually with
the instructor. The aim is to develop methods of argumentation, comfort
with the editorial process and familiarity with the range of the art
and the possibilities of the language. The goal is to learn how to wield
language effectively in a variety of circumstances. Special attention will
be paid to eradicating cliché.
Cultural Theory Meets Design
This course will introduce a range of theoretical models that are useful
for framing discussions of design. The aim is to identify when a
theoretical model is in use in a text or another form of criticism and
to evaluate its appropriateness, coherence and value. Theories to be
discussed include: postmodernism, feminism and gender studies, sociological
studies of consumption and taste, Marxism, and semiotics and
linguistics.
DESIGN CRITICISM AND THE MAGAZINE
In this course, students will focus specifically on the role of design
criticism in magazines. The class will discuss the dynamics and complexities
of criticism within the collegial atmosphere of the design
world and in light of the economic constraints imposed by the business
side of magazine publishing. Students will read models of criticism
borrowed from the worlds of art, architecture and cultural studies.
They will look at alternative modes of expressing opinions and venting
grievances, including those represented by the blogosphere. And,
finally, they will formulate their own equivalent of a Hippocratic
Oath—a statement of ethics and principles they believe should govern
design criticism—before putting these principles into action by writing
critical essays.
Design Criticism Conference Lab
In a public conference devoted to design criticism, second-year students
will present papers based on their theses. We will investigate the
conference as a critical medium and analyze some historical examples.
Students will be involved in all aspects of conference planning and,
as a group, will determine the theme of the conference and its keynote
speakers.
Design History
Beginning with an overview of developments arising from the Industrial
Revolution, this survey course will equip students with a solid background
in the history of design. One goal will be to establish a common
language and enable students to identify major touchstones and reliable
reference points as they formulate an accurate chronology of events.
Emphasis will be placed on the changing interpretations of what constitutes
modernism during the period from 1918 to 1968. A series of
guest lecturers will address various aspects of contemporary design.
Design Studio Visits/Interviewing Techniques
Interview transcripts offer a rich source of insight for the critic. In this
course, students will explore different interviewing approaches, ranging
from the journalistic interview to a variety of oral history techniques,
and from scripted Q&As to more freeform conversations. The qualitative
differences between interviews that take place face-to-face versus
those conducted over the phone, via e-mail and instant messaging will
be addressed. Visits to the studios of practitioners in a range of disciplines
will be scheduled, providing an opportunity to observe critics in
their working environments and to practice interviewing skills.
Exhibition and Collection Curation
Design curation is a vital and growing area of critical design discourse.
This course provides an overview of how design has been collected and
presented in museum and exhibition contexts to date, and introduces
some of the alternative approaches currently being practiced. Focusing
on the design collections and exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art
in New York, students will analyze various curatorial strategies, from
the research phase to the structuring of content through narrative, chronology
or themes, and the final set-up in the gallery space.
Lecture Series I & II
Visiting scholars, journalists and critics will discuss topics of importance,
while introducing students to research methods. Some lecturers
will discuss practical aspects of their critical endeavors and others will
focus on intellectual issues. The aim is to bring students in contact
with a wide variety of professional perspectives and to introduce them
to experts in the field.
The Longest Form: The Design Book
This course examines book publishing in the design world and commonly
associated quandaries: What role do books serve in the realm of critical
design discourse and how does that role differ from those of magazines,
journals and even blogs For whom are design books published and
why Are books simply the longest form of design criticism or is there
something about their content that makes them unique Assignments will
follow the stages of book production, from crafting proposals, researching
a target audience and assessing a project’s commercial viability,
to drafting sample materials. Students will critique each other’s work,
debate strategies and complete research to support their findings.
Magazines Under the Microscope
Each student will consider one publication from two vantage points:
the perspective of the cultural, political and economic forces at play
in the world into which the publication was born, and the one in
which the publication now resides. Students will be expected to
understand the language of the American magazine (basic structures
of publication design, from the cover and the table of contents to the
back page), and will master the language of that magazine (its typography,
formats, pacing and visual language), from the perspective of
its editors, writers, designers, photo editors and, finally, its readers.
Print Meets Web: Short-form Essay Workshop
After the thrill of instant publication has subsided, how do we make
online design criticism that is as thoughtful, responsible and accurate as
it is in the best traditional publications This course explores the role of
the design critic online and examines both the correspondence between
print journalism and blogging, and what makes online criticism unique.
Students will read and critique design blogs, magazine Web sites and
other online forums. The latter part of the course will focus on blog posts
and short-form essays. As a pivotal and dynamic element, students will
write and edit the D-Crit program blog, in which they will engage actively
with the themes and controversies of both print and online writing.
Radio and Podcast Workshop
Can the subtleties of design be successfully communicated through
a non-visual medium An increasing number of producers, writers
and hosts who create radio programs addressing design believe it can.
This workshop introduces students to the variety of programs currently
on air, ranging from focused documentaries and magazine-style
formats to host and interviewing situations. Students will produce their
own programs in the form of podcasts.
Reading Design
Students will investigate popular national media, with a focus on
how design contributes to so many of the events that shape our times.
Newspapers have home and style sections, but the noteworthy design
stories also tend to be found elsewhere: in politics, finance and even
sports articles. Readings extend to essays, fiction, nonfiction and
poetry—narratives in which design also plays a significant part—reinforcing
a comprehensive and critical understanding about design that
goes far beyond the styling of consumer products.
Researching Design
The ability to conduct extensive and finely honed research is one of the
design critic’s richest resources. This course explores the interrelated
processes of uncovering, collecting and categorizing data. Working
directly with primary sources such as correspondence, institutional documents
and promotional materials, students will test a range of methodologies
derived from disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and
material culture. Visits to a selection of New York’s most significant
and intriguing public and private archives, collections and libraries, as
well as online and database research, are included.
Restaurant Design Review
Students will take field trips to different Manhattan restaurants and
experience each venue. This will be followed by interviews with each
restaurant’s interior designers, owners and guests. Students will then
write reviews that discuss the interplay between food quality, atmosphere,
etiquette and service.
Thesis Development
Choosing a topic and format that is appropriate, innovative and rich
enough to withstand extended inquiry is essential to the success of a
thesis. This course will assist in the selection of a topic and a thesis
advisor, refinement of the presentation format and the thesis proposal
preparation.
Design Criticism
92 93 www.sva.edu/grad/designcriticism

Faculty
Thesis I: Research and Writing/thesis consultation
Working in close consultation with their thesis advisors, students will
develop detailed research plans, identify useful archives and sources,
and analyze the results of their research. The next stage will be to
draft, revise and write the thesis, a process that will also be supervised
by faculty.
Thesis II: Production and Presentation
Each student will complete and present a final thesis—whether it’s a
video documentary, a Web site, an exhibition or an audio tour. This
course will assist in choosing the appropriate tools and techniques for
the creation of a thesis project. Students may work in collaboration
with graduate students from other departments for the creation of
their chosen product. The thesis must be reviewed and approved by
the thesis committee and the department chair.
Typologies
Philosophers throughout the ages have understood that insights often
derive from analyzing the similarities and differences in categories of
objects. Typologies exist in artworks of Andy Warhol, the photographs
of Bernd and Hilla Becher and the informational graphics of Edward
Tufte—all as a means toward a deeper comprehension. In this course,
students will identify an object, a building or a graphic element, and
assemble and evaluate its variants. By looking at types of design (coffee
cup lids, magnetic car ribbons, military unit patches, manhole covers),
students will learn to identify what does and does not change in a
form in order to come closer to its essence.
Urban Curation
In this course, students will act as urban curators, and will consult
writings by innovative urban theorists (such as Henry Adams, John
Ruskin, John Berger, Jane Jacobs, Ian Frazier and Colson Whitehead),
as well as articles from contemporary magazines and Web sites.
However, the heart of the course will be weekly assignments based
on scavenger hunts: students will be asked to find the most significant
building on a randomly chosen New York City street and make a case
for their selection; find an object on the street that indicates this is
the 21st century and decide what that object says about this moment
in time; go to Times Square and find the best piece of design and the
worst piece of design; visit Crate & Barrel, Muji, and Pearl River,
and decide which one best represents the notion of good design and
why. Students will develop an eye for their surroundings and gain
confidence in their own abilities to identify meaning—perhaps even
beauty—in a cluttered, chaotic environment.
Alice Twemlow, chair
Design writer. Formerly, program director, AIGA
EDUCATION: BA, Bristol University; MA, Royal College of Art/Victoria
& Albert Museum
BOOKS AUTHORED INCLUDE: StyleCity New York; What is Graphic
Design For Essays in: Looking Closer 5: Critical Writings on
Graphic Design; Barnbrook Bible; ELSE/WHERE: MAPPING;
Why Not Associates 2
Publications Contributed to include: Arena; Baseline;
Architect’s Newspaper; Communication Arts; Design Issues; Design
Observer; Eye; Frieze; Grafik; Graphis; I.D.; Step; New York magazine;
Paper; Print; Typographic; Varoom; Voice: AIGA Journal of
Design
CONFERENCES DIRECTED INCLUDE: “Being Here: Craft and Locality
in Graphic Design,” “Voice: AIGA National Design Conference
2002.” Co-director, “Looking Closer: AIGA Conference on Design
History and Criticism”
Steven Heller, program co-founder
Co-chair, MFA Design Department, School of Visual Arts; special
assistant to the president, School of Visual Arts; editor, Voice: AIGA
Online Journal of Graphic Design; contributing editor: Print, Eye,
Baseline, I.D.; contributing writer: Metropolis, Grafik, Step; Visuals;
columnist, The New York Times Book Review. Formerly, art director,
The New York Times Book Review
Education: New York University, School of Visual Arts
Books authored, co-authored or edited: More than 100 books
on graphic design, illustration and political art, including Paul Rand;
Merz to Émigre and Beyond: Avant-Garde Magazine Design of
the Twentieth Century; Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic
Design, Second Edition; Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the
Digital Age; The Education of a Typographer; Graphic Design
History; Graphic Style: From Victorian to Postmodern; Typology:
Type Design from Victorian to Postmodern; The Education of a
Graphic Designer; Italian Art Deco: Graphic Design Between the
Wars; Faces on the Edge: Type in the Digital Age; French Modern:
Art Deco Graphic Design; Euro Deco: Graphic Design Between the
Wars; Cuba Style; The Savage Mirror: The Art of Contemporary
Caricature; Texts on Type; Graphic Humor: The Art of Graphic
Wit; Citizen Designer; Seymour Chwast: The Left-Handed
Designer; Innovators of American Illustration; Art Against War;
The Push Pin Graphic: Twenty Five Years of Design and Illustra tion;
Stylepedia: A Guide to Graphic Design Mannerisms, Quirks, and
Conceits; The Anatomy of Design: Uncovering the Influences and
Inspirations in Modern Graphic Design
Curatorial works include: “Simplicissimus, Germany’s Most
Influential Satire Magazine,” Goethe House; “Political Art, Ten Years
of Graphic Commentary,” AIGA; “Typographic Treasures, The Work
of W.A. Dwiggins,” ITC Center
Introductions and forewords: Tibor Kalman; Rebelling
Against Rockwell (Pictures for the American People); Barbara
Kruger: Graphic Designer; Alex Steinweis; American Advertising
of the 30s, 60s, 70s, 80s
Awards and honors include: Special Educators Award, Art
Directors Club; AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement; National
Endowment for the Arts; Hershel Levit Award, Pratt Institute;
Outstanding Client Award, Graphic Artists Guild; Masters Series
Award, School of Visual Arts
WEB SITE: www.hellerbooks.com
Kurt Andersen
Co-creator, host, “Studio 360,” WNYC and PRI; novelist; columnist,
New York magazine. Formerly, architecture/design critic, cultural
columnist, Time; co-founder, editor in chief, Spy; editor in chief,
New York magazine; staff writer, columnist, The New Yorker;
co-founder, Inside.com; creative consultant, Universal Television;
editorial director, Colors
Education: BA, Harvard University
Author: Heyday, The Real Thing, Turn of the Century;
co-author, Loose Lips; Spy: The Funny Years; Tools of Power
Publications Contributed to include: The Enlightened
Bracketologist; Laughing Matters; Minus Equals Plus; Mirth of
a Nation; Pleasure; Profile; Public Relations and the Press: The
Troubled Embrace; Spectacle; Tibor Kalman: Perverse Optimist;
101 Damnations; Architectural Record; Atlantic Monthly;
Metropolis; The New York Times; Rolling Stone; Vanity Fair
EXHIBITIONS CURATED INCLUDE: “Faster, Newer, Cheaper, More:
Revolutions of 1848,” Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
AWARDS AND HONORS INCLUDE: George Foster Peabody Award;
The New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year;
“100 People Who Changed New York,” New York magazine;
Associated Press; Newspaper Guild; honorary doctorate, Rhode Island
School of Design, Visionary in Residence, Art Center in Pasedena
Paola Antonelli
Senior curator, Department of Architecture and Design, Museum of
Modern Art. Formerly, editor, Abitare; contributing editor, Domus
Education: Laurea di Dottore, Polytechnico Di Milano
EXHIBITIONS CURATED INCLUDE: “Design and the Elastic Mind;”
“Achille Castiglioni: Design!;” “Humble Masterpieces;” “Mutant
Materials in Contemporary Design;” “Thresholds: Contemporary
Design from the Netherlands;” “SAFE: Design Takes On Risk;”
“Projects 66: Campana/Ingo Maurer;” “Workspheres;” Museum of
Modern Art
BOOKS AUTHORED INCLUDE: Objects of Design from the Museum of
Modern Art; SAFE: Design Takes On Risk; Humble Masterpieces:
Everyday Marvels of Design; Design and the Elastic Mind
Publications Contributed to include: Harper’s Bazaar,
Harvard Design, I.D., Metropolis, Nest, Paper , Seed
Awards And Honors include: Design Mind Award, Cooper-
Hewitt, National Design Museum; senior fellow, Royal College of
Art, London; honorary doctorate, Kingston University
Michael Bierut
Partner, Pentagram, co-founder, Design Observer
BOOKS AUTHORED INCLUDE: Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design;
co-editor, Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design, vols.
1 through 5
Publications Contributed to include: Design Observer, I.D.
Awards and honors include: Art Directors Club Hall of Fame;
Medal of Excellence, AIGA; president emeritus, AIGA NY; Design
Mind Award, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; member,
Alliance Graphique Internationale
Akiko Busch
Author, design critic. Formerly, contributing editor, Metropolis
BOOKS AUTHORED INCLUDE: Nine Ways to Cross a River:
Midstream Reflections on Swimming and Getting There from Here;
Geography of Home: Writings on Where We Live; The Uncommon
Life of Common Objects: Essays on Design and the Everyday
Publications Contributed to include: The New York Times,
Metropolitan Home, Architectural Record, Home, Elle, House
& Garden, London Financial Times, Traditional Home, Travel +
Leisure, Wallpaper
Ralph Caplan
Contributing editor, Print. Formerly, editor in chief, I.D.
EDUCATION: BA, Earlham College; MA, Indiana University
Author: By Design: Why There Are No Locks on the Bathroom
Doors in the Hotel Louis XIV and Other Object Lessons; Cracking
the Whip: Essays On Design And Its Side Effects; The Design of
Herman Miller; Say Yes!
BOOKs EDITED INCLUDE: Design in America, Making More Than
Sense
Publications Contributed to include: Graphis, House &
Garden, Interior Design, Interiors, The Nation, The New Yorker,
Design Quarterly, The New York Times Magazine
AWARDS AND HONORS INCLUDE: Director emeritus, IDCA; writerin-residence,
Haystack Mountain School of Arts and Crafts; Bronze
Apple Award and honorary member, IDSA
Design Criticism
94 95 www.sva.edu/grad/designcriticism

Professional Opportunities
Andrea Codrington
Visual culture critic; editor, Phaidon Press. Formerly, editorial director,
AIGA; columnist, The New York Times; senior editor, I.D.
BOOKS AUTHORED INCLUDE: Pause: 59 Minutes of Motion Graphics;
Kyle Cooper: Monographics
Publications Contributed to include: The New York Times,
Washington Post, National Post, Elle, Metropolis, I.D., Blueprint,
Eye, Cabinet
Justin Davidson
Architecture and classical music critic, New York magazine;
Contributor, “Soundcheck,” WNYC. Formerly, columnist, Newsday.
Education: AB, Harvard University; MA, Columbia University;
DMA, Columbia University
Publications contributed to include: New York magazine,
Newsday, E-music, The New Yorker, Salon, Slate, Los Angeles
Times, Opera News, Icon, Travel & Leisure
Awards and honors include: Pulitzer Prize, Criticism; AASFE
Award for A&E Feature; ASCAP Concert Music Award; Deadline
Club Award, Best Feature; ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for writing
on music; ASNE Distinguished Writing Award; Long Island Press Club
Awards; Newsday Publisher’s Award
Michael Eng
Philosopher, writer, scholar
BOOKS co-AUTHORED INCLUDE: Thinking Outside the Structure:
Critical Thinking in Design and Architecture
AWARDS AND HONORS INCLUDE: Fulbright Scholar; DAAD; Helena
Rubenstein Fellow, Whitney Museum of American Art
Russell Flinchum
Archivist, Century Association Archives Foundation; lecturer,
Department of Education, Museum of Modern Art. Formerly, archives
technician, Department of Drawings and Prints, Cooper-Hewitt,
National Design Museum
Education: BA, MA University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; PhD,
CUNY Graduate Center
BOOKS AUTHORED INCLUDE: Henry Dreyfuss, Industrial Designer:
The Man in the Brown Suit
Publications Contributed to include: 2wice, Ergonomics in
Design, I.D., things, American Ceramics, American Craft
Curatorial Works include: “Henry Dreyfuss, Direct ing Design:
The Industrial Designer and His Work, 1929–1972,” Cooper-Hewitt,
National Design Museum
AWARDS AND HONORS INCLUDE: AIA International Architecture Book
Award for Monographs; Charles F. Montgomery Award, Decorative
Arts Society; Henry Allen Moe Award, New York State Historical
Associa tion; Samuel H. Kress Foundation; Peter Kreuger/Christie’s
Fellowship, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Janet Froelich
Creative director, The New York Times Magazine and T: The New
York Times Style Magazine. Formerly, board of directors, Society of
Publication Designers; president, New York Chapter, AIGA
Education: BFA, Cooper Union; MFA, Yale University
Publications Contributed to include: Directed design and
launch of Play: The New York Times Sports Magazine; T: The New
York Times Style Magazine; Key: The New York Times Real Estate
Magazine. Work has appeared in: Graphis, Print, American Photo,
American Illustration
AWARDS AND HONORS INCLUDE: Art Directors Club Hall of Fame,
Society of Publication Designers, Society of Newspaper Designers
Emily Gordon
Editor in chief, Print; creator, Emdashes.com
Publications Contributed to include: Newsday, Salon, The
New York Times Book Review, Washington Post Book World, The
Nation, Print
BOOKS Co-EditED INCLUDE: The Failed Search for bin Laden;
Forbidden Truth: U.S.–Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy; Saudi Arabia;
Uncivil War: Race, Civil Rights & The Nation, 1865–1995
Karrie Jacobs
Columnist, contributing editor, Metropolis; contributing editor,
Travel + Leisure. Formerly, editor in chief, Dwell; executive editor,
Colors; contributing editor, New York magazine; “Public Eye”
columnist, The New York Times
Education: BA, Evergreen State College
BOOKS AUTHORED INCLUDE: The Perfect $100,000 House: A Trip
Across America and Back in Pursuit of a Place to Call Home; coauthor,
Angry Graphics: Protest Posters of the Reagan/Bush Era
Publications Contributed to include: Adweek, Fortune,
George, I.D., Rolling Stone
Web site: www.karriejacobs.com
Alexandra Lange
Contributing editor, New York magazine
EDUCATION: BA, Yale University; PhD, New York University
Publications Contributed to include: New York magazine,
Metropolis, Domino, Journal of Design History, Journal of the
Society of Architectural Historians, The New York Times
Julie Lasky
Editor, Change Observer. Formerly, editor in chief, I.D., editor in
chief, Interiors; managing editor, Print
EDUCATION: BA, Wesleyan University
BOOKS AUTHORED INCLUDE: Some People Can’t Surf: The Graphic
Design of Art Chantry. Essays in: Borrowed Design: Use and Abuse
of Historical Form; And Fork: 100 Designers, 10 Curators, 10 Good
Designs
Publications Contributed to include: The New York Times,
Architecture, Dwell, Eye, Graphis, Metropolis, The National
Scholar, Grid, Print, Slate, Surface
Awards And Honors include: National Arts Journalism
Fellowship, Columbia University; National Arts Journalism Fellow,
Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University; Richard J.
Margolis Award; chair, Design Jury, CLIO; Editors’ Jury, ICFF; juror,
National Magazine Awards; juror, Winterhouse Awards for Design
Writing & Criticism
Elaine Louie
Assistant to the editor, House & Home section, The New York Times;
contributor, The New York Times House & Home, Dining, and
Sunday Styles sections
BOOKS AUTHORED INCLUDE: The Shun Lee Cookbook; House
Beautiful: Collections on Display; Living with Textiles; Living
in New England; The Art of the Party; Premier Beer: A Guide to
America’s Best Microbrews
Awards include: James Beard Journalism Award, Women’s Sports
Foundation Journalism Award
Leital Molad
Senior producer, PRI’s “Studio 360”
EDUCATION: BA, University of Texas at Austin; MA, New York
University
Phil Patton
Contributing editor, Departures, Esquire, I.D.; contributing writer,
Wired; creator, “Public Eye” column, The New York Times; automotive
design writer. Formerly, writer, “Design” and “Living Quarters”
columns, Esquire; reviewer, Artforum
BOOKS AUTHORED INCLUDE: Made in USA: The Secret Histories of
the Things That Made America; Bug: The Strange Muta tions of the
World’s Most Famous Automobile; Michael Graves Designs: The Art
of the Everyday Object; Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World
of Roswell and Area 51; Open Road: Celebration of the American
Highway; Razzle-Dazzle: The Curious Marriage of Television and
Professional Football
The Design Criticism MFA faculty includes the greatest minds
in the field, while the department’s visiting lecture series brings
its students in contact with an even wider spectrum of experts,
including acclaimed designers, bloggers, filmmakers, design
historians, authors and editors. Located in New York City, a
global hub of design and media, students are encouraged to
forge relationships with these visitors and pursue internships
at institutions, studios or publications. Current students are
embarking on summer internships at Surface magazine,
LOT-EK, AIGA, Pentagram, Museum of the Moving Image,
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and the Office
for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam.
The program places significant emphasis on the practical
application of the many methodologies it teaches. Students
write compelling columns, curate exhibitions, develop book
proposals, record and produce radio stories, edit magazines
and build online forums, assembling a tangible portfolio of
their critical practice. The two-year program culminates in
an annual public conference, conceived and organized by
graduating students, in which they present papers based on
their large-scale thesis project to an extensive audience of
professional design critics and thinkers.
Publications Contributed to include: Art in America,
ARTnews, Connoisseur, Geo, Harper’s Bazaar, New Republic,
Manhattan Inc., Men’s Journal, The New York Times Book Review,
Omni, Rolling Stone, Seven Days, Condé Nast Traveler, Travel +
Leisure, New York magazine, Vogue, Smithsonian, Washington Post,
The Village Voice
Consulting curator: “Blobjects and Beyond: The New Fluidity In
Design,” San Jose Museum of Art; “Curves of Steel: Streamlining the
Automobile,” Phoenix Museum of Art; “Different Roads,” Museum
of Modern Art. Consultant, contributor, “On the Job: Design and the
American Office,” National Building Museum
WEB SITE: www.philpatton.com
Karen Stein
Editor. Formerly, editorial director, Phaidon Press; managing senior
editor, Architectural Record
AWARDS AND HONORS INCLUDE: Jesse H. Neal Award, American
Business Press; Corporate Achieve ment Award for Editorial Excellence,
McGraw-Hill Companies; Loeb Fellow, Harvard University;
International Book Award, American Institute of Architects; co-chair,
Architecture and Design Circle, Museum of Modern Art; board member,
Architectural League of New York; jury, Pritzker Architecture
Prize
Patricia Juncosa Vecchierini
Curator, Department of Architecture and Design, Museum of Modern
Art. Formerly, architect, Studio Carme Pinós, Barcelona
Exhibitions co-curated include: “Humble Masterpieces;” “SAFE:
Design Takes On Risk;” “Design and the Elastic Mind;” Museum of
Modern Art
Design Criticism
96 97 www.sva.edu/grad/designcriticism

Guest Lecturers
Michael Barson
ephemera collector, publicist, Penguin Books
Gerry Beegan
design historian
Eugenia Bell
design editor, Frieze
Andrew Blauvelt
design director, Walker Art Center
Chandler Burr
author, perfume critic, The New York Times
Allan Chochinov
co-founder and editor, Core 77
Irwin Chusid
archivist, radio host
Elaine Lustig Cohen
designer, book dealer, artist
Elizabeth Demaray
conceptual artist
Elyssa Dimant
fashion critic, CITY magazine
Stuart Ewen
design historian
Rob Forbes
founder, Design Within Reach
Sasha Frere-Jones
pop-music critic, The New Yorker
Rob Giampietro
designer, writer
Milton Glaser
graphic designer
Steven Guarnaccia
ephemera collector, educator of illustration
Peter Hall
design journalist
Jessica Helfand
graphic design writer, partner, Winterhouse Studio
Glenn Horowitz
antiquarian book dealer
Julie V. Iovine
executive editor, Architect’s Newspaper
Natalie Jeremijenko
artist, engineer, educator
Jennifer Kabat
contributing editor, Metropolis
Stuart Kendall
author, educator of foreign language and humanities
Stuart Kestenbaum
director, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Emily King
author, curator, design historian
Pat Kirkham
design, cultural historian
David Krasnow
senior editor, PRI’s “Studio 360”
Laura Kurgan
architect, designer, teacher
Valarie Vago Laurer
editor, Phaidon Books
Cathy Leff
director, Wolfsonian-FIU
Vicki Gold Levi
photo researcher
Simi Linton
writer, disability rights scholar
Paul Lukas
sports uniform critic, ESPN
Geoff Manaugh
author, BLDGBLOG
Victor Margolin
design historian
Cathleen McGuigan
arts editor, Newsweek
Christopher Mount
curator
Dan Nadel
founder, director, PictureBox, Inc.
Kevin O’Callaghan
3D designer, collector
Spyros Papapetros
instructor of architecture
Chee Pearlman
design consultant, conference program director
B. Martin Pedersen
executive editor, Metropolis
Rick Poynor
author and design critic
Kerry William Purcell
editor, design writer
David Reinfurt
graphic designer, writer, critic
Michael Rock
graphic designer, founding partner, 2x4, Inc.
Jeff Roth
The New York Times researcher
Contact Us
Tel: 212.592.2228
Fax: 212.243.1019
E-mail: dcrit@sva.edu
www.sva.edu/grad/designcriticism
Andrew Rumbach
scholar
James Sanders
architect, author, documentary maker
Louise Schouwenberg
design critic
Paul Shaw
type archeologist, design historian
Matt Soar
associate editor, Design and Culture
Jenni Sorkin
craft historian
Naomi Stead
architecture, art and design writer
Deyan Sudjic
director, Design Museum, London
Daniel van der Velden
graphic designer, founding partner, Metahaven
David Womack
design, technology, culture writer
We strongly encourage applicants to visit our department prior to submitting application materials.
Come to our Departmental Information Session, or contact us directly to schedule a tour.
Departmental Information Session: Saturday, November 7, 2009, 2 – 4 pm
To register for a departmental information session, please visit our Web site or contact the Office of
Graduate Admissions at: gradadmissions@sva.edu.
Design Criticism
98 99 www.sva.edu/grad/designcriticism