Learn to design the future with a strategic and systems-level approach.

ArtCenter’s “Grad ID” program offers a Master of Science curriculum combining the pursuit of extraordinary design and making skills with the knowledge, theories and methods that are essential for creating new value for enterprise and social innovation in a context of complex and unstructured challenges.

Our faculty of internationally renowned educators and professionals work with students in a design studio environment where they’re encouraged to create with a consciousness that their designs exist in a larger context. Our methodology, Strategic Innovation, takes a forward looking systems-level view and strives to balance the business, technological and human aspects of each design opportunity. This broadly applicable creative process produces empathetic solutions to essential human needs so that designers and enterprises can be resilient and grow.

Grad ID has also joined forces with Claremont Graduate University’s Drucker School of Management to offer a dual MS/MBA degree track in Innovation Systems Design (ISD). The two-year program prepares tomorrow’s innovation leaders by combining business strategy, leadership and management acumen with the rigorous development of creative skills and design innovation methodology.

In 2010, gradID was ranked nationally as the number one graduate industrial design program both in U.S. News & World Report and in DesignIntelligence. In five of the last six years, it has been ranked number one in DesignIntelligence’s America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools issue, which bases its ranking by asking professional offices, “Which colleges best prepare graduates for their profession.”

Alumni from GradID: Kevin Bethune (link: Kevin’s story) | Jan Lienhard | Leticia Cervantes | Juno Chen | Erin Ballard | Magdalena Paluch | La Mer Walker

Alumni from GradID: Liu De | Li Ningning | Yu Pengtao | Wang Zhiyao

Alumni from GradID: Thomas Smiley | Ariane Fund

Are you right for GradID?

We’re looking for bright, articulate, intellectual, literate and social individuals.
Students with industrial design undergraduate degrees and various levels of professional experience comprise a slight majority of our student body. We prefer students with professional industrial design experience whose work has resulted in market-tested designs. However, we also accept candidates with a wide variety of undergraduate degrees and professional experience. In fact, breadth in the background of our students plays an important role in defining the transdisciplinary culture of our program.
We’re especially interested in individuals who can:
• Make appropriate and human-centered designs.
• Write and communicate effectively with language.
• Demonstrate an understanding of, and experience with, 3D form and design.
• Draw effectively and visualize via other methods and mediums.
• Select important projects and identify real needs.
• Research, investigate and analyze design topics.
• Experiment, think laterally and engage in creative idea-generation activities.
• Demonstrate consistently great visual design sensibility and ability, with an attention to style, proportion, shape, material, color, etc.
• Take a systems approach to design solutions and demonstrate an understanding of the business, technological and human related aspects of the design context.
• Create value for the human condition, in addition to satisfying an aesthetic appetite for consumption-driven style and fashion products (e.g. chairs, desk sets, most cars, and designer teapots).

Portfolio Format

We pay close attention to the design of the experience that applicants create for us with their portfolio. Applicants should consider messages conveyed by the design of their portfolio and clearly show their ability to meet the requirements for application as outlined on Art Center’s website (artcenter.edu). All portfolios must be submitted through Slideroom. Please make sure that files are easy to understand and, whenever possible, that the work is organized in a single executable file. Titles and descriptions of work should be included.

Admissions Process

All candidates should visit the Admissions page on the Art Center website (http://www.artcenter.edu/admissions/graduate-admissions/application-requirements.html), where admissions requirements are outlined. Applications are for entry to the Fall term only. January 15 is the deadline for priority consideration, including potential for scholarship award, Applicants will be notified regarding admission and financial aid decisions by early April. Applications will continue to be accepted after the deadline as long as space is available. Please contact the admissions office for information about application after the deadine. Scholarships and Financial aid are available. Procedures and deadlines are outlined on the website.
We strongly encourage students to visit the campus and to meet with the GradID department chair. To arrange a general visit and tour, call 626.396.2373.
To schedule an appointment with GradID, call 626.396.2464.

ARTCENTER

We have two campuses – one is called the Hillside Campus located above the Rose Bowl Stadium area, the other is called South Campus and consists of three buildings, known as “870” (S. Raymond Ave.), “950” (S. Raymond Ave.) and “1111” (S. Arroyo Blvd.). All Grad ID classes are held at Hillside Campus and are in our Studio (Rooms 135-136), Room 140, or a computer lab.

Hillside Campus

The following offices and amenities are available at the Hillside Campus:

CSE (Center for Student Experience)

Enrollment Services

Financial Aid

Admissions

Cashier

Library

Student Store

Cafeteria & Coffee Cart

Student Gallery & Williamson Gallery

Shops

Parking at Hillside Campus is at the south end (far end) of the campus from where the front gate is, the Student Parking Lot. This is closest to the Grad ID Studio. When you enter the building from that end, the South end, go downstairs and turn right down the hall. You will find the Grad ID Studio on your left, Room 135. You will be instructed at orientation to pick up a parking sticker for your car from Security.

South Campus

There are three buildings that comprise South Campus: 950 and 870 South Raymond Avenue, and 1111 South Arroyo Boulevard. 870 houses the Fine Arts, 950 has the Public Programs offices and classes, along with the Graduate Media and Design Practices Department, the Archetype Press and the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography.  The 1111 building has the Illustration and Graphics departments as well as a number of departments like Development, Marketing and Communications, etc. There are satellite offices of the Library and the Student Store as well.

ORIENTATIONS

New Student, Family, and International Orientations

Please look for emails from ArtCenter and the Center for Student Experience (CSE) regarding orientations. CSE has established a Facebook groupas an extension of their orientation program. The CSE coordinates the Family program and encourages your family to stay connected with the CSE by joining the ArtCenter Family Facebook page. International Orientation, mandatory for all international students, is an opportunity for students to learn about American culture, as well as ArtCenter culture. More information may be found on the New Student Orientation page at InsideArtCenter.

Grad ID Orientation

Grad ID Orientation will be held in the Grad ID Studios (Room 140), bottom floor of Hillside Campus at the south end (near the computer labs). Lunch will be served. Please bring your Student ID with you to the Orientation; we will note your ID badge number and ask Security to give you access to the Grad ID rooms.

CAMPUS LIFE (AND HOUSING RESOURCES)

• ArtCenter Off-Campus Housing listing: https://www.facebook.com/ACCDHousing/
• ACCD All Majors: Got Work Get Work: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ACCDGETWORK/
• ArtCenter Lost and Found: https://www.facebook.com/groups/876315565757790/about/
• Cops on Lida: https://www.facebook.com/groups/376054835747181/

SUPPLIES (some stores offer ArtCenter student discounts – please ask the stores)

ART SUPPLIES

• Blicks: 44 S Raymond Ave, Pasadena, CA 91105
• Swains: 537 N Glendale Ave, Glendale, CA 91206
• HobbyLobby: 641 N Victory Blvd, Burbank, CA 91502
• -Kelly Paper: 56 Waverly Dr, Pasadena, CA 91105

MODEL MAKING SUPPLIES

• Finishmasters: 2591 E Foothill Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91107
• Silpak: 10611 Burbank Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601

Please note you are allowed to have supplies sent directly to the school is they are needed for your school work. Make address it to: ArtCenter, 1700 Lida Street, Pasadena, CA 91103, Attn: (your name), Grad ID, Room 135. The Support Services office at Hillside receives all mail and packages; their office is only open weekdays 9am-4pm. Please keep that in mind when ordering.

TRANSPORTATION

Information on the ArtCenter Shuttle

ArtCenter runs a shuttle between both campuses, with stops near each campus building as well as Metro stations located along the route. There is a mobile app called Shuttle Tracker: ArtCenter College of Designthat tracks the route and arrival times of the shuttles available on both android and apple.  http://www.artcentershuttle.com/

• The shuttle schedule:  http://cms.artcenter.edu/assets/8628/src/Shuttle_Schedule.pdf
• Shuttle route: http://cms.artcenter.edu/assets/8629/src/Shuttle_Route.pdf

Pasadena Transit: Pasadena has its own easy and affordable bus system. Route 51/52 provides weekday service throughout Old Pasadena, with stops at both campuses. https://ww5.cityofpasadena.net/pasadena-transit/

LA Metro: Metro Gold Line Fillmore Station is located one block north of South Campus connecting students to the Metro rail and bus system serving all of Los Angeles County. https://www.metro.net/

Metro Bikes: Pasadena also offers Metro’s bike sharing program, allowing registered riders to pick up a bike at more than two dozen stations located throughout Pasadena. https://bikeshare.metro.net/

Driving in LA:If you are unfamiliar with driving in Los Angeles, you may find this article useful: https://www.tripsavvy.com/driving-in-los-angeles-1586574.

PASADENA AND ENVIRONS

Pasadena, nestled against the San Gabriel Mountains, has great shopping, restaurants and outdoor activities. The City of Pasadena website is useful tool. Below are links to event and information pages.

Pasadena events: https://www.visitpasadena.com/events/

Hotels: https://tinyurl.com/y8qaowvxor visit the City of Pasadena directory at https://www.visitpasadena.com/discover/business/?type=accomodations

Restaurants: https://www.visitpasadena.com/discover/business/?type=restaurants

Shopping: https://www.visitpasadena.com/itinerary/shopping-excursions/Old Town Pasadena’s main area runs along Colorado Boulevard between Fair Oaks Avenue and Arroyo Parkway. Paseo Colorado with more shops, restaurants and movie theater is just east of that area as well.

Museums and Gardens: Pasadena is home to a number of museums and gardens, most notably the Norton Simon Museum, the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, The Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia, Descanso Gardens in La Canada. https://www.visitpasadena.com/memorable-museums/and

Hiking: https://www.hikespeak.com/los-angeles/san-gabriel-mountains/

Information about Los Angeles: ArtCenter website information http://www.artcenter.edu/student-life/living-in-los-angeles/overview.htmlor the LA Convention and Visitors Bureau website https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/

It is approximately 45-60 minutes to get to the nearest beach, about 20 minutes to get into Hollywood or downtown LA.