(Group photo of students with faculty members and the GIGABYTE sponsors at the midterm presentation on the campus of ArtCenter College of Design. Photo Credit to David Mocarski, Chair of Undergraduate and Graduate Spatial Experience Design at ArtCenter College of Design.)

GIGABYTE partnering with ArtCenter
GIGABYTE is proud to announce a collaboration with ArtCenter College of Design, aiming to present the new ideas to improve future creators’ working experience with GIGABYTE AERO 16 Creator Laptop. Students and faculty members across three different departments will explore and redefine the future creative workflow and learn through first-hand industry insights from the GIGABYTE AERO brand.

As the spirit of GIGABYTE dedicated to professional creators, AERO focuses on rationality and sensibility during the design process, bringing the existing image of electronic products to fit in every working scenario seamlessly. Leveraging the extraordinary technology and powerful functionality, the design team of GIGABYTE provides the user-centered design to make every step of AERO more synchronized to what creators truly need. AERO further observes the macro trend to outline the future lifestyle and workflow of creators, to design the best proposal for the users.

Jason Liu, Product Manager of GIGABYTE Design Team, is an alumnus of ArtCenter from the Product Design Department and the person to bridge the collaboration between the two. “Working with ArtCenter is a great opportunity to hear the younger designers’ ideas and their vision for the future design workflow,” said Jason. “This collaboration with students will help us build a better design environment together.”

Multi-departments in action
ArtCenter College of Design has assembled a team from three different departments, including students and faculty members from Product Design, Interaction Design, and Spatial Experience Design, all contributing to this unique opportunity. “ArtCenter and GIGABYTE have paired up to create opportunities for students to envision the future and see design as a way of solving real world problems that they’re facing today”, said Daniel Gottlieb, Associate Professor at ArtCenter College of Design in Spatial Experience Design for Undergraduate and Graduate Studies. “It’s combining the skills of interaction design, spatial design, product design, and layout possibilities with technology to transform creative workflow.”

GIGABYTE engaged with the project through various touch-points with the class, along with kick-off, R&D, the midterm presentation, and the final presentation, while providing critiques and suggestions to the research from each group. “The student input has been extremely valuable as we find that voice for the AERO brand,” said Howard Chiu, NA Marketing Director of GIGABYTE.

Students exploring the AERO brand
This 14-week partnership of study kicked off on May 19, 2022 and took the class through various stages. Students first started the research on creators’ workflow during the kick-off session and analyzed the pain points that frustrate creators the most. During the R&D stage, students gathered in groups to concentrate on developing a strong understanding of GIGABYTE AERO 16 Creator Laptop and expanded the future creators vision into three distinct ideas, from product designs to virtual spaces. “Some students are redefining what a creative professional is in the foreseeable paradigm-shift,” said James (Reikuo) Chu, Professor at ArtCenter College of Design in Product Design and Graphic Design. “The question we’ve explored is: can you turn an everyday person who aspires to be a designer or artist into an individual who is willing to tap into the uncharted water with so many flourishing ideas and see how their ideas blossom for a more just and sustainable future.”

At the next stage of midterm presentation, students condensed the three ideas into one direction that the group then developed further. Lastly, students presented the final presentation of their reformulated AERO vision as well as the creative pathway for AERO to explore in the next decade.

About Sponsored Projects at ArtCenter
Engagement with industry has been a critical element of the ArtCenter experience since it was founded in 1930. Hundreds of corporate sponsored programs have taken place in the College’s classrooms—indeed they are now woven into the very fabric of an ArtCenter education.

These sponsored collaborations bring industry thought leaders into unrestricted and creative environments, looking through the lens of the next generation of artists and designers to explore the future of design. At the same time, students experience real-world design challenges that enrich their educational experience as well as provide them with potential job opportunities.

ArtCenter offers a wide range of sponsored, collaborative opportunities (domestic and international) to corporate partners in industries such as automotive, healthcare, food-and-beverage, software and consumer products. Each project incorporates current trends in emerging technologies with a focus on the user experience.

About ArtCenter College of Design
Founded in 1930 and located in Pasadena, California, ArtCenter College of Design is a global leader in art and design education. ArtCenter offers 11 undergraduate and 10 graduate degrees in a wide variety of art and design disciplines. In addition to its top-ranked academic programs, the College also serves the general public through a highly regarded series of year-round online and on campus extension programs for all levels of experience. Renowned for both its ties to industry and its social impact initiatives, ArtCenter is the first design school to receive the United Nations’ Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status. Throughout the College’s long and storied history, ArtCenter alumni have had a profound impact on popular culture, the way we live and important issues in our society.