The mOb studio is an interdisciplinary studio that brings together the departments of graphic, fashion, and interior design at VCUarts. The fall and spring semester course operates as an innovative design lab that realizes the potential of design to shape the city of Richmond. The mOb studio collaborates with Storefront’s Design Session allowing students to gain practical design experience while engaging the city.
The city as classroom
We wrapped up an exciting spring semester with mOb studiO last month! mObians are as resilient as ever and together we navigated an interdisciplinary service-learning class environment with curiosity, innovation and enthusiasm. mOb tackled four projects this semester along with prompts for their urban sketchbooks that served to grow their understanding of the city as a classroom. Here’s a recap of mOb projects and final outcomes:
Semester Poster by Don Petties and Joseph Limber
Election Sign Afterlife
brief: identify an afterlife for leftover election yard signs and explore ideas for excess materials in future campaigns for the public as an advocacy tool.
mOb did material testing on commonly used signs and fabricated several prototypes including a functional lampshade and backpack.
“The problem can be addressed in three ways; by upcycling the material waste into products that have an extended life, by changing the signage materials to more environmentally friendly materials, or by enacting regulations or legislation that requires people or campaigns to be responsible for the removal and recycling of the signs.”
mOb team: don petties and joseph limber
mOb mentor: ryan patterson
community collaborator: lauren williams
Fashion pOp Ups
brief: design structures for the vcuarts fashion dept that could showcase the students’ final work to be filmed at the ICA in lieu of a runway show due to the pandemic.
“At the request of VCUarts’ Fashion Department, we set out to design structures for their senior’s final exhibition at the ICA, which is to be filmed the last week of classes. Knowing our design would come to fruition, specifying & designing with materials that could be easily sourced and constructed was vital. The prime materials are cattle panel fastened with clips and pine planks. The whole studio collaborated at the beginning and at the end of the project - first to ideate a flurry of possibilities, and then to actually build the structures designed by the pOp up team. The final twelve single units, equalling four sets of three, and their accessories, were paraded down Broad Street to their home at the ICA.”
the pOp up carts in use for VCUarts’ Fashion Dept’s student exhibition filmed at the ICA
mOb team: audrey paiva, celia steigerwald, micah choi + camden whitehead (faculty)
mOb mentor: kim peters, patrick gegen
community collaborators: kim guthrie, patricia brown and tammy davis at @vcuartsfashion
Process pin up work from the James River team
The James River: A Living Timeline
brief: self-initiated research project on the history and use of the James River
“The James river is a living timeline, it acknowledges the history of enslavement and pain brought upon the Native American and African American communities. As a society and as current stewards of the River, we must contribute to our community’s reconciliation, and recognize that the River has been here long before us, carrying tens of thousands of years worth of discoveries and actualizations. We hope that through truthful tellings, poetry, research, and expressive diagrams, that we can provide a fuller account of the river’s history, and prompt both locals and newcomers to ask questions, be curious, and contribute to a very essential conversation. Everyone knows that the James River and Richmond as a whole were places that propagated slavery, but how do we go beyond that? Furthermore, what is the story and message we need to tell of the James River?”
“We hope that through truthful tellings, poetry, research, and expressive diagrams, that we can provide a fuller account of the river’s history, and prompt both locals and newcomers to ask questions, be curious, and contribute to a very essential conversation. ”
mOb team: Hannah Sahr, Blake Sneed, Gina Clark, Vis Sothy
mOb mentors: Burt Pinnock, Laura Battaglia, Paul Battaglia, Sara Reed, Andrea Erda, James River Association
community collaborator: the james river
Organ Donation Celebration
brief: design concepts for a live organ donor memorial to celebrate those who gave the gift of life
“The VCU Hume-Lee Transplant Center tasked the mOb studiO team with the development of design concepts for a live organ donor memorial, to celebrate those who have selflessly given the gift of life. Two permanent installations, one inside and one outside, are meant to be expanded as the transplant program and VCU Health campus grow. They partner to recognize the gift of life at both individual and community scales, as well as to unite the unique experiences of donating and receiving organs.
Conceptual rendering for a memorial at an outdoor site
“As designers, we intended to give the hospital sites a transplant, making previously overlooked spaces more comfortable and welcoming. Flexible spaces for individual reflection, group gathering, and community education are established.“”
mOb team: cali carter, terrell emmons, amanda gill, michael rogers, yufei zheng
mOb mentors: kim peters, mitch crowder
community collaborator: dr. marlon levy at hume-lee transplant center @vcutransplant
fall open call!
Have a project on the horizon that could use a conceptual design investigation? mOb studiO is accepting project requests for the fall 2021 semester (late Aug-early Dec)! Please apply and check "mOb studio" at the bottom of the form.