Four Hour Design Sprint
To start this post, let me explain the very complicated and exciting position I have worked my way into over the past 5-6 years. Long story short, in 2019 I was feeling burnt out in animation and had the opportunity to try teaching at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI full time as an Assistant Professor. Never being one to turn down an adventure, I said yes, and dragged my then-boyfriend (now husband) along for the journey with me.
Not my photograph, but a great representation of the campus!
In fall 2020 we moved to Detroit, Michigan, which turned out to be a very weird time to move and start a new job for reasons. Pandemic aside, the job turned out to be awesome, and I took to teaching like a duck to water. While I have a deep love and appreciation for Detroit, I did miss the sun, nature, and frankly, industry connections I had in SoCal, and my poor San-Diego-native (by then) fiancé was withering away in Michigan.
View of a sunset from the Taubman Center at CCS
I talked it out with my amazing chair, Don Kilpatrick, and we worked out a deal for me to instead be a “low residency” full time, Assistant Professor instead of fully in person. It was a win-win! I could keep teaching while having better industry access to then share with our students. Plus, being a natural early bird, the time difference makes classes early enough in the day to allow me to continue pursuing studio contracts more easily.
I am the only person I know of in all of higher education who has a deal like this, and I am grateful for it. In 2022, this gave us the clear to move back to Burbank with the promise that I return to Detroit twice a semester (4 times a year) to teach my classes in person. I have been doing this ever since! (For anyone who saw me post that I moved away in 2020 — hello! I’m a Burbankian again and have been for 3.5 years!)
The view I am lucky to wake up to every morning
I am now in my sixth year of teaching at CCS (!!). The first week of November, I went for my second trip to Detroit this fall.
(My daughter came too — we’re taking advantage of the free lapchild rule of flying so that she can visit with my parents while I work!)
While teaching online offers more tools than you might expect, I wanted to play to the strengths of meeting in person with my students. This meant coming up with lesson plans that emphasize being social and collaborating. For my “Intro to Visual Development” class, I decided to try something new — a 4 hour design sprint. Everyone would be working on the same IP and I would create a spreadsheet full of assets that needed to be designed. This is much closer to how a real animated project functions vs. doing random assignments in class!
Students hard at work on the design sprint!
So, armed with a Google Sheet and a Pinterest board full of mid-century picture book illustration for reference, I launched students on a 4-hour design sprint to create a new interpretation of Charlotte’s Web!
Here are a few examples (among many — I’m proud of the work that every student did!)
Wilbur by Corbin Ramey
Fern by Zoe Doyle
Cow by Morgan Peterson
Homer Zuckerman by Bee Vu
Ferris Wheel by David Klink
Barn Exterior by Vicky Orta
Barn interior by Reden Lee
In full transparency, I think everyone did great work, but everyone was tired. It was already week 10 of the 15-week semester, and by this point, students tend to be bogged down with a lot of big assignments. If I do this again, it will likely be earlier in the course.
Regardless, it’s always very cool to see what can be accomplished in a short period of time by a dedicated group of individuals! This is the spirit that I hope everyone carries forward when they’re feeling unsure about the future of the entertainment industry. The phrase “The future is indie!” is one I agree with, but it doesn’t mean applying for jobs at small studios—it means getting together with your friends and making things!
Artsy Stuff I’m into lately:
OFF RIP - My friend and fellow instructor Illich + his small but mighty team at Capgun Studios has been putting together a really exciting adult animated short film, and just put together a teaser. It’s really impressive stuff!
Non-Artsy stuff I’m into lately:
Donkey Kong Bananza - Ok this one almost counts as artsy, and I’m late to the game in talking about this, but in the 30-or-so minutes I get in the evening before I need to go to bed, I’ve been swapping my doom scrolling habit for a video game habit and it’s been nice! I love punching random rocks and eating virtual bananas in beautiful landscapes!
I’m still figuring this out! Thanks for spending some time with me and my brain!