What We Do

The Design Consortium, led by Graphic Design Faculty (Professors Jennifer Bernstein, Ned Drew, and Chantal Fischzang), identifies potential partners through a Call for Proposals. Once a partnership has been formed, students are given the opportunity to develop strategies, and to execute and deliver real design solutions. The DC employs problem-solving skills that include human-centered approaches while focusing on visual communication strategies to answer their partners’ specific needs. Students learn to align themselves to their community partners’ conditions and histories, acquire real knowledge, develop genuine insights, and become more connected to the realities of the city and its people — solidifying the university-community relationship and mission to build a greater Newark.

Who We Are

The Design Consortium (DC) is a student/faculty creative studio rooted in a collaboratively engaged design process. This framework has been integrated into the Arts, Culture & Media Graphic Design curriculum housed at Express Newark, in which designers and community residents, organizations, educational institutions and/or local activists partner to achieve a common goal. The traditional notion of designers “serving” clients is replaced by equal partners who — only through their work together — can create impact. This inclusive design model acknowledges that each participant brings exceptional knowledge to the relationship without which the work would not succeed. This philosophy channels that of Express Newark itself — a “third space” in which a new community is forged that could only exist once united in collaboration, and that possesses unprecedented potential.

Contact 

dc@expressnewark.org

Location

2nd Floor