Parsons Corporate Laboratory is a World’s fair of design for Parsons by including all of the

Bachelor programs in this project. In some of the majors there are courses called “Collabs” that involve a corporate partnership through-out the course working on a project for the selected partner. While this experience is valuable to the student by letting them

experience how a company works and what type of work is expected, the world is never

shown that work. This is where Parsons Corporate Laboratory intervenes. The project

will develop more partnerships across themajors of Parsons and allow the hard work of the students to be displayed in an exhibition held at the end of the spring semester. Along with displaying the student’s work during the exhibition a catalogue will be created keeping

the work on line and in print format.

While Parsons is one of the most prestigious design schools in the world, there are certain

things that are lacking.

- The largest gallery in the school only has one show that is solely student’s work and that show is for selected majors.- Many students spend a majority of time completing work for school and there is little time to focus on personal projects for self advancement. The exhibition will help students gain recognition in the professional world.- Awareness of students’ work is not publicized in the school or much as other schools such as SVA.

WHY THIS

MUST HAPPEN

- Raise students enthusiasm about the courses that are offered and inspire.- Attract new prospective students by showing them the different resources Parsons has to offer.- Along with the lack of communication between the public and Parsons, there is also a lack of communication between the students and what work they are doing.

LEARNING FROM THE

PAST Art has had many phases and there has been

a lot to learn from. This program is no exception in the challenges and purpose that it faces. One exhibition that has become an

inspiration and reference for this is the Salon de Refusés. The Salon featured rejects

from the official Paris Salon, the Parsons Corporate Laboratory will feature the works of all 13 bachelor degree majors. In the same

manor that the exhibition of 1863 was sponsored by the French government, the exhibition of the collaborations would be in

part with Parsons, the participating collaborative sponsors, and additional

sponsors.

The Salon de Refusés isn’t the only exhibition that has been inspiration, the Armory show is

yet another. Parsons has many exhibitions, some that are similar in their content (LVMH fashion show/exhibit), and others that are sustainable (Carrot City),

nevertheless this project will be a catalyst for Parsons through the awareness of the

relationships built between students and the corporate partners.

During my time at Parsons, I originally started as a design and management (D+M)

major and transferred into the communication design program (CD) after a year and a half. The reason why I started in D+M was to learn

about marketing and possible become an event planner or buyer. After having a need to be more creative and being inspired by a few friends and teachers, I transferred into CD.

When starting my senior year I watched past graduates struggling to find jobs and I

wondered why. There may be a number of reasons but I realized that there was a lack communication while in the school and of

students work featured for the public. I wanted to help students get there work seen

by the public and be inspired by their

WHYI CHOSE THIS

public and be inspired by their collegues. The collaborative courses was one way to help the students, the only problem was where

was their work being shown? While working in the Shelia Johnson Design Center, a fre-

quent question is “Is there student’s work in this exhibition?” and unfortunately I have to

reply “No.” Since this is the biggest gallery in Parsons, it amazed me in the lack of student’s

work shown. My project is an effort to solve some of these problems and hopefully create a program to help students get more public

exposure before they graduate.

INSPIRATION

Corporate Laboratory

ProspectivePartnerships

Parsons

Prospective Students

Catalogue of students work

Positive Press

Corporate Laboratory

Current Students

Corporate Sponsors

Unity

Real World Experience

Free Work Positive Press (school involvement)

Self Promotion

TIMEOctober November December

find all collabs/

partnerships for spring semester

identify the past collabs and teachers

meet with participat-ing collab teachers

proposal for gallery space

start website and catalog

designcreate

kickster

legal matters between

parsons and partnership

code website

TIMEJanuary February March April

find press

start sourcing

class project check in

launch website

search for next year’s

collabsmake invita-tions/posters

mail invites

meet with classes

start exhibtion design

catalog design finished

find photog-raphers

LINEMay June September January

exhibitupdate website

create kick-starter

proposal for gallery space

meet with participat-ing collab teachers

catalogue printed and on website create pro-

posal/grantsstart

research for next spring

collabs

search for exhibition

space

retrospect exhibit (new

pieces)

finalize ex-hibit space

find press

update website

start exhibit design

LINEFebruary March April May

class check in openingmail invites

start sourcing

make invita-tions/posters

website update

meet with classes

create invita-tions/posters

find photog-raphers

start work on exhibit

catalogue printed and on website

Comments, suggestions, and inspiration are welcomed with open arms, so feel free to do

so by emailing a.rodriguez@me.com.

THANKYOU